With the 1.4 billion litre tariff-free US bioethanol import quota now agreed, both the UK’s bioethanol manufacturers are warning of impending closure, unless the government can mitigate the damage by increasing the demand for UK-sourced product. The companies stress the knock-on effects of shutdowns on their wider supply chains and jobs.
Ensus UK
The Ensus UK plant on Teesside, owned by Südzucker’s CropEnergies division, says it will start closure discussions next week, unless government agrees support measures. Similarly, the Vivergo Fuels plant at Wilton on Humberside, owned by Associated British Foods through its AB Sugar business, says it will have to commence employee consultations unless it can convince investors the industry has a future.
As well as the bioethanol, the refineries also produce high protein animal feed co-product and high purity commercial carbon dioxide for the food and drink, health and nuclear power sectors.
Both Ensus and Vivergo met with secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds when the US:UK trade deal was first announced in May and have been working with government officials since then. AB sugar’s Paul Kenward has appeared before the Business & Trade Select Committee of the House of Commons and is raising the profile on national media channels.
The companies are collaborating in an effort to urge government to raise the demand for ethanol in the UK above the US quota level.
“The bioethanol clauses in the recent US-UK trade deal were agreed at the last minute, without consultation, and with no understanding of the damage they would do,” says Mr Kenward. “The result is a full-blown crisis – threatening thousands of jobs and farm incomes across the North of England and undermining the government’s own green industrial strategy.
“We’re not asking for handouts,” Mr Kenward continues. “We’re asking the government to put right a problem it has created – and to do it fast. Without a commitment by mid-June, we will have no choice but to start winding down our operations. That would be a disaster – not just for Hull, but for the UK’s ability to build any serious green industrial base,” he concludes.
“We are at the eleventh hour, and the government urgently needs to find a solution to a crisis of its own making,” adds Ensus UK chairman Grant Pearson. “We need a solution which will not only save these skilled jobs on Teesside but also prevent a catastrophic knock-on effect in other vital sectors of the economy.
“The closure of Ensus – a profitable, growth generating business – would be a disaster for the UK’s ability to develop a green industrial base, as it is part of the solution to decarbonising he UK’s chemical industry and producing important products for the future such as sustainable aviation fuel.”