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Thousands of Teesside jobs safeguarded following upgrades at Wilton Cracker plant

A multi-million pound upgrade at the SABIC Olefins 6 plant at Wilton, near Redcar, has helped to secure the industrial complex’s long-term future and safeguarded thousands of jobs in the region.

Upgrades on the 37-year-old plant have recently been completed following a two-year project that involved more than 800 contractors working across the Wilton site and SABIC’s North Tees site.

Work on the plant, which is lovingly dubbed the Cracker plant, focused on modifying the complex’s capabilities to allow it to process cheap ethane gas imported from the USA, providing an alternative to liquid feedstocks.

In what is being touted as the biggest investment in Teesside’s chemical industry ‘in a generation’, the upgrade has also entailed the creation of an extensive ethane terminal at SABIC’s North Tees site in Redcar and the construction of a pipeline in trenches beneath the River Tees.

Following completion of the project, SABIC’s Teesside Site Director John Bruijnooge commented: “This is fantastic news. The completion of the Teesside Gas Cracking Project is hugely significant on a number of fronts.

“On a local basis, it would be difficult to over-emphasise its importance because, quite simply, it is a lifeline for Teesside. It means SABIC is here for another generation.”

The Saudi chemical company already employs over 1,000 employees and contractors, along with thousands more local jobs as part of its wider supply chain, all of which will have their jobs safeguarded as a result of the improvement works.

“These are not easy times for our industry but it is a statement of SABIC’s commitment to Teesside, the UK and Europe. We’re here to stay,” added Bruijnooge.

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