Jobs fears as INEOS suspends production at Saltend
INEOS Acetyls’ Saltend site
By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor
INEOS has suspended production at three major chemical plants in Hull in a move which raises concerns over thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs in the region.
The chemicals giant has announced it is mothballing all three of its production units at Saltend Chemicals Park, blaming soaring energy costs which it says have left the operation unable to compete with producers in the United States and China.
Two of the plants have already stopped production, with the third expected to follow within days. INEOS said they would be mothballed “until further notice”.
The Saltend operations directly employ around 300 people, while INEOS says the three plants support almost 4,000 highly-skilled jobs across the wider Humber economy, including through the supply chain and apprenticeship schemes.
The announcement comes only a year after INEOS cut 60 jobs at Saltend, when it again blamed high energy costs and competition from cheaper imports.
The plants at the 370-acre chemicals park manufacture acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate – chemicals which are used in products ranging from pharmaceuticals and food to clothing, cosmetics, detergents, paints, adhesives and construction materials.
INEOS says its Hull operations are the last remaining world-scale acetyls units in Europe and their products are supplied to customers across the continent.
The company said European gas prices were now 12 times those in the US, while production based on coal in China was eight times cheaper. Gas is used both as an energy source and as a feedstock in the manufacturing process.
The decision comes despite significant recent investment in the Hull site. INEOS completed a £30m project in 2025 which enabled part of the operation to switch from natural gas to hydrogen, cutting carbon emissions by 75 per cent.
INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: “I’m sure people will find it hard to believe that we are being forced to mothball some of the most efficient plants in Europe but with gas prices now 12 times the level in the US and eight times that of China, we just cannot compete.
“Not only is the ridiculously high gas price destroying our manufacturing base and the jobs of hard-working people on Humberside, it is also massively increasing the environmental burden with replacement products supplied from the USA at double the carbon emissions and from China at eight times the emission level.
“The European regulators need to wake up to the fact that the combination of high energy costs and the additional burden of unsustainable carbon taxes are destroying our European manufacturing base.
“Ironically this will result in higher CO2 emissions from less efficient Chinese and US production. The net result of these current policies is to encourage coal-based production in China and the wholesale export of jobs to both China and the USA.”