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SSI deal could bring 800 jobs back to Teesside
by Jez Davison, Evening Gazette
Jan 26 2011
AT LEAST 800 jobs will be created on Teesside once Thai firm Sahaviriya Steel Industries seals a deal to buy the Tata Steel plant in Redcar.
SSI is poised to acquire the Teesside Cast Products (TCP) blast furnace within weeks after it was mothballed last year following a severe downturn in the global steel industry.
The Thai firm wants to ramp up steel production on Teesside and get the plant up and running again by September - creating hundreds of jobs in the process.
Speaking to an international news agency, SSI president Win Viriyaprapaikit said he expected to add at least 800 staff to TCP’s current workforce of about 700.
Previously around 1,700 staff worked at the Redcar plant but more than half of them lost their jobs after it was mothballed.
Yesterday SSI said it would look to use “residual skills” of former TCP workers and the expertise of other Teessiders.
“Mr Win has always been keen to stress that the local skills in this area are what he finds most appealing about Teesside,” a company spokesman said.
SSI predicts profits could rise to record levels as a result of the TCP acquisition and it is keen to complete the deal quickly.
Mr Win said: “This year’s net profit could be a record as our acquisition will enhance our competitive edge and sustain profitability. We’re doing the best we can to restart the Teesside plant sooner than the September plan because the market is really tight right now.
“The faster we restart it, the faster we can benefit and create jobs there.”
The deal moved another step closer yesterday after SSI shareholders gave the green light for a capital-raising exercise to finance the acquisition.
The news will be a boost to Teesside which has suffered a spate of job losses and plant closures in the last two years.
Dow Chemicals, Croda and Invista Textiles have all shut down key manufacturing operations on the Wilton International site, while the collapse of call centre company Garlands last year led to 1,100 redundancies.
The fall-out from the recession is still being felt, with Middlesbrough lying second in Britain’s unemployment league table.
Figures show the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance on Teesside last month jumped by 592 to 25,090 - reversing a fall of 126 between October and November
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