The UK, which used to be a major force in chemicals, employing a large and highly skilled workforce, has seen the closure of 10 large chemical complexes in the last 5 years alone and, in complete contrast to the USA, has not had one new chemical plant built for a generation.
Energy prices have doubled in the UK in the last 5 years and now stand five times higher than those in the USA. The UK cannot compete with such a huge disadvantage.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, warns that the UK chemicals industry faces extinction due to high energy prices and carbon taxes.
This follows the closure of Ineos’s synthetic ethanol plant in Grangemouth, Scotland, after 40+ years, costing 80 jobs.
With Scotland’s last oil refinery also set to close, Britain faces growing reliance on imports and a weakening industrial base.
The synthetic alcohol, which is essential for the manufacture of many pharmaceutical drugs, is necessary for many of the new blockbuster drugs. It will now be imported.
The Scottish ethanol plant in Grangemouth is one of only 2 in Europe and since the start of production over 40 years ago, has produced the equivalent of 25 billion bottles of Scottish whisky.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS says, “De-industrialising Britain achieves nothing for the environment. It merely shifts production and emissions elsewhere. The UK, and particularly the North, needs high quality manufacturing and the associated manufacturing jobs. We are witnessing the extinction of one of our major industries as chemical manufacture has the life squeezed out of it.”
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Fibre2Fashion News Desk (AJ)
