Troubled steel producer Corus has announced pre-tax losses for the last half-year hit �230m.

Chairman Tony Pedder said the Anglo-Dutch group is reviewing its operations in the Netherlands and did not rule out job cuts.

The steelmaker has already cut at least 6,000 jobs in England and Wales this year.

Profitability was hurt by continued losses at the carbon steel operations, said Corus, which has been hit by the strong pound and harsh competition.

Oversupply

It said its carbon steel operations were damaged by oversupply in the face of progressive weakening of demand.

However, both its aluminium and stainless steel businesses made operating profits.

The company reported operating losses of �200m after making provisions of �47m for productivity and efficiency improvement measures.

Dutch jobs

Mr Pedder would not comment directly on reports that up to 1,500 jobs could go at the Ijmuiden plant in the Netherlands by the end of September.

"There are going to be conclusions drawn toward the end of the month and communicated properly to the workforce", he said.

On a more positive note, the steelmaker forecast cuts in output would led to improved prices, but added "any significant price recovery is not likely to take place until 2002".

The profits beat analyst expectations and in London the shares held up well as the FTSE 100 tumbled to new low.

Above expectations

"They are not huge losses by today's standards," said Peter Dupont of Commerzbank. "I believe there is probably a turnaround in the offing next year which is a function of the cost cuttings coming through."

At 10.55 BST, the shares were down 3.75 pence at 56p, compared to a closing price of 59.75p on Friday.

There are no real meaningful comparisons with previous years, because of the merger last year with Dutch steelmaker Koninklijke Hoogovens.

The last full results from the combine group were for the extended 15 month period to December 2000.

These revealed operating losses of �1.132bn.

Analysts were looking for a reduction in full year 2001 operating losses to around �350-400m.