Corus

   Amerger of Royal Hoogovens and British Steel in 1999, now one of the world’s largest steel and aluminum producers, with branches in 17 countries. The Dutch part was founded in IJmuiden (near Amsterdam) in 1918, intended as a supplier to Dutch indus tries. In 1924, the first blast furnace for iron ore went into production for crude steel. At first, the steel products were rolled into sheets. As of 1950, steel was also produced in the form of rods and fibers. A contract for cooperation with the Germanfirm Hoesch AG (with the new entity renamed Estel), signed in 1972, was terminated 10 years later. Corus has about 12,000 employees in the Netherlands, 9,500 in IJmuiden alone. At the end of 2006, Corus was involved in a takeover struggle with India’s Tata Steel and Brazil’s CSN as interested par ties. In 2007, Tata Steel made the highest bid in a secret auction.

   See also Manufacturing.