INEOS is the worlds third largest chemicals company; a leading manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. Comprising 18 business units, with a production network spanning 76 manufacturing facilities in 20 countries, the company produces more than 32 million tonnes of petrochemicals, 20 million tons per annum of crude oil refined products (fuels). employs 16,600 people and has sales of around $45bn.

INEOS Nitriles (one of the 18 business units ) acquired the Seal Sands site from BASF in 2008. The site provides large-scale production facilities for acrylonitrile (AN), hexamethylenediamine (HMD), along with by-product plants. These chemical intermediates are used in the production of acrylic and polyamide (PA) fibres for clothing and carpets, as well as for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and PA plastics for the automotive, electric & electronics and domestic appliance industries.

The INEOS Nitriles group (www.ineosnitriles.com) has other production sites at Lima, Ohio (US), Green Lake, Texas (US) and Köln (Germany).

The Seal Sands plant is located on the river tees and has two deep water berths with associated storage facilities, excellent road and rail facilities, integral supplies for hydrogen, energy and utilities, with pipeline connections to adjacent chemical and storage companies.