Ineos halts production at three Hull chemical plants, citing UK gas prices

Ineos is suspending production at its three chemical plants in Hull, with the company saying UK gas prices are twelve times higher than in the US and eight times higher than the coal-based processes used by Chinese competitors. Two plants are already shut and a third will stop within days.

Up to 1,000 staff are affected, 245 of whom work directly at the site. The BBC reports workers will be kept on while Ineos tries to arrange direct LNG purchases from the US — a process the company says could take up to a year.

The plants produce raw materials for pharmaceuticals, construction, cosmetics, and military explosives. Owner Jim Ratcliffe called the government's energy policy "economic vandalism on an industrial scale" and asked the UK and EU to impose tariff protections against Chinese imports. He is a tax resident of Monaco.

Wholesale gas prices in the UK and Europe have nearly doubled since July. Ineos attributes the rise to disrupted oil and gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israel war in Iran.

The government said it has allocated £350 million for strategically important chemicals producers and imposed trade measures on foreign chemical imports.