A £26m investment is to be made into British Steel’s Teesside plant as it looks to ramp up its special profiles division.
Work will be switched from Darlington to Skinningrove as part of the investment project, which forms part of an overall programme to plough £100m into British Steel by its Chinese owners Jingye Group.
Advanced milling and machining capabilities at the Teesside plant mean it will be able to offer specialist products to the forklift and earthmoving industries, with hopes of growing export markets in various parts of the world.
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The project, which starts this year and is expected to be completed by August 2023, will create work for a range of contractors.
As part of the investment, the company’s Darlington site will close in 2023, but its 25 staff are expected to be transferred to Teesside.
David Waine, British Steel’s commercial director for special profiles, said: “This is an exciting project that will establish us as a leading manufacturer on the world stage.
“Our high-quality profiles are supplied globally to make components for a wide range of market sectors, such as the forklift and earthmoving industries, and many of these applications are extremely demanding.
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“Our investment means we’ll have world-class products manufactured to the tightest of tolerances. It will enable us to explore new growth opportunities for our forklift mast products in Europe, North and South America, India and Asia.
“And although our primary product offering will be for forklift mast production, we expect to be able to expand this to include other product applications too.”
British Steel said it has strong demand for its products, particularly those used in the mining and construction sectors, and on high-reach trucks typically used in the booming warehouse sector.
The latest scheme builds on previous investments, including the installation of a £2m surface descaling system, a high-tech product processing centre and a robotic identification tracking control for each profile manufactured at the Skinningrove mill.
Mr Waine added: “These projects are taking our profile offering from strength to strength.
“But it’s not just our series of investments that’s making the difference; the innovation and skill of our teams to think differently, identify new opportunities and implement them effectively is really transforming the products and services we’re able to offer. In the last two years alone, we’ve achieved an impressive nine product patents and it’s this continued entrepreneurship that is driving our business forward.
“The market is becoming increasingly competitive. But by continually innovating and developing our processing capabilities in line with customer requirements, the outlook is bright.”