SABIC sells Teesside chemical plant to German investors

Questions raised over site's long-term prospects

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In a week where Elon Musk’s X has been in the news for rampant abuse of its AI-bot Grok by users creating images of women being abused and undressed without consent (as well as children), I thought I’d look at the Tees Valley MPs’ use of the platform. Of the seven politicians, five are still actively posting there. Labour’s Lola McEvoy stopped being active there in 2025, and Luke Myer left the platform entirely around a year ago. He told me it had become “unusable with the amount of bots and spam accounts from all over the world.”

My colleague, Zoë Grünewald, wrote about why it’s time to ditch X this week. Read that here.

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The Olefins 6 cracker at Wilton (Image: SABIC).

Saudi company SABIC has divested its entire petrochemicals business in Europe, and is selling its Teesside plant to German investment firm AEQUITAS.

It comes just months after SABIC decided to close the Olefins 6 cracker at their Wilton site, leading to job losses. More than 300 people currently work at the site, and the sale raises questions about their future.

When the cracker was shut, the union Unite accused Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen of being “taken advantage of” by SABIC.

On news of the sale, their regional officer Fazia Hussain-Brown told The Teesside Lead: “Unite has cautiously accepted the announcement however there is concern from Unite membership as to what the acquisition will mean in real terms on job security, terms and conditions and wages.

“The Union looks forward to seeking talks with the new owners on their intentions for the site and its future.”

The olefins (a crucial building block in manufacturing plastics) produced at the Teesside cracker were used as a feedstock for the adjacent polyethylene plant. When the cracker closed, SABIC said olefins from elsewhere would be used to keep the polyethylene plant running.

SABIC, which is ultimately owned by the Saudi government, made the announcement to the Saudi stock exchange on Thursday that it was divesting 100 per cent of SABIC Europe B.V. to the German investment firm AEQUITA for $500m. The deal is expected to be formally completed by the end of 2026.

Last year AEQUITA purchased selected parts of the olefins business of LyondellBasell (LYB) - a chemical firm with sites across Europe. The purchase from LYB included its Carrington plant in Greater Manchester, which suggests AEQUITA already has plans for its olefins supply chain for Teesside’s polyethylene plant.

The petrochemicals industry is currently in a downturn, with oversupply and low margins. The Saudi chemical giant - which has interests in a broad range of chemical manufacturing - is offloading its European petrochemicals business in a bid to boost profitability for its overall bottom line.

SABIC’s current share price is the lowest it’s been for 17 years, and is roughly half of the value it held at this time five years ago.

SABIC CEO, Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, said the sale was part of its “Portfolio Optimization Program”.