30 | Tees Business
Icon – SABIC’s Olefins 6 Cracker will be shut down
along with the firm’s other Teesside operations for
two months as part of the 2020 turnaround.
2020
VISION
2,000 CONTRACTORS
SET TO SUPPORT SABIC
TURNAROUND
C
hemical giant SABIC has committed
to a multi-million pound investment
for the major maintenance and
inspection of its Teesside operations.
The work, known as a turnaround, will
see up to 2,000 contractors join SABIC’s
usual 500-strong workforce to perform the
essential work over a two-month period in
2020.
Carried out every six years, the turnaround
involves the shutdown of SABIC’s iconic
Olefins Cracker, its world-scale low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) plant and other
operations at Wilton and North Tees.
SABIC’s Teesside site director Daren Smith
says the turnaround investment emphasises
the Saudi-owned company’s ongoing
commitment to the region.
He said it was “fantastic news” that
the firm’s Teesside operations had “earned
the right” to the 2020 turnaround during a
successful two-year period that has seen it
bounce back from earlier uncertainty.
The last two years have seen the global
chemical company commit significant
investments to upgrade its Olefins Cracker at
Wilton, near Redcar, and logistics facilities on
the north shore of the River Tees. This was
followed by what Smith described as “an
excellent year for manufacturing” in 2017.
“I see a real sense of purpose, optimism
and ambition to a far greater level than I’ve
known in my 18 years with the business,” he
said.
“We are succeeding but we must fight to
retain our competitive edge by continuing to
innovate and build on our privileged position
to create a sustainable future.
“To build on those successes, we need,
first and foremost, to prepare ourselves
for the turnaround in 2020 when we’ll take
the Cracker and all of our other operations
offline for 60 days to carry out essential
maintenance and inspection to ensure our
assets are ready for the next six years’ worth
of continuous operation.
“Once the 2020 event is successfully
completed we will look to earn the right
once again for another high level of capital
investment for a further turnaround in 2026.”
Although still two years away, detailed
preparations have started and talks are
underway to contract a number of firms
from the region to support a project Smith
described as “an enormous event.”
Smith explained: “In 2020 the whole of
SABIC on Teesside will go into a shutdown
mode. That means there will be a large
requirement for support. Internally, we have
already restructured to create a bespoke
team that is dedicated to making the
turnaround a success.
“That team is looking at the work we want
to carry out, the contracting companies we
need to engage with, how many resources
we need to mobilise and what we need to
achieve during the turnaround.
“We started initial discussions with
suppliers some months ago and given the
skilled workforce that exists within the region
we foresee much of the support we need
coming from local resources.”
And Smith revealed he had laid down
the gauntlet for a turnaround that sets new
standards for the industry.
He said: “The challenge I’ve given to all of
our team is to make it the best turnaround
event Teesside has ever seen. We must apply
all of the known industry best practice in
turnaround execution and then bring further
innovation and creativity to make this event
the safest, most productive, most cost-
efficient and effective turnaround we have
ever delivered.”