A TEAM of experts will be employed to persuade steel maker Corus to throw a lifeline to its Teesside works, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The Iron and Steel Trade Confederation (ISTC) wants to build a case for Redcar-made iron and steel to be supplied at the nearby Lackenby Beam Mill.

Teesside Cast Products, which makes the metals, was told in April it would have to sell its products on the international market after the company ruled it no longer needed steel from the region for internal use.

The decision sparked outrage because it suggested Corus was looking to stop operations on Teesside altogether.

The company insists the policy can work, but steel experts believe there is little long-term future because steel made in the region will not be as cheap as that made in state-subsidised plants in China and Russia.

If Corus performs a U-turn and decides Teesside steel can go to Lackenby, it will be seen as a positive indication that the company sees a long-term future for Teesside steel.

An ISTC spokesman said it was a crazy decision to stop steelworks in Redcar supplying metal to the Lackenby mill.

Such a move means Corus would have to ship steel more than 100 miles from its works in Scunthorpe, or 318 miles from Port Talbot, Wales, rather than from three miles down the road.

A Corus spokesman yesterday confirmed that was its intention.

He said: "When the plan is in place, Teesside Cast Products will not supply any of its (Corus) other units with its slabs."

Professor John Wilson, head of the University of Teesside's Business School, described the policy as "lacking commercial logic".

New Corus chief executive Philippe Varin has given assurances to the ISTC and other unions that he will listen to any representations.

* Corus said yesterday that discussions about a new three-year banking facility were progressing well.

The loan, which was announced at the company's annual meeting in April, will replace a 1.4bn euros (£1bn) facility which is due to expire in January.