A UNION has revealed that it has made a “significant breakthrough”

in getting Corus and a consortium that pulled out of a Teesside steel deal back around the negotiating table.

In May, a four-strong international consortium, including Marcegaglia, of Italy, and Dongkuk, of Korea, tore up a ten-year “offtake” agreement, signed in 2004, to take nearly 78 per cent of the output of Corus Teesside Cast Products plant in Redcar, putting 3,000 jobs at risk.

The Community union, which represents most of the workers at the plant, has now claimed a significant breakthrough with Corus and the consortium to get them back around the table to discuss commercial options it believes could save the plant.

General secretary Michael Leahy said: ‘‘It’s taken a lot of conversations between Community, the highest levels of Government, Tata (owner of Corus), Corus and the consortium, but we finally have agreement that the two parties will sit down to try to find a solution that could save the future of Teesside steelmaking.

‘‘We are pressing for Corus and the consortium to set a date as soon as possible. We do not know if their meeting will be a party or a wake, but the most important point is that all sides enter discussions mindful of the thousands of jobs and the community on Teesside that are depending on a deal.’’ Meanwhile, Marcegaglia and Dongkuk’s decision to allow the expiry of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to buy the threatened plant changed nothing, it was claimed last night.

The two firms signed the MOU to buy Teesside Cast Products in January and when it was signed, a clause in the agreement said Corus could not speak to any other prospective buyer until the end of last month.

But the two steel firms had already waived that right, allowing Corus to talk to other potential buyers, in the middle of last month.

Corus last night declined to comment, but a source told The Northern Echo: “It doesn’t really change a lot.

“Marcegaglia and Dongkuk will still be able to put an offer in for the plant if they want to and it doesn’t prevent another bidder making an offer.”

A spokeswoman for the consortium said: “I can confirm the MOU has expired but we don’t have any other comment to make at the moment.”