Move puts 300 jobs at risk and highlights threat of crippling energy prices

The owner of one of Britain’s biggest chemical plants has confirmed it will close, dealing a blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s new Industrial Strategy just days after it was launched.

Saudi Aramco-owned Sabic said on Wednesday that it had decided to shut the Olefins 6 “cracker” facility in Teesside permanently following a review of “competitiveness”. The Telegraph has the story.

It comes after the company had paused a major conversion of the plant to run on gas feedstock, sparking speculation that bosses were on the verge of announcing its closure.

The move puts about 300 local jobs at risk and underscores the strain faced by Britain’s chemicals industry as a result of crippling energy prices and a tough global market.

It will also be seen as a blow to the Government’s Industrial Strategy, published on Monday, which describes chemicals as one of the “foundational” sectors that underpins the rest of the economy.

Lord Houchen, the Tees Valley Mayor, said the decision was “incredibly concerning and a devastating blow to our region”.

He said: “This is yet another symptom of a national policy failure. If ministers are serious about industrial growth, we need action not platitudes.

“That means cutting the cost of doing business by tackling sky-high energy prices, reversing the damaging increase in National Insurance that hits both workers and employers, and putting our industrial regions at the heart of economic policy.”

The Prime Minister has vowed to tackle high electricity prices, promising to lower bills for energy-intensive industries.

However, industrialists such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of petrochemicals empire Ineos, have warned that many businesses are also struggling with high gas prices and carbon taxes.

Read the full story here.