BIZARRE claims by the boss of SSI that steelmaking could return to Teesside have been met with fury by MPs and unions who accuse the Thai firm of leaving Redcar to rot.  

In one of his first public statements since SSI UK was liquidated in October last year, with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs, Win Viriyaprapaikit, president and chief executive of SSI, said there could be a future for SSI's Redcar plant. 

Redcar MP Anna Turley branded his comments "bizarre" and urged the former saviour of Tees steelmaking to come clean on his plans. 

Despite the site's coke ovens being put out of use and iron and steelmaking assets going through a so-called 'hard closure' rather than a mothballing - meaning reviving production could cost hundreds of millions of pounds - Mr Win told The Bangkok Post that talk of the death of Tees steelmaking was premature. 

"We have been in talks with our creditors on how to deal with the debt and SSI UK," said Mr Win, who is also the debt rehabilitation planner. "I am confident that we will find a good solution eventually."

He said the company has considered the option of not selling SSI UK and waiting to resume operations when global steel prices recover.

The SSI boss added: "It would be possible to resume operation of SSI UK, as we see global steel prices starting to recover," he said. "So another plan we are thinking about is to start operation again to generate revenue and gradually repay all creditors."

Ms Turley believed the plan was fanciful and she urged Mr Win to explain himself face-to-face with his former employees.

She said: "This is a bizarre comment from SSI and I will be writing to Mr Win today asking him to come to Teesside to explain the suggestions he has made to myself and the 1000s of steelworkers who have lost their jobs.

"The blast furnace and the coke ovens have been lost, and therefore the primary assets they had in SSI UK. A restart would require investment on an enormous scale that I doubt very much they have. SSI in Thailand behaved appallingly throughout this whole sorry saga. I hope they are not intending to sit on the site and hold Teesside to ransom while they cook up impossible dreams of waiting for the steel price to recover - we need to move on and bring jobs and investment to the area."

Paul Warren, former SSI worker and Regional Organiser for Community, said:

“SSI was quick enough to turn their back and leave behind a devastated community. The least Mr Win could do is come to the UK and explain what his intentions are. That site cannot be allowed to rot for years, it must be returned to useful economic activity which brings the decent jobs back that this struggling community so desperately needs.

“As the union for SSI workers Community has made it clear that we will continue to support and campaign for our members who have been affected until they return to employment and the community recovers. We know this won’t happen overnight but what don’t need is a company that abandoned us blocking Teesside’s chances to recover.”

The SSI Redcar site is now in the hands of the Official Receiver. This summer he will hand responsibility over to a team of consultants who will advise the Government on how the site can be prepared for future use.