01/06/2009
Investment and restructuring in the Inorganics business
Brenntag UK & Ireland announces it is to invest in its Inorganics business to extend the facility at its Sandbach site.
The company is developing a new ‘Inorganics Terminal’ near the current Booth Lane depot, based around the existing caustic soda liquor storage tank, which is one of the largest in the country.
The investment also includes the upgrade of caustic dilution and blending, the construction of new storage tanks for hydrochloric acid as well as the associated infrastructure. The terminal is also home to the sulphuric acid dilution facility which was built last autumn.
In conjunction with the expansion, Brenntag will cease all existing manufacturing activities, including ferric chloride, at Sandbach. Regrettably, this means that the operations and engineering jobs at the depot will be made redundant. Consultations with the Unions and affected employees are taking place and Brenntag will provide whatever support it can to employees during these unavoidable changes.
In further developments, Brenntag has agreed a major contract with Tessenderlo Chemie to purchase ferric chloride in order to maintain and grow existing business, especially within water treatment. Tessenderlo has invested in additional production capacities in Northern France and Belgium in order to meet increasing customer demand.
David O’Connell, Managing Director – Inorganics said “In the current economic climate when investment capital is restricted, these plans demonstrate confidence in the Brenntag UK business. The new Terminal ensures that we have the capacity, flexibility and independence to be a key supplier to our customers for both bulk and packed inorganic chemicals in the long term.”
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Brenntag UK & Ireland (formerly Albion Chemicals Group) is part of the Brenntag Group. The company employs over 800 people at 18 strategic sites in the UK & Ireland, and serves 18,000 customers each year via a dedicated fleet of 100 vehicles. For more information on Brenntag UK & Ireland, please visit: www.brenntag.co.uk
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