A PETROCHEMICALS firm has appointed a new boss to oversee regional operations.

Sabic says Daren Smith is its new Teesside site director.

Mr Smith, from Darlington, officially takes over from John Bruijnooge, having covered in an acting capacity since May last year following the latter’s secondment.

Mr Smith, a Teesside University mechanical engineering graduate, joined Sabic from Huntsman, and has held a number of posts, including senior maintenance manager and technical director.

Confirmation of his promotion comes as the business seeks to build on work carried out to modify its flagship Olefins 6 plant, known as the Cracker, which is based at Wilton, near Redcar, and makes goods for food packaging.

The operation can now take US ethane gas as a manufacturing material, which officials say makes it cost-effective and one of the most flexible of its type in Europe.

The factory will still process naphtha, as well as propane, butane and condensates as feedstocks, but the firm says moving to ethane provides extra flexibility against a fluctuating energy market.

The Echo understands half of what the Cracker produces goes into Sabic’s polyethylene Wilton plant, which is used to make items such as packaging.

The other half is shipped to Germany, where it is used in polyethylene plants and other factories to help make goods such as milk bottles and car dashboards.