STEEL firm Corus, which has been accused of dragging its feet over selling the mothballed Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant, has appointed Citigroup to try and find a buyer.

The appointment comes after concerns raised by unions since mothballing of the plant began in February that Corus has not made enough effort to find a buyer.

Last night, a Corus spokesman said: “We can confirm we have appointed Citigroup to help us with the process of finding a strategic partner for TCP.”

It is understood that the international financial services group was appointed soon after the mothballing.

Geoff Waterfield, TCP multi-union chairman, said: “It is a positive step when you get Citigroup involved, but until we see something more concrete we are not going to get over-excited.

“It could take them ten days or ten months, and they are working under instruction.

“When I see a memorandum of understanding and we are all talking openly, I will have a bit more belief.”

Earlier this week, Corus chief executive Kirby Adams said the company had been in contact with “a few” businesses that had made serious inquiries about the site.

He said: “We are making a serious effort to find a longterm solution for the Teesside plant and for anyone to suggest otherwise is not true.”

With another potential buyer emerging this week, Corus repeated that any deal was subject to confidentiality agreements.

The latest name to emerge as a potential buyer is Bangkok-based Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), although Corus has refused to confirm this.

SSI was one half of an East Asian consortium that was in talks to buy Corus’ Redcar slab plant before Christmas – but the two companies could not reach agreement.

The Thai company needs six million tonnes of steel slab a year – three million of which could come from TCP.

SSI made a site visit to the slab plant last week, part of a due diligence process as it prepares to make its offer.

When plans to mothball the plant – a process which began two months ago on Monday – were first announced in May last year, it was thought 2,300 workers could lose their jobs, although a number of factors have driven down the number of compulsory reduncancies.

These include keeping open the site’s two coke ovens, deep-sea wharf and power station, and retaining some staff who are needed to maintain the mothballed iron and steelmaking areas.

Others have found new jobs within Corus, such as those created last month at Corus Tubes, Hartlepool.