ICI close to Wilton cracker deal
15 Jan 2000
ICI's withdrawal as a player in the commodity chemicals business is about to reach its most dramatic point, with the sale of the company's cracker at Wilton on Teesside and associated aromatics businesses. UScompanies Huntsman and Chevron are reported to be in the bidding, along with BPChemicals, which is already ICI's partner in the cracker.
BP owns 20 per cent of the 865000tpa Wilton ethylene plant, which it uses to feed its adjacent polyethylene plant. The company is very keen to buy the outstanding 80 per cent, but the cracker is integrated with ICI's aromatics units, which are outside BP's core area. Additional ethylene goes to the European Vinyls Corporation, in which ICIowns a minority stake also up for sale.
The other bidders are, therefore, lining up for a crack at the aromatics units a 330000tpa paraxylene plant at Wilton, along with the 640000tpa benzene unit and 300000tpa cyclohexane plant nearby at North Tees.
