1000 New Jobs For Redcar Steel Industry

A huge steel plant in Redcar that was rescued from closure last year has announced they're gonna start recruiting for 1000 new jobs.

Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), Thailand's biggest steel producer, will start recruiting next month for the new jobs at the Teesside Cast Products site.

The firm bought the site from Corus this year, sparking hopes of a return to major steel-making in an area with a long tradition in the industry.

The plant was mothballed more than a year ago under the ownership of Corus after a major contract fell through, causing the loss of 1,600 jobs.

Michael Leahy, leader of the Community trade union, said the announcement was "fantastic news''.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The creation of these 1,000 new jobs is a fantastic boost to SSI UK, to Redcar and the North East.

Teesside can look forward to large-scale steel production once again, producing 3.6 million tonnes of steel in the first year. That's something for us all to celebrate.''

Mr Leahy said: "This is fantastic news for the people of Teesside and a tribute to all those who worked tirelessly to keep the plant open.''

The company said plans for the work programme associated with the resumption of iron and steelmaking at its Teesside site are well advanced and within a few weeks it hopes to publicise a target date for the restart of operations.

Recruitment will start on August 8, with up to 1,000 jobs being created, said SSI.