Five months after a steel plant on Teesside was reopened, production has hit the one million tonnes mark.

The former Corus site in Redcar was mothballed with the loss of 1,600 jobs in 2010.

A year later it was bought by Thai company SSI, with production resuming in April following the relighting of the furnace.

The company has described hitting the one million tonnes point as an important milestone.

Much of the steel produced is shipped to Thailand, via Teesport, and is used mainly in the automotive sector, with some turned into white goods.

Mr Phil Dryden CEO of SSI UK said that "Although this has been a very tough year for steel businesses across the globe, the plant has operated extremely well since the restart and this is another important milestone reached. It is a demonstration of the commitment shown by SSI UK employees and is testament to the support received from all the stakeholders involved in the rebirth of iron and steelmaking on Teesside"

Source - BBC News

(www.steelguru.com)