Sabic confirms closure of plant with jobs to go

Sabic said its decision has been communicated to employees and external stakeholders

Hundreds of workers could lose their jobs after the manufacturing and chemicals giant Sabic announced the closure of its site in north-east England.

The Saudi Arabian firm, one of the world's largest petrochemical manufacturers, will shut its Olefins 6 cracker plant in Wilton, Teesside, after 46 years of it operating.

The exact number of job losses is not yet known but the firm currently employs 330 people at the site.

Sabic said its decision was the result of a "thorough analysis aimed at optimising competitiveness", but Unite said the news was a "disgrace" from a profitable company.

The firm made a net profit of almost £300m last year but last month it was reported that Sabic could be looking to sell its European petrochemicals business amid high energy costs.

The Teesside Olefins 6 cracker facility produces the raw material ethylene to make building blocks for a variety of products.

The company produces chemicals, fertilisers, plastics and metals at its plant in Wilton, near Redcar, but also has storage and logistics facilities in North Tees and Teesport.

'Devastating blow'

Its Olefins 6 facility had been offline since the end of 2020 and was due to be converted to run entirely on gas feedstocks.

Unite said its members had been paid to keep the plant safe and ready to come back online for future operations.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "It is a disgrace that valued workers are being threatened with redundancy by a profitable company."

Fazia Hussain-Brown, Unite regional officer, said the potential loss of so many jobs was a "devastating blow".

She said there were "few options" for alternative employment for the workers which had "understandably" caused "a lot of anger".

'Support our employees'

Consultations are expected to begin on 1 July.

Sabic said the decision to shut the plant was also down to ensuring "the company [remained] agile and resilient in an evolving global landscape".

They told the BBC: "Sabic is committed to carrying out a meaningful collective consultation with employee representatives and a fair redundancy process consistent with applicable legal requirements, as well as implementing other support measures aimed at minimising the impact on employees.

"The company's priority is to support our employees during this difficult time and to remain focused on the safe, compliant, and reliable operation of its remaining assets on Teesside."

They confirmed the LDPE plant operations in Teesside would continue to operate normally.