TATA Steel has drawn a line under days of speculation about the long-awaited Corus deal by emphasising its original target of the end of March.

Attending a conference in Malaysia, Vice Chairman B Muthuraman said: “The process is on, we should be able to complete it by March 31.”

Tata, the world’s seventh-largest steelmaker, agreed to sell the Teesside Cast Products plant to Thailand’s largest steel group, SSI, in a deal thought to be worth around £400 million.

The plant was mothballed a year ago after four vital steel slab buyers pulled out of a 10-year consortium.

Yesterday was a day of rumour and counter-rumour, culminating in claims that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg would visit Teesside to coincide with an official announcement in London. But it is now believed to be unlikely that there will be anything concrete today, and instead SSI are likely to be looking into next week and beyond.

Yesterday the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, former steelworker George Dunning, said: “I was always confident that a buyer would come along and invest in the Teesside Cast Products steel plants and the excellent workforce.

“We are moving closer to an amazing reversal of fortunes, just a year after one of this area’s darkest days.

“The mothballing of the plant was a devastating blow for Redcar and Cleveland, and Teesside as a whole, with the loss of so many jobs both directly and among a supply chain which relied on the steel industry.

“Resuming operations at the plant would provide a massive shot in the arm for the local economy.”