Crash, then crisis Then, the 2008 subprime crisis happened. With the collapse of marquee names such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, the Western world went into a tailspin. Automobile companies and construction companies, the main sectors affected in the financial crisis, were key customers of Corus. The company recorded a 23 per cent decline in Ebitda for 2008-09, followed by a $303 mn (Rs 1,361 crore) operating loss in 2009-10. This was attributed to a significant decline in European demand and continuation of production at the loss-making Teesside Cast Products unit in the UK. A consortium of four customers pulled out of a 10-year purchase contract with Corus, leading to a loss of nearly 1,500 jobs. The contract had helped the company sell nearly 80 per cent of the plant's total output. "There is nothing new to the cyclical nature of steel business," said Vikas Kaushal, partner at global management consultancy firm A T Kearney. "A company's strategy for scale and footprint should not be undermined with every decline in the cycle."