Ineos blames cheap Chinese imports as Hull cuts 60 jobs

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos is set to cut 60 jobs at its Acetyls plant in Hull, citing cheap Chinese imports and elevated UK energy costs as the key reasons for this decision. The move will see one fifth of the workforce at the East Yorkshire site laid off, as the chemical sector across Britain and Europe faces mounting pressure from low priced carbon intensive imports flooding the market from China.

Management at Ineos stressed they have attempted all alternatives before resorting to job cuts. David Brooks, divisional chief executive of Ineos Acetyls, noted that despite Hull’s status as an efficient and well invested site staffed by highly skilled professionals, a combination of sustained energy cost inflation and anti competitive overseas trade left no viable alternative. The Acetyls facility manufactures chemicals crucial for food preservation, pharmaceuticals such as aspirin and paracetamol, and industrial adhesives and coatings.

The company recently invested £30 million to transition the Hull plant from natural gas to hydrogen power in a bid to modernise operations and cut emissions. Pressure from global trade has intensified, with Ineos highlighting how Chinese exports, displaced from the US market by protectionist tariffs, are now redirected to Europe, destabilising domestic industry, much as has been seen with UK steel.

Job losses at Hull follow a wave of industrial restructuring across Ineos’s European sites. Just days ago, the company cut 175 jobs in Rheinberg, Germany, and is actively shutting down or mothballing plants in locations such as Grangemouth in Scotland, Geel in Belgium, and facilities in France and Spain. Ineos has warned that without meaningful government intervention on tariffs, energy, and carbon costs, the risk of permanent deindustrialisation in the UK and Europe looms large.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos empire now employs 24500 people across 27 countries. Nevertheless, the ongoing debt burden, reported at €11 billion, combined with frozen dividends and a halt to key UK investments, means the group continues to reevaluate its manufacturing footprint amidst severe global competitive pressures.