Tata Steel says more jobs at risk at England plant

MUMBAI, July 9 (Reuters) - India's Tata Steel (TISC.BO) said on Thursday another 366 jobs at its Corus unit's Scunthorpe plant in northeast England were at risk as part of a plan to align employment costs with expected steel demand.

In June, Corus had announced plans to cut about 2,000 jobs in Britain and Netherlands, including 500 white-collar jobs at Scunthorpe.

The group had announced 3,500 job cuts worldwide in January.

Tata, the world's No 6 steelmaker, said its Anglo-Dutch unit Corus had started consultations with employees at the plant and would seek voluntary redundancies wherever possible.

The plant is part of its long products division that makes sections, wire rods and plates, used mostly in construction.

Corus, which contributes most of Tata Steel's output, kept 40 percent of its 20 million tonnes capacity idle in the first six months of 2009, resulting in a 60 percent drop in the group's net profit for the fiscal year ended March.

Global steel production has tumbled this year, as demand in key steel consuming sectors such as construction and automotive has shrank, and the World Steel Association has forecast demand would tumble 15 percent in 2009, the steepest fall since World War II.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra; Editing by John Mair)