CHEMICAL group Huntsman has signed a licensing deal for the world's largest polyethylene plant which is being built in Teesside.
The US company, which has operations in Wilton, Teesside, has bought a technology licence from ExxonMobil Chemical to use some of the company's products in the £200m plant.
Huntsman announced in September that it was building the plant, with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year, on Teesside. The deal safeguards thousands of jobs in the region which are reliant on the chemical industry.
Work has already begun on the facility, which is due to be finished in autumn 2007.
ExxonMobil said it believed Huntsman could set a world standard for efficiency once the plant is running.
The plant is expected to create about 117 permanent jobs and underpin the future of Huntsman's ethylene plant at Wilton, which will feed the new low-density polyethylene plant.
The company was given a Government grant of £16.5m to build the facility on Teesside.
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