STEEL production on Teesside, whoever owns it, is part of a global industry which, like others, can reach a crisis point if more is produced than sold on the market.
SSI has debts and owes money, no doubt in the expectation that it will be able to honour its debts and break even or make a profit.
When we did have nationalisation it was far from an unqualified success, and I am not advocating it now as the solution.
I do think that if the problems of SSI show that the present position of oversupply is a temporary phenomenon and there is a future growth market for steel products it would be wrong to refuse financial assistance from our national exchequer.
The mindset of the present government does need to shift.
G Bulmer, Billingham
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