Corus has signalled its intention to quit the aluminium market in an attempt to haul itself out of the red.

The troubled Anglo-Dutch company posted annual pre-tax losses of £462m after prices were depressed by the economic slowdown and saturated steel markets.

But unions breathed a sigh of relief as Corus said it was not planning any further job cuts on top of the 10,000 announced last year, including more than 1,100 from its plants in Redcar, Lackenby, Stockton and Hartlepool.

About 6,000 of the 10,000 planned redundancies have already been made.

The proposed sale of the aluminium businesses, based primarily in Canada, Germany and Belgium, should realise up to £1bn and allow the company to ease its debt burden and focus solely on steel.

Corus said strong competition meant it could not expect significant growth from the division despite posting operating profits of £58m.

The performance of the aluminium operations compared with an operating loss of £446m in the group's core carbon steel business.

Turnover in that division fell seven per cent to £6.35bn as global demand for steel declined by three per cent and the market became flooded.

Those industry-wide problems with oversupply have been overcome and Corus said it was now in a position to raise its prices in line with increases proposed by other steel producers.

While the economic downturn is expected to hurt Corus for some time, new chief executive Tony Pedder said he was encouraged that Corus could now attract higher prices for its products.

He said: "These price increases are going through and we have orders on our books at the new prices. We are confident that will continue."

Corus, which besides Teeside has operations at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Sheffield, is also still judging the impact of US President George Bush's decision to sanction tariffs of up to 30 per cent on steel imports.

The company - formed in 1999 following the merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens - sends about four per cent of its products to the US.

It argued that action from the European Commission was needed to prevent a flood of steel imports being diverted to Europe.

The company said: "We have urged the European Commission to impose similar measures to defend the EU market."

Corus said it still had to cut 4,000 jobs - mainly in the UK - from the 10,000 it said it would lose as part of an efficiency drive unveiled last year.

The group, which employs about 52,700 staff - 26,000 in the UK - said the remaining posts were expected to go by 2004.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of the steelworkers' union ISTC, said he was "greatly relieved" that no further job losses were being announced. But he said: "We are concerned about the decision to sell the aluminium business, which is one of the few profitable parts of the company. The money raised from the sale should be reinvested in the UK."

Corus said the proceeds from any sale were likely to go towards reducing a debt mountain which stood at £1.56bn at the end of last year.

Across the group, turnover reached £7.7bn - compared with £9.51bn a year earlier. Bottom-line pre-tax losses narrowed to £462m from £1.13bn in 2000 when substantial restructuring costs were taken.