MULTI-MILLION pound plans to expand a Teesside chemical plant have been given the green light by company bosses.
Lotte Chemical UK has given the go-ahead to increase production of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) at the Wilton facility.
LCUK will build a 200 ktpa (kilotonnes per annum) plant at the Wilton Site, alongside its existing 150 ktpa PET Plant (M5), to be on line in the third quarter of 2013.
Initial ground works will start in the next couple of weeks with detailed design likely to commence in November.
The addition of a new line will underpin the capacity of the co-located T8 PTA Plant and enable LCUK’s move into a wider range of PET products including resins incorporating post consumer recycled PET.
In April LCUK was given approval for £6.7m of Regional Growth Fund support towards the construction of the new PET plant.
The project should create 55 direct new jobs, around 300 during construction plus help to safeguard around 170 existing roles in LCUK and well more than 200 jobs for companies across the value chain.
Parent company KP Chemical of South Korea also granted its support in early summer.
SY Huh, KP President, said the project represents a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes for the former Artenius UK business, which went into administration in early 2010. He said: “It is only 18 months since Lotte purchased the assets and we restarted the business after over eight months in administration.”
Redcar MP Ian Swales, MP said: “The Government is committed to encouraging the manufacturing industry and inward investment on Teesside.”
