Ineos Cuts Jobs Amid EU Chemicals Crisis; UK Urged to Act Against Carbon-Intensive Imports
The UK and EU chemicals sector is grappling with a broad structural crisis, marked by plant closures and job losses. Ineos has recently cut 60 jobs at its Hull acetyls plant due to soaring energy costs and 'carbon-heavy dumping' from China. The industry faces significant challenges, with up to 40% of the EU's ethylene capacity at high or medium risk of closure.
Ineos, which recently invested £30m in a clean hydrogen upgrade at its Hull site to reduce emissions by 75%, has been forced to make redundancies due to unfair competition from Chinese imports. These imports, produced using coal, emit up to eight times more CO2 than equivalent UK products. The industry, though cyclical, may face an extended downturn until the early 2030s due to larger plant sizes and new integrated chemicals refineries.
Eni's chemical subsidiary Versalis has also suffered, recording losses of over €3bn and leading to plant closures in Italy. Meanwhile, China has expanded its global ethylene capacity by more than 40 million tonnes between 2020 and 2025, with around 70% of this new capacity built in China. The European Commission has pledged to support domestic production of strategic chemicals and expand state aid for modernisation.
In response to Ineos' job cuts, the British government is being urged to introduce protection measures against carbon-intensive imports to safeguard domestic industry and jobs. Ineos warns that without such measures, Europe risks offshoring CO2 emissions and losing competitiveness in the chemicals sector.
