THE final few pieces of the SSI deal to buy Teesside Cast Products have now been put into place and the region is poised for an announcement tomorrow.
Exactly a year after the plant was mothballed, it is believed Business Minster Vince Cable will come to Teesside to announce that the Thai steel giants have completed their deal with Tata Steel to reopen the former Corus site and bring in 800 more workers to join the 700 still employed at the Redcar site.
Intricate talks to organise the shared responsibilities of the vast site between Tata and SSI have taken longer than anticipated, but it seems the day could finally be here that will once again change the face of steel production on Teesside.
After details of the arrangements emerged from Thailand, SSI’s president, Mr Win Viriyaprapaikit revealed the likely staff numbers and even talked about the possible output figures needed. Then, crucially, the whole process moved a step closer when SSI told the Thai stock market it had started to raise the £400m needed for the deal, including £127m in a rights issue to help finance its purchase of the site in Redcar.
Middlesbrough South MP Tom Blenkinsop told the Gazette this morning: “If this is the case, and we will all have to wait for the official announcement, this is fantastic news because it co-incides almost to the day a year ago when the blast furnace at Redcar was taken out of service.”
Mr Blenkinsop went on to praise the “tenacity and grit” of Teessiders who where determined not to let the industry die.
But Tata Steel have still remained on the brink of announcing the news without being able to confirm it.
