Multi-million pound contract manufacturing plant expansion

Citation

(1998), "Multi-million pound contract manufacturing plant expansion", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 27 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1998.12927aad.001

Multi-million pound contract manufacturing plant expansion

Multi-million pound contract manufacturing plant expansion

Chemoxy International plc has started work on Phase 1 of a multi-million pound investment as part of a planned five-year expansion programme of its contract manufacturing facilities on Teesside. Chemoxy is already one of the largest contract manufacturers in Europe.

Phase 1 of the programme sees £3.3 million being invested in a 10,000 tonne per year chemical plant to be built at a recently acquired 10 acre site located at ICI's Chemplex site in Billingham, Cleveland.

The new high volume, multi purpose plant will be completed in May 1998 and will considerably enlarge the company's contract manufacture capacity at the Billingham site.

West's Engineering Design of Darlington (part of the Tilbury Douglas Engineering Services Division) has been appointed as the turnkey contractor for the project.

The new large scale reaction facility is coupled to a 40 theoretical stage fractionation column and will be capable of carrying out a wide range of processes including alkylation, aminations, esterification, etherification and quaternisation.

The Billingham site already incorporates bulk storage of methyl chloride, benzyl chloride, dimethyl sulphate and hydrogen peroxide as well as solids handling. All of these systems will be integrated into the new plant to provide an extremely wide ranging processing option.

Commenting on the investment plans, Ian Stark, Chemoxy International's Managing Director, said: "The new plant will significantly increase Chemoxyl's capacity to address the growing market demand for toll manufacturing from our European and USA customer bases. Toll manufacture is becoming increasingly recognised worldwide as a low-risk, cost-effective solution for companies seeking to fast-track new product development or increase production capacity.

"The Billingham site will be the focus of the company's future investment plans for the next five years. It is ideally located, at the heart of the UK's chemical industry. The Chemplex site is supported by an excellent chemical industry infrastructure."

Chemoxy International plc has started work on phase 1 of a multi-million pound investment as part of a planned five-year expansion programme of its contract manufacturing facilities on Teesside

Commenting on the investment plans George Hunter, chief executive of the ICI Chemplex Project said: "ICI is absolutely delighted to see that Chemoxy is expanding its operations at Billingham and that the Chemplex site is clearly important to Chemoxy's future development."

In addition to contract manufacturing, a portion of the plant's capacity will be allocated to manufacture Chemoxy's own brand products such as Coasol, a high performance, low odour coalescing solvent which is increasingly popular with the paint and coatings industries. The plant will also be used to produce smaller volume esters such as isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate and speciality adipates.

Chemoxy International and its sister company, Cleveland Chemicals, offer confidential and professional contract manufacturing services for companies requiring a flexible, yet reliable source of supply for a wide variety of speciality chemicals. The manufacturing service is supported by a highly experienced team of chemists and chemical engineers, expert at adapting processes and plant to manufacture a wide range of speciality chemicals.

For further information contact Ian Stark, Chemoxy International plc, All Saints Refinery, Cargo Fleet Road, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TS3 6AF, UK. Tel: 01642 248555; Fax: 01642 250369. E-mail: Marketing@Chemoxy.onyxnet.co.uk