Is this the end of steel production in Teesside?
Iron and steelmaking at the SSI plant in Redcar is to be mothballed with the loss of 1,700 jobs.
Thai firm SSI blamed a reduction in steel prices for the situation, while unions said ceasing production would have a devastating effect on the area after a 170-year history.
Although iron and steel production will end, the coke ovens and power station will continue to operate.
SSI said: “This decision has had to be taken against a continuing background of poor steel trading conditions across the globe and the consequential severe deterioration in steel prices experienced during the course of 2015, together with the view that this is unlikely to change in the short term.
“We will continue to work with various stakeholders, including government, with the objective of restarting operations at Teesside at some point in the future.”
Business Minister Anna Soubry said she hoped “steelmaking could be restarted on Teesside in the future”, adding: “The price of steel has almost halved over the past year, with over-production in the world market.
“While government cannot alter these conditions, I have called a steel summit to see what more can be done to help our steel industry.”
‘Built on steelmaking’
Redcar’s Labour MP Anna Turley: “Redcar was built on steelmaking, Teesside was built on steelmaking. It’s about generations of people that have worked in that blast furnace and fought so hard, not just in the last few days but in the last few weeks, months, years, to keep steelmaking alive. It’s just been allowed to fizzle out.”
Ms Turley said the government should take control of the site and its assets and accused SSI of playing “fast and loose” with the plant’s future.
David Hulse, GMB national officer, said: “This is absolutely devastating news for the workers, their families and the community.
“All that will be left operating will be the coke ovens unless the UK government steps in even at this stage. It is not too late for them to do so while the furnaces are still burning.”
‘Passed down through generations’
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, said: “These vital industrial skills have been passed down through the generations and must not be lost.
“That blast furnace must not become a monument to 170 years of history and it must be mothballed properly to preserve its integrity and give it the chance of a future.”
