Buy-out hope for Dow plant.

AN AMERICAN company is understood to be in talks to buy one of Dow Chemicals' plants on Teesside, where workers have been concerned for their future after Dow said it wanted to sell or shut the site as part of a global cost-cutting programme.

Sources close to the negotiations say Texan company Third Coast Chemicals is interested in buying Dow 's ethelyne oxide operation at the huge Wilton International Centre. The plant, which supplies other businesses at Wilton, is the only one of its kind in the UK.

Dow, which employs more than 200 people at its Wilton, Billingham, Seal Sands and Middlesbrough sites, announced at the turn of the year that it would shed 5,000 jobs worldwide and close 20 plants globally as it tried to make annual savings of pounds 473m by 2010. These plans include making 29 staff redundant at Middlesbrough and Billingham.

It is understood that negotiations between Dow and Third Coast have been going on for some time.

Third Coast said it had no comment to make other than that which was in the public domain.

Dow Chemicals said it had nothing to report at the moment..