Unlock the editor’s digestion for free
Rula Calaf, FT editor, chooses his favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The biodiesel plant in northern England should be closed in the latest blow to the UK industry after the collapse of the oil refinery in the same area last week.
Greenergy, owned by the global trade giant Trafigu, said on Thursday that he plans to end the production of biodiesel in Namesham, in the north-east Lincolnshire. The product is mixed in normal diesel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport.
The company has blamed the difficult market conditions for competition from US imports and insufficiently ambitious biodiesel use mandates in the UK. Plans are subject to consultation with the 60-strong labor force.
The plant produces more than 100,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year, mostly from used cooking oil. It covers about a quarter of the biodiesel production capacity in the UK.
Adam Treger, chief executive of Greenergy, said that “there was not enough security for the prospect of the UK Biofuels Politics to make significant investment needed ”to make a competitive page Namesham.
Last year, Trafigu bought Greenergy from Canadian infrastructure giant Brookfield for an undisclosed price, saying it plans to “explore new opportunities that will support the transition to a lower carbon future”.
Greenergy also owns a second, larger biodiesel factory in Tessid, about 100 miles north of Namesham and a third in the Netherlands.
The planned closure of the Nemingham plant comes less than two weeks after Lindsay’s oil refinery, which is only a few miles away, collapsed into insolvencyputting about 400 jobs in danger.
The UK biodiesel industry has been under pressure from the US import inflow after the UK removed US -based waterproof vegetable oil (HVO), a form of biodiesel in November 2022, but the EU retained theirs.
The UK’s commercial drug body has launched an investigation against Dumping for the US import of HVO last year after complaints from British producers.
Gringer also said Britain’s policy on the percentage of roads for roads that must come from renewable sources, such as biodiesel or bioethanol, is lower than European countries. The UK’s current goal of 12.15 % is projected to rise to 14.6 % by 2032.
Last year, Argentina Energy determined that he plans to step up his biodiesel factory in Mother, Scotland, accusing the Chinese and US import match.
ABF Sugar has also said it will close its Wirgo unit of the hull-the largest bioethanol factory in the UK-except if the UK does not offer more support policies. Bioethanol is made of sugars and mixed in gasoline.
The future of the UK bioethanol industry was dumped in June after Prime Minister Sir Kir Starmer agreed with a 1.4 billion -liter import -free quota for US ethanol as part of a deal, reached by US President Donald Trump. The quota is equivalent to the UK’s total annual demand for the product.
Paul Kenward, chief executive of ABC Jugar, said the government should create a level of playing biofuel producers in the UK.
“Then, the environment of politics in the UK is doing the opposite. It moves the investment, distorts the market and puts strategically important places at risk of closing.
A government spokesman said: “We are engaging in the company to understand the challenges and how we can solve their problems.”
Source link
