The UK’s bioethanol industry is facing collapse after the government confirmed it will not offer a rescue package to the country’s two biggest producers.
Hull-based Vivergo Fuels and Ensus in Redcar, Teesside, had warned they would be forced to shut down following a US-UK trade deal that removed a 19% tariff on ethanol imports from America, allowing up to 1.4bn litres to enter tariff-free – equivalent to the size of the UK market.
Both firms say the agreement has left them commercially unviable, threatening 270 direct jobs and thousands more in the wider supply chain, as well as the UK’s capacity to produce low-carbon fuels.
Associated British Foods (ABF), owner of Vivergo, called the decision “deeply regrettable” and accused ministers of abandoning a “key national asset”. The company said it had submitted a plan to return the plant to profitability and warned the loss of production would send clean energy jobs overseas.
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