THE North-West's strategically important chemical industry could see production capacity contract sharply during the next five years.
That is the warning contained in a report published by accountancy firm KPMG.
replica clothingThe report points to a spate of recent plant closures at Wilton, on Teesside, which have been blamed on competition from new production sites in China and other Far East countries. KPMG claims that 20% of capacity could be lost by 2015.
Richard Evans, head of KPMG's chemicals and pharmaceuticals practice in the north of England, said: "KPMG believes that companies across the sector will now be forced to take even more severe action by closing unprofitable facilities which will be impacted by new, more efficient plants planned to come on stream outside Europe.
Clip on hair extensions,"Companies need to make hard choices now to rationalise unprofitable facilities that cannot compete, and instead ruthlessly focus resources and investment on those chemical clusters which do remain competitive."
The region's chemical industry body acknowledged that there is a threat, but did not comment on KPMG's forecast of a 20% cut in capacity.
Amy Peace, industrial development manager at Chemicals North West, said: "We have a very diverse industry in the North-West. If you have a falling-off of trade in one sector, companies can often make it up in other areas.
"The sector is a high priority for government and the region's universities are tied in to it.
That's a big advantage for us.
"Nor is it so easy to move production overseas. It can be very costly."
Dow Chemical, Croda International and Saudi Arabian operation SABIC all announced plant closures in the Wilton area last year.
The
embroidered patches North-West's chemical industry is the largest in Britain and accounts for pounds 10bn of production a year and directly employs about 43,000 people.
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