INEOS Halts UK Plants Due to Skyrocketing Gas Prices
UK-based chemicals giant INEOS is idling three of its plants in Hull due to soaring natural gas prices, which have made operations uncompetitive. The company warned that Europe has lost its last remaining world-scale Acetyls units as a result.
The three idled plants produce the raw material for various critical materials, including pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, construction materials, and military explosives. INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe stated that gas prices in the UK are 12 times higher than in the US and eight times higher than in China.
Ratcliffe criticized Europe's energy and carbon policies for driving industries to extinction, saying they encourage coal-based production in China and the export of jobs to both China and the US. He emphasized that the current policies increase 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 UK wholesale gas price is above $23 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), while the US benchmark Henry Hub price is about $2.83 per MMBtu this week.