Not to fan the flames any further, but SSI has just been halted from trading by the SET.

Official reason? “The company has requested SET to temporarily suspend trading its securities because the firm is in the process of disclosing significant information.”

Unofficial reason? They’re bankrupt!

Reality – A restructuring of debt, the UK facility has been bleeding them dry.

How did they get here?

SSI bought the Teesside Cast Products site from Tata Steel in 2011 in a $469m deal. The Redcar blast furnace is Europe’s second biggest and at full tilt has the capacity to support production of 3.5m tonnes of steel a year.

SSI has since ploughed in at least $600m in investment and working capital into the site but it has struggled financially and racked up a $309.4m (£200m) loss in 2013.

European demand for the metal is still 25 per cent below pre-crisis levels and the slump in global prices has been compounded by cheap Chinese exports, which British steel companies say are a source of unfair competition due to Beijing’s financial support for its domestic sector. But they also complain of a high energy costs, in part down to the UK’s green policies.

“Last weekend when we got to Friday we couldn’t buy enough material to get us through the weekend. We have been living day to day,” he said. Now, he added, “we have key suppliers who have decided they can no longer supply us.” He declined to say how much suppliers were owed but confirmed the bill ran into tens of millions of pounds.

Source: FT