INEOS to cut 60 jobs at Saltend plant

UNDER THREAT: The INEOS Acetyls plant at Saltend Chemicals Park

By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor

Chemicals giant INEOS has announced it is cutting 20 per cent of the workforce at its Acetyls plant at Saltend, on the outskirts of east Hull.

Sixty skilled jobs are being lost as a direct result of energy costs and anti-competitive trade practices, it has claimed.

The company said cheap carbon-heavy imports from China, produced using coal and emitting up to eight times more CO₂ than INEOS’s UK operations, are now flooding the market.

These Chinese products have been blocked from entering the US by tariffs but face no trade barriers in the UK or Europe.

INEOS is calling on the Government and European Commission to introduce urgent ‘anti-dumping tariffs’ on Chinese and US importers to protect the chemicals sector. The company has warned that unless firm action is taken, more sites will close and thousands more jobs will be lost across the UK and European chemical industry.

David Brooks, CEO of INEOS Acetyls, said: “This is a very difficult time for everyone at the Hull facility. We have a leading-edge, efficient and well-invested site and the team here is highly skilled, professional and dedicated.

“Making the decision to cut 60 roles was not taken lightly. We have explored every possible alternative but in the face of sustained pressure from energy costs, combined with unfairly low-cost imports into the UK and Europe, we’ve been left with no other choice.

JOB LOSSES: Sixty positions are to go at Saltend

“Our priority now is to support those affected and protect the long-term future of the site.”

INEOS recently invested £30m at Saltend to switch from natural gas to hydrogen, cutting emissions by 75 per cent, the equivalent of taking 160,000 cars off the road.

However, the company has now warned that without tariffs, progress will come at the cost of more British jobs.

“This is a textbook case of the UK and Europe sleepwalking into deindustrialisation,” said Mr Brooks. “INEOS has invested heavily at Hull to cut CO₂, yet we’re being undercut by China and the US while left wide open by a complete absence of tariff protection.

“If governments don’t act now on energy, carbon and trade, we will keep losing factories, skills and jobs. And once these plants shut, they never come back.”

INEOS is the largest producer of acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate in the UK and Europe.

These chemicals are essential for everything from food preservation and pharmaceuticals, including aspirin and paracetamol, to diagnostic tests, adhesives and industrial coatings.

Hull City Council leader Mike Ross said: “It is deeply worrying to see this so soon after the job losses seen at Vivergo. 

“Hull and the wider area are being left behind by this Government and let down by our new mayor, who is absolutely silent on his plans to help our economy. 

“We urgently need to hear from the Government and the Mayor about what they’re doing to support people in Hull and our local economy. As council leader, I am prepared to work with them, but they need to come forward with more support for our area.”