More than 90% of the work required to start production again at a steel plant has been completed and the end of the preparatory phase is now “within sight”, the operation’s new owner has claimed.

Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), a Thailand-based company, had hoped to reopen the mothballed Teesside facility in December after purchasing it from Tata Steel a year ago.

A statement released by SSI confirmed that the heating-up schedule for the blastfurnace stoves has started. It added: “The four stoves, which are gas-heated, form an integral part of the blastfurnace operation and their function is to heat the blast of air which is blown into the furnace during the iron-making process.

“The gradual heating up of the stoves will take a number of weeks to complete and for them to be brought up to the required working temperature of circa 1,200C.”

SSI UK chief executive Phil Dryden said: “We have made good progress on the project during January and over 90% of the work is now completed.”