Tees Valley is a global leader for the chemical and process industry, with one of the most significant integrated industrial economies in the world. We produce some 30% of the UK’s chemical output and are home to some of the world’s biggest chemical manufacturers.
We are home to the largest chemical complex in the UK, and the second largest in Europe in terms of manufacturing capacity. More than 1,400 companies in Tees Valley are directly involved in chemicals and process industry and the sector exports £12billion of product, contributing £2.5billion a year to the local economy.
The region’s chemical industry is concentrated across a relatively small area with a well-developed infrastructure. The three main sites of Wilton International, Billingham and Seal Sands & North Tees run approximately 12 miles east to west either side of the River Tees and contain major international companies.
Tees Valley’s supportive infrastructure includes a deep-water port, significant tank farm logistics facilities, pipeline corridors connecting manufacturing sites, bulk industrial gas and effluent treatment plants.
Tees Valley is home to one of the largest gas crackers in Europe, owned by SABIC UK. The firm is currently undertaking the region’s largest process sector investment in a generation – the Teesside gas cracker conversion; BOC Linde operates one of the world’s largest industrial gas pipeline grids supplying hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and argon in Tees Valley; Lotte Chemicals has invested in a new Polyetheylene Terephthalate (PET) manufacturing plant alongside its existing assets; Venator’s global headquarters and UK manufacturing base are located in Tees Valley; Lucite International is the global leader in acrylic based products; Huntsman Polyurethanes has an Aniline plant and a Mononitrobenzene plant at Wilton – both of which are the largest of their type in the world; CF Industries is the UK’s leading manufacturer of ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate and granular fertilisers.
We are also world-class centre for the petrochemicals, energy, bio-resources and advanced manufacturing industry. The region is at the forefront of pioneering opportunities for the sector, including industrial carbon capture, utilisation and storage and the hydrogen economy.
Wilton International is the largest ‘private wire’ electricity network in the UK. One of the UK’s most important locations for the process industry, the site enables manufacturers to realise significant savings on both capex and opex compared to other UK locations, with between 20MW of onsite generation capacity available to users. It is also connected to the national transmission system for security of supply. Low-cost power generated onsite at Wilton provides manufacturers with competitively priced energy.
Since 2003, Sembcorp has invested over £297million transitioning to a low carbon and renewable fuelled Combined Heat and Power asset base and the site has seen over £1.3billion of blue chip capital investment in the past ten years, including SABIC’s LDPE Plant and Gas Cracker project, Ensus’s Bio refinery, Lotte’s PET Plant and the planned Sirius Polyhalite Processing Plant.
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is an open-access, independent innovation centre that supports the development of the UK process industry and UK manufacturing. CPI provides state-of-the-art facilities and market knowledge to assist businesses of all sizes in efficiently delivering innovations as market-ready solutions. This reduces the risks that come with developing new concepts, giving businesses the best chance of success.
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