Gareth Jones BBC Wales Business Editor

Philippe Varin: 'We're at the beginning of a journey'

It has lost �2bn since its formation.

In Wales alone three years ago 3,000 jobs were axed by Corus and plants at Ebbw Vale and Gorseinon were shut.

Against this background, the journalist wanting an interview with a top Corus executive has faced a tough challenge, with many requests getting turned down.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I was called up by the company and invited along with a small group of colleagues to a special briefing with the �ber-boss himself, chief executive Phillipe Varin.

The reason for the media offensive is obvious - Corus, at last, has some good news and it wants to tell it to anyone who'll listen.

We are at the beginning of a journey and the Welsh operation is ready to deliver Phillipe Varin

Mr Varin was recruited from the French aluminium producer Pechiney last year and given the job of stemming losses of more than a million pounds a day at the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker.

On the morning he arrived in Port Talbot, Corus had just told the stock market that it expected to be in profit this year for the first time since 2000.

Profits for the first half of this year were expected to come in at �125m, compared with a �57m loss during the same period last year.

So it was with a spring in his step that the Frenchman introduced himself to waiting journalists in the management's offices at Port Talbot's huge steelworks.

He then launched into an hour-long presentation of the current situation facing Corus, dealing with our questions in a languid and confident manner.

Given the increasing demand for Corus's product, had it been a mistake to close Llanwern's steel-making capacity?

�150m is being invested in Welsh steel plants in 2004

"That's easy to say with hindsight," he replied with a Gallic shrug, "but you have to make these decisions on the basis of costs at the time.

What's the future for the (8,000) people who work for Corus in Wales, someone else asked.

Mr Varin said he was conscious of how Wales had taken the brunt of recent job losses, but he pointed out �150m was being invested in Wales this year, mainly in Port Talbot and Llanwern.

"That is as good a guarantee of future employment as you can get," he said.

Yet the company is by no means out of the woods.

It is still six per cent less efficient on average than its European competitors, and while booming global demand has allowed it to increase steel prices and thereby its profits, its costs are going up too.

While Mr Varin acknowledged all that, he was not letting it get him down.

"Globally, things are improving. We are at the beginning of a journey and the Welsh operation is ready to deliver."