Chemical Sector

North East England's chemicals and process industry is a well-established, globally significant cluster that has developed over decades and benefits from the region's excellent infrastructure, support networks, skills and extensive technical expertise.

With core strengths in science, research & development and innovation, North East England supports four key process and chemical industries:

Base & Petrochemicals
Fine & Speciality Chemicals
Pharmaceuticals Manufacture
Biotechnology.

Contributing to over 30% of the region’s industrial economy, the sector attracts some of the chemical and process industry’s world leaders. These include SABIC UK Petrochemicals (a leading global producer of petrochemicals), Dow (a major global chemical manufacturer and processor), Petroplus (a major European bio-diesel producer) and sanofi-aventis (a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer with two major locations in the North East).

At the heart of Wilton International, one of the few sites in Western Europe with special development status enabling it to be used for chemical processing, the region is home to a number of innovative projects such as SABIC's world-scale Cracker plant and the UK's first large scale biomass power station of its kind developed by Semcorp Utilities UK.

Easy, direct access to international markets is achieved via two interantional airports adn three ports including major deep sea port, Teesport, which is the UK's third largest port handling approximately 50 million tonnes of cargo a year and is ideally positioned to take advantage of the ever increasing opportunities in European and Scandinavian trades, the emerging markets of Eastern Europe.

Alongside these major manufacturing assets, public and private sector backing for innovative new processes is providing a range of investment opportunities on a global scale.

Practical support is also available from regional centres of excellence: NEPIC, the North East Process Industry Cluster; and CPI, the Centre for Process Innovation, as well as the UK's National Skills Academy for Process Industries based in Darlington.

To find out more, click here to visit the North East England site.

Supporting Documents and Downloads