Serving the Teesside Business Community | 17
Wilton watch
These four developments will create hundreds more Teesside
jobs when work gets underway next year and beyond:
• Construction work is scheduled to begin next
year on a processing plant for polyhalite rock
from the new Sirius Minerals mine near Whitby,
as part of an overall £2bn development.
• Also in the pipeline is a mineral processing
plant, with Aussie firm Peak Resources awaiting
planning permission to build a £70m unit to
process rare earth ore that will make the core
ingredients for magnets used in such things as
mobile phones and motors.
• Sustainable technology start-up ST2 is
proposing to build a large data centre on land
formerly occupied by a Croda surfactants plant.
• Planning permission is being sought by
Sembcorp Utilities to build a new £700m gas-
fired power station on the site of the former
Enron/GDF Suez power plant.
We’ve only just begun
S
flows across its sites in Europe in a cost-
efficient manner but there is further cost-
saving potential.
“So why not upgrade those ethylene
molecules and add value to the product
here on Teesside? We could take them into
high or low-density polyethylene, or we
could upgrade them into ethylene oxide and
re-start the ethylene glycol and surfactants
chain that we lost here some years ago.
“In the past, other companies produced
ethylene oxide and others upgraded that
into surfactants. Unfortunately, during
the downturn, companies took business
decisions to move their manufacturing bases
from Teesside, some moved out of the
business and others went under.
“But there is the potential to have those
supply chains again and re-establish the UK
surfactants sector here on Teesside.”
Smith says he is determined to drive the
growth agenda, but is at pains to emphasise
that SABIC cannot do it all alone.
He continues: “SABIC is a growing
corporation, with worldwide aspirations.
It has many other assets and growth
capabilities to think about around the world,
so our Teesside site is competing internally
for finance and development opportunities.
“We can start the conversations and show
willing. But it can’t just be SABIC – it needs
collaboration and it needs investment from
other companies.”
Smith reveals that talks are ongoing with
the government’s Department for Business,
SABIC’s Teesside site director Daren Smith (left)
believes the Wilton site (above) has the building
blocks to recreate its glory days.
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) about
the potential for the Tees region.
“There are principle discussions going on
at a high strategic level with BEIS,” he says.
“We’ve talked about industrial strategy,
broken supply chains, the excess of ethylene
we have here and the type of things we can
do with it.
“There is a vast site at Wilton – it covers
2,000 acres, the equivalent of 1,300 football
pitches – with all the facilities, utilities and
support networks needed to re-establish
a world-scale chemical manufacturing
complex.”
And he insists that there has never been
a better time or opportunity for Teesside to
seize the day and create a strong, sustainable
future at the heart of the process sector.
“Everything we do has to build a
sustainable future for the Teesside region,
because chemical manufacturing is not only
part of our heritage but part of our ongoing
lifeblood.
“Right now we find ourselves in a unique
position in terms of the new mayor, the
network he brings and the influence he is
able to leverage for the Teesside region.
“So now is the time for Teesside – and
SABIC’s operations here -– to move forward,
look beyond simply surviving and dare to
dream.”
ABIC’s Teesside site director
Daren Smith says levels of
confidence and pride within the
company’s 500-strong workforce are
higher than he has known – but the
Teesside operation must continue to
innovate to retain its competitive edge.
The past two years have seen the
global chemical giant invest multi-
millions into upgrading its Olefins
cracker (pictured above) at Wilton, near
Redcar, resulting in a successful 2017
and reasons to be confident about the
years ahead. But, he insists, the hard
work starts now.
Smith, who has risen to head the
company’s Teesside operations from
humble beginnings as an apprentice at
Darlington engineering firm Cummings,
said: “In 2017 we had an excellent year
for manufacturing.
“I see the plant’s reliability improving,
I see the workforce aligned, engaged
and motivated, and I see a real sense
of purpose, optimism and ambition to a
far greater level than I’ve known in my
17 years with the business.
“We’ve come through some difficult
times to achieve the successful
implementation of our Gas Cracking
Project over the last two years, bringing
in competitively advantaged feedstock
to Teesside and delivering above
expectation.
“So are we succeeding?
Emphatically, yes, we are.
“But I will not allow us to sit back on
our laurels and think that completion
of the Gas Cracking Project was it –
because we’ve only just started.
“Now we need to fight to retain our
competitive edge. Having some of the
cheapest ethylene molecules in Europe
is a statement that will not stand the
test of time if we don’t continue to
innovate and build on our privileged
position to create a sustainable future.”