INEOS: 'Europe is Committing Industrial Suicide'

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--U.K. petrochemical major INEOS Group (London) has warned that Europe is committing "industrial suicide" as it announced the closure of more production plants in Germany and the U.K.

The company has confirmed plans to shut two production units at its complex in Rheinberg, Germany, as a direct result of crippling energy and carbon costs, and a lack of tariff protection. It will close the Acetyls unit, which makes the key ingredient for epoxy resins, and the Electro-chemical facility, which makes chlorine used in clean water, medicines, industrial processes and sanitation.

Based in one of Europe's leading chemicals regions, the closures will result in the loss of 175 jobs. INEOS has called on the German state to provide support in order to preserve the remaining 300 jobs at the remaining polyvinyl chloride (PVC) operations in Rheinberg. At the same time, the company plans to cut 60 jobs at the INEOS Acetyls site near Hull, in England, which makes products including acetic acid used in manufacturing. These are the latest in a series of planned shutdowns announced in recent weeks that include other units in France, Germany and Spain. For additional information, see October 01, 2025, article--INEOS Halts Production at Key European Chemicals Plants.

Stephen Dossett, chief executive officer of INEOS Inovyn, said: "Europe is committing industrial suicide. While competitors in the U.S. and China benefit from cheap energy, European producers are being priced out by our own policies and absence of tariff protection. Meanwhile, high-emission imports flood our market unchecked. It's completely unsustainable and if not immediately addressed will lead to further closures, job losses and increased dependency on other regions for essential materials."

INEOS said the closures reflected a wider trend as "Europe's competitiveness collapses," claiming that since 2019 output in Germany has dropped by 18%. INEOS has closed plants in Grangemouth (U.K.) and Geel (Belgium). It is closing Gladbeck (Germany), and has mothballed assets in Tavaux (France) and Martorell (Spain). For additional information, see August 18, 2025, article - Risk of Closure for U.K.'s Largest Chemicals Site. Industrial Info is tracking 81 INEOS projects in Europe worth more than US$6.7 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

INEOS Inovyn is Europe's largest producer of chlorovinyls and the global leader in specialty PVC, employing roughly 4,200 people across manufacturing, sales and marketing operations in eight European countries. Regarding the cuts at INEOS Acetyls, the company said that "dirt-cheap carbon-heavy imports from China, produced using coal and emitting up to eight times more CO2 than INEOS's UK operations, are now flooding the market. These Chinese products have been blocked from entering the U.S. by effective tariffs but face no trade barriers in the U.K. or Europe."

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