Ineos Idles 3 Uk Petrochemical Plants as Eu Nat Gas Prices Reach 12 Times US Levels

INEOS said in a news release Tuesday it is idling all three of its world-scale petrochemical plants in the north of England, attributing the decision to natural gas prices hitting 12 times the level of those in the U.S.

Front-month Dutch TTF natural gas futures contracts were pegged at €70.84/MWh or $24.08/MMBtu as of 2:06 p.m. U.K. time Tuesday, according to Intercontinental Exchange data. Henry Hub natural gas futures front month closed at $2.836/MMBtu on Monday in the U.S., Chicago Mercantile Exchange data showed. The three plants use natural gas for energy and as a feedstock.

The plants produce raw materials for a range of applications including pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, construction materials and military explosives, INEOS said. It will mothball all three until further notice. Two of the plants have already ceased production with the third due to come offline in a few days.

“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 U.S. and 8 times that of China, we just cannot compete,” said INEOS CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

“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,” he added.

The plants are the last world-scale acetyls production units in Europe, with all others having already closed due to uncompetitive energy costs, according to INEOS.

–Reporting by Rob Sheridan, rsheridan@opisnet.com, Jamie Aldridge, jaldridge@opisnet.com; Editing by Jaime Llinares Taboada, jllinares@opisnet.com