Investment for process industry

Sep 24 2007 The Journal

THE process industry in our region continues to develop. And that can be seen quite clearly in the Tees Valley. Once dominated by ICI, the chemical giant’s demise in the region has opened the door to other global players.

New names have arrived, bringing with them new opportunities and new investment.

And that development and change in the sector is on-going. Hexion Specialty Chemicals recently announced it is buying chemical company Huntsman in a $10.6bn deal.

The sales include local Tees Valley operations including Pigments (formerly Tioxide) division at Greatham, near Hartlepool, Haverton Hill and Billingham, and the polyurethanes operations and a service centre at Wilton – employing about 650 people in total. The Huntsman Corporation initially announced it was going to sell its remaining businesses to Dutch company Basell for $9.6bn.

But Hexion, which is owned by private equity group Apollo Management, stepped in with a higher bid. The latest deal is subject to regulatory approval in the United States and Europe as well as Huntsman shareholders. Once the deal has gone through this will sever the family’s links with Teesside, which began in 1999 when they took over a big chunk of ICI. Last September Huntsman sold off its Teesside-based European Base Chemicals and Polymers business, employing 840 people, to the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation.

This involved petrochemicals assets at Wilton – the cracker and paraxylene plants and the £200m polyethylene plant, which is currently under construction, and the aromatics complex at North Tees.