Tees Valley confronts Thailand over future of Redcar steelworks

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Tees Valley confronts Thailand over future of Redcar steelworks

Mayor Ben Houchen wants to force three Thai banks to sell crucial plot on mothballed site

Helen Pidd North of England editor

 

The site has stood rusting on the North Sea coast for more than four years. //FILE photo

 

A David v Goliath battle will begin in the north-east of England on Tuesday as the mayor of the Tees Valley (population 700,000) faces off with the government of Thailand (population 69 million) over the future of the former Redcar steelworks.

 

Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor of the industrial Tees Valley, wants to force three Thai banks, including one owned by the Thai state, to sell him a crucial 352-hectare (870-acre) plot on the 1,820-hectare Redcar site.

 

More than 2,500 jobs were lost when the plant’s Thai-based owners, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI UK), went bust in October 2015, ending Teesside’s 170-year history of steel and ironmaking. Houchen wants to decontaminate and redevelop the site into a low-CO2 manufacturing hub, creating 20,000 jobs in the next 20 years.

 

Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/09/tees-valley-thailand-future-of-redcar-steelworks

 

-- The Guardian 2020-02-10

[worgeordie]

Wonder how much the Thai banks are on the hook for,

regards Worgeordie

[smedly]

2 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Wonder how much the Thai banks are on the hook for,

regards Worgeordie

interesting that Thai interests can buy up what they want in the UK including land but Thailand is a sealed protection phobic country that excludes such investments 

 

If Thailand won't sell then claim it back under a compulsory purchase order 

[KhaoNiaw]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

interesting that Thai interests can buy up what they want in the UK including land but Thailand is a sealed protection phobic country that excludes such investments 

 

If Thailand won't sell then claim it back under a compulsory purchase order 

That's what there's a public hearing coming up for.

The Thai banks lent £800 million but the site has only been valued at £20 million and costs £20 million a year for safety work.  

Some interesting things in the article which many here will recognize - owners willing to sit on their empty property (especially with someone else footing maintenance costs), seeming to agree a price then deciding they want more, Thai ambassador 'completely disengaged' and not following up as promised. 

 

[samran]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

interesting that Thai interests can buy up what they want in the UK including land but Thailand is a sealed protection phobic country that excludes such investments 

 

If Thailand won't sell then claim it back under a compulsory purchase order 

I guess you’ve never heard of the Board of Investment then...

[Baerboxer]

30 minutes ago, samran said:

I guess you’ve never heard of the Board of Investment then...

 

So the BOI will help British companies buy and own outright businesses and the land and building assets they have, 100% in  Thailand?

[legend49]

5 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Wonder how much the Thai banks are on the hook for,

regards Worgeordie

Demolishing and decontaminating the site would cost about £190m, said Houchen. He leads a new body, the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), that wants to redevelop the whole site, which is – as Houchen likes to point out – “three times the size of Gibraltar, six times the size of the City of London and 1.5 times the footprint of Heathrow.”

In May 2018 Houchen flew to Thailand to try to persuade the banks to sell up. He returned home with what he thought was an agreement, only for the Thai bankers, led by Krung Thai, to change their minds over what the site was worth and play what he calls “a load of silly games”.

[samran]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

So the BOI will help British companies buy and own outright businesses and the land and building assets they have, 100% in  Thailand?

That is why they are there. 

[Assurancetourix]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

interesting that Thai interests can buy up what they want in the UK including land but Thailand is a sealed protection phobic country that excludes such investments 

 

If Thailand won't sell then claim it back under a compulsory purchase order 

expropriation, it exists in Uk, I suppose 

and as the site is polluted and it will cost a lot, sentencing of its former owners to foot the bill.
I think some lawyers will be able to find the loophole

Edited February 10, 2020 by Assurancetourix

[Assurancetourix]

1 hour ago, samran said:

I guess you’ve never heard of the Board of Investment then...

which in no way gives the right to own land on a personal basis ...

[samran]

21 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

which in no way gives the right to own land on a personal basis ...

We are talking about companies here whom have the right to go down the path I was talking about.

 

At a personal level, the only way at the moment is to get Thai citizenship. Not ideal, but there you go. 

[VocalNeal]

Any future use by Thai banks would require planning permission from? Hmmm? Let me see, Tees Valley Council? 

Up to them?

[samran]

9 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Any future use by Thai banks would require planning permission from? Hmmm? Let me see, Tees Valley Council? 

Up to them?

I recall when the investment was made people eyebrows were raised given that that steel was marginally economical, but the locals were falling all over themselves for the investment - which was understandable I guess.

 

"Win Viriyaprapaikit, the 40-year-old president of Sahaviriya Steel Industries, Thailand’s biggest steel producer, is the toast of Middlesbrough as the saviour of the Teesside Cast Products steel works just outside the city. "

 

https://www.ft.com/content/f6ff492e-42c2-11e0-8b34-00144feabdc0

 

 

Double edged sword though this stuff.

[Fex Bluse]

4 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

That's what there's a public hearing coming up for.

The Thai banks lent £800 million but the site has only been valued at £20 million and costs £20 million a year for safety work.  

Some interesting things in the article which many here will recognize - owners willing to sit on their empty property (especially with someone else footing maintenance costs), seeming to agree a price then deciding they want more, Thai ambassador 'completely disengaged' and not following up as promised. 

 

Several common features of the famous Thainess

[Cake Monster]

The Thai Banks lent 800 Million, and its only worth 20 ?

Doesn,t seem right to me.

 

[ericthai]

15 hours ago, smedly said:

interesting that Thai interests can buy up what they want in the UK including land but Thailand is a sealed protection phobic country that excludes such investments 

 

If Thailand won't sell then claim it back under a compulsory purchase order 

You ever think what would  happen if Thailand allowed foreign land ownership?  China and Japan would own it.  Sydney you cant afford anything becuase of the chinese, same for Vancouver.

 

I dont agree with the restriction of land ownership, but I understand why.

[Roy Baht]

21 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Some interesting things in the article which many here will recognize - owners willing to sit on their empty property (especially with someone else footing maintenance costs), seeming to agree a price then deciding they want more, Thai ambassador 'completely disengaged' and not following up as promised

Yeah, it's enough that companies employ these sleazy unethical business practices here. Now they are exporting them.

[bloodyholly]

I wonder how much ’key money’ Sahaviriya Steel Industries would originally have had to pay out ? ????