Adams steps down as boss of Corus

Corus chief executive Kirby Adams is to step down in October after an 18-month tenure marked by extreme turbulence in the global steel market.

Mr Adams will be succeeded as the European boss of Tata Steel by Dr Karl-Ulrich Köhler, the company's chief operating officer.

During his short stint in the top job, Mr Adams oversaw a restructuring of the group, including thousands of redundancies, following massive losses caused by the recession. He also faced controversy earlier this year over the mothballing of the Teesside Cast Products factory in Redcar. Corus is still in talks about the possible sale of the plant.

Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Steel, said: "Kirby has effected a major turnaround of the business and he leaves the company very well placed for the future.."

Corus's British and Dutch operations produce two-thirds of Tata Steel's output.