SEVERAL companies could make bids to rescue the closure-threatened Artenius plant from administration, The Northern Echo learned last night.

The development brings fresh hope for the future of the Wilton plant – which only last Friday saw another 58 redundancies, taking the total job losses to 195 – and that the key site in Teesside’s chemical cluster could still have a viable future.

Although reports circulated yesterday that two companies are in talks with administrator Deloitte with a view to submitting a bid, The Northern Echo understands there are, in fact, several companies at such a stage.

A source close to negotiations said last night: “There are more than two, there are a number of companies in discussions, which could well result in bids being made.

“I wouldn’t say a deal is necessarily close, as there is more than one party interested, but things will happen quickly, and this certainly won’t go on until Christmas, so we will see an outcome, one way or the other, before then.”

The Artenius plant was placed into administration by its parent company, La Seda de Barcelona, three weeks ago, as the group looks to restructure after making a £564m loss last year.

Despite the troubles in the wider group, former ICIowned Artenius has remained a profitable operation with demand for its plastic packaging products remaining high, despite the recession.

Deloitte, which will not comment on any potential bidders, intends to mothball the plant until a deal is concluded, after orders and raw materials ran out last week.

The Melenar 5 section of the plant was then wound down ahead of the second round of redundancies. Currently, 47 people remain employed there.

The T8 site has been offline since March, after La Seda failed to give the plant the cash injection it needed to restart the terminal.

The Northern Echo has also uncovered the extent of Artenius’ financial predicament when it was put into administration, by revealing it owed £36m to key suppliers – including other companies on the Wilton site – and was owed £60m by other businesses in the La Seda group.

Support over the future of the site has come from around the world, with hundreds of people and fellow La Seda workers turning out in support of the Artenius delegation, which travelled to Spain for the group’s shareholder meeting two weeks ago. Hundreds more – from as far afield as the US and Australia – have signed the online petition to help safeguard the Artenius site’s future.

■ To add your support to the petition visit northernecho.co.uk/arteniuspetition