DEMAND for steel slabs on the international market is growing at a rate of three per cent a year, according to Corus.

The steel producer pointed to increased demand and fewer suppliers to fulfil that demand as positive news for the future of steelmaking on Teesside.

The news came as Redcar MP Vera Baird toured the steel export bay at Corus's Redcar works.

She said she was reassured by the message sent out by plant director Ian Forman.

She said: "Mr Forman's business plan is very impressive and I am impressed by the figures and the optimism of unions, as well as management."

Corus is keen to bring a redundant wharf on its land back to life to provide extra capacity to take steel off the Tees.

Ms Baird said: "The wharf at South Bank will need to be upgraded to cope with the amount of steel which will be produced and new train lines will be needed to transport it.

"I believe the wharf should be developed into a commercial area. These changes should certainly secure more jobs in the area."

Corus is gearing up for 2006, the year when it is expected to start selling its Teesside steel on the open market. It has already laid the foundations for that and was yesterday preparing a 40,000 tonne consignment of steel to be shipped to Korea.

Mr Forman said: "It is a very good time for us to be exporting. The demand for steel slabs is growing by three per cent per annum and traditional suppliers are exiting, so demand is going up and supply is going down."

Ken Dunbar, operations manager of Corus' Concast division, said: "We will need to be a very lean and mean cost-producer to survive on the international market."