21 years of BASF at Seal Sands.

A message from BASF plc Seal Sands site director Dr Tony Birch on the site's 21st anniversary

I'm pleased to be part of the 21st anniversary. There have been numerous changes over the years, with significant investment over the past few years on environmental improvements to enable us to comply with the tighter regulations in which we operate. From our three main production plants, we have produced nearly 7.5 million tonnes of product in the last 21 years, and in recent years over 250,000 tonnes from our joint venture production plants built on our site.

We have also seen numerous successes and I am always pleased to confirm our success in responsible care, reliability, and productivity, which incidentally in 2004 reached record levels. All of these items are made possible by significant and sustained team effort, which would not have been achieved without every employee who works on the site, be that BASF employees, or our Alliance staff. We are particular proud to report an excellent responsible care performance.

The employees here have also supported BASF's sustainable development programme for instance by being involved in our Integrated Community Plan, which I believe is an excellent way to encourage young adults to enter into the chemical and manufacturing Industry; of course this also helps to sustain the employment, and hopefully future growth of the industry here in the Tees Valley.

Again when looking at sustainable provision of the correct skills, being able to plan our future employment needs is one of the pillars on which our businesses are dependent. The skills agenda fortunately has a clear focus here at Teesside.

I am looking forward to see the site continue with its successes and in particular maintaining the high standard of safety, reliability and production performance, which we have been successful enough to build on year on year.

I am also looking forward to seeing the Integrated Community Plan develop and grow, which without the dedication and commitment of the site employees here at BASF and of our Alliance companies would not be possible, nevertheless I am sure they will rise to the challenges we see ahead.