THE WHAT? INEOS is mothballing all three of its acetyls plants in Hull, citing European gas prices that it says are 12 times higher than in the US and have made production economically uncompetitive.
THE DETAILS The three facilities are described by INEOS as Europe’s last remaining world-scale acetyls units and manufacture chemical intermediates used across industries including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, detergents, clothing and construction. Two plants have already stopped production, with the third due to follow. INEOS says the Hull operations support almost 4,000 jobs directly and through associated activity and supply customers throughout Europe. The company also claims that material produced at Hull has half the carbon footprint of equivalent US production and one-eighth that of Chinese production.
THE WHY? The closures highlight growing pressure on Europe’s chemicals manufacturing base and the potential implications for cosmetics ingredient supply chains, as high energy costs increase reliance on imported chemical intermediates and shift production capacity away from Europe.
Source: INEOS
