High electricity prices in the UK contributed to a decision by Corus to cut 2,500 workers from its British plants in an effort to make the company more competitive, according to Philippe Varin, chief executive of the Anglo-Dutch steel producer.

Mr Varin said the short-term outlook for the steel industry in Europe was “bleak”, with demand from Corus’s main European customers halving in the past year and with its plants making roughly 30 per cent less steel than at the same time last year.