Downturn hits cracker
CHEMICAL firm SABIC is temporarily shutting down part of its cracker complex at Wilton following a drop in demand, it was confirmed today.
It is understood the Olefins 6 plant - which underwent a two-month, £35m overhaul last year - will be switched off for around six to eight weeks.
The Butadiene plant, which manufactures rubber products and is also part of the cracker complex, will continue to operate as normal.
SABIC has blamed the global economic downturn for the decision and said “it was too early to say” whether the shutdown period would be extended.
A spokesperson said: “It’s partly due to the global economic situation.
“Demand has been fairly weak across the board.
“The fact that we are part of SABIC Europe is good.
“We have two other crackers in Holland and we will make sure current demand is catered for.”
He also said SABIC would use the opportunity to carry out further maintenance work on the site.
“We aim to emerge with a plant that’s in better shape to cope with the economic upturn when it does come,” he said.
The shutdown, which will cause “medium to heavy” flaring, is not expected to lead to redundancies or major reductions in staff working hours.
The cracker complex is part of a huge SABIC presence on Teesside, which is also home to the Aromatics 1 plant at North Tees and the almost complete £200m Low Density Polyethylene plant at Wilton.
Overall, SABIC generates around 2.5m tonnes of product on Teesside each year.
Olefins, a type of basic chemical known as hydrocarbons, are used in everyday products such as toothbrushes, television and video components and films for packaging.
Stan Higgins, chief executive of the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), said lower demand for these everyday goods was putting particular pressure on the plastics industry - a key user of hydrocarbons.
He said a global downturn in the motor trade was also impacting on companies in the process sector.
“The surroundings of a car are around 90% plastic; plastic foams can be found inside cavity walls in the home,” he said.
“This is about the global economy. “People are not buying big-ticket items and we just have to hope that demand improves by the middle of the year.”
But he also said other parts of the process chain, such as speciality and fine chemicals firms, were holding up well in difficult economic conditions.
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