Story perspectives

Ineos to pause production at three Hull chemical plants

By Drooid · Sep 23, 2026, 6:29 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Ineos, chaired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is pausing production at three Hull chemical plants.
Ratcliffe says UK gas prices are twelve times U.S. levels and eight times Chinese coal-based costs.
The plants employ 245 workers directly and support about 4,000 supply-chain jobs.
Two plants have already stopped output, with the third idling within days.
The UK government pledged £350 million co-investment and electricity-cost cuts to support the chemicals sector.

History

Historical Context

In October 1973 OAPEC’s embargo and the jump of crude from $3 to $12 per barrel pushed a UK still reliant on imported oil—North Sea fields would not produce until 1975—into recession. Edward Heath answered with subsidies and a coal shift, while miners’ strikes intensified the crisis. Now Ineos has paused three Hull chemical plants as gas prices surge, recalling the same energy-price shock.

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Story summary

Ineos, chaired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is pausing production at three Hull chemical plants.
Ratcliffe says UK gas prices are twelve times U.S. levels and eight times Chinese coal-based costs.
The plants employ 245 workers directly and support about 4,000 supply-chain jobs.
Two plants have already stopped output, with the third idling within days.
The UK government pledged £350 million co-investment and electricity-cost cuts to support the chemicals sector.

1 / 2