UNIONS say they have grave concerns over the threat to Corus caused by an increasing flood of cheap steel products from outside the European Union.

The steelmaker, formerly British Steel, which this year cut 1,000 jobs in the North-East, could be hit from the fall-out caused by tough new American import controls.

The US is ready to crack down on imports into its domestic market which has already led international steelmakers to target new outlets in Europe.

This, unions say, will lead to the "dumping" of cheap steel in the UK and drag the price of steel down.

Ken Penton, of the Iron and Steel Trading Confederation (ISTC), told The Northern Echo they were already lobbying the Government together with Corus over the issue.

He said they felt that Corus had no need in the short to medium term to make any more redundancies in order to increase its competitiveness.

But the US's stance still posed a serious threat to Corus and other British steelmakers.

"The US is engaged in blatant protectionism and the Government needs to work with its EU partners to make sure that its position does not have a negative impact on the UK market.

"Companies are now selling into our market at a price that does not reflect the real cost as they simply want to get steel off their hands.

"This drags down the price and distorts the market."

Newly released figures by the UK Steel Association already show that steel imports are likely to reach 8.2m this year - a new record.

They are likely to account for more than half of all steel consumption, largely because consumption in the UK has been hit by a downturn in the economy.

Corus has admitted that the increase in imports could be at the expense of its business, already hit by a strong pound.

It employs just under 4,000 people on Teesside and Hartlepool.

The company reported pre-tax losses in September of £230m for the first six months of this year.

This came on the back of a loss last year of £1.1bn. It has cut 10,000 jobs across the UK since the summer of last year