Artenius adds to woes at Wilton

Barcelona, Spain - Grupo Seda has announced that its Artenius UK subsidiary has gone into administration. The business unit will stop producing terephthalic acid (PTA) at the Wilton site and, reportedly, around half the workforce have been made redundant.

The Spanish group lists the site as employing 149 in the PTA production activities and another 58 in the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate. Another 62 employees work across both operations.

The Teesside plant has a capacity to produce 670 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of PTA feedstock, which supplies a 150-ktpa PET (polyethylene terephthalate) facility at the site.

The move, which was warned of over the past few weeks by Artenius workers, is the latest in a series of blows for the North East process industries. It follows recent decisions by Dow Chemical Co. and Croda International to close major production facilities at Wilton.