The fate of Tees steel could depend on the next move by SSI President, Win Viriyaprapaikit. Business Editor Andy Richardson looks at the reclusive Thai businessman.

THE Thai steel man who was hailed a saviour when he rescued Redcar blast furnace from mothballing in 2011 yesterday took the decision to mothball the works himself.

People close to SSI president Win Viriyaprapaikit say he will have made that decision with a very heavy heart.

Cornelius Louwrens, SSI UK business director and chief operating officer, who spoke to Mr Win yesterday morning, said. “He has been talking lot to the banks but clearly this is distressing (for him). Making SSI UK part of the SSI family has been a dream of his for a long, long time so clearly this is not where he wanted to be.”

Mr Win, as he is known in the UK, is the youngest of six siblings - five of them female. Thai tradition meant that his father Wit, a self-made man, handed control of the business to his only son.

The legend goes that Mr Win was persuaded to buy the Teesside plant after seeing television images of families parading around Redcar with Save Our Steel banners. Mr Win later said there was some truth in that, but it is also true that the Viriyaprapaikits had wanted their own steel plant for some time and Win was scouring the world for a suitable investment when an owner was being sought for Redcar.

The family had originally planned to build their own works in Thailand. They had procured a huge tract of land, which included a banana plantation, behind which the plant would be built. The Asian economic crash at the turn of the millennium and environmental objections scuppered SSI’s bid to fulfil the dream in their homeland.

The decision to buy Redcar steelworks for almost £300m was an incredibly bold move. At the time Mr Win was praised for the “vision, foresight and bravery” that he and his father showed in taking on the challenge of restoring the whole plant to full production to feed Sahaviriya Steel Industries in Thailand. The purchase price was bigger than the market cap of the Thai company at the time, although its market value is likely to have dropped significantly since then.

There were reports in Thailand last week that Mr Win, who has invested more than $1bn in Teesside, was about to place the UK business into administration, after being beaten by a steel market storm that no one could have predicted.

The axing of 1,700 steelworkers, many of whom lost their jobs when the plant was shut down by Corus six years ago, is a huge blow for them and their families. Mr Win’s failure to talk to his Teesside workforce in recent weeks, or to meet with Tees MPs has understandably drawn criticism. There are still serious concerns that redundancy payments and pension contributions won’t be met as the Thai firm struggles with its debt mountain.

But the move to mothball rather than to place SSI UK into administration suggests the Bangkok-based businessman is hoping that he can pull off another miracle.

His priority will be to protect the Thai-based parent company. The parts of the group that are listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand includes a port and rolling mill in Thailand as well as the Teesside UK business. If SSI UK collapsed, creditors in over here could take a run at the Thai business in a bid to recover their debts.

The short term plan to slash losses at Redcar by mothballing the plant is harsh but has it has not surprised industry insiders. It buys Mr Win time.

His claim in 2013 that steelmaking on Teesside can last 300 years now sounds like hubris. But while the coke ovens still burn there is a slim chance of another miraculous return from the dead.