Latest news with #Ensus
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'One week' to safeguard jobs at Vivergo biofuel plant, boss warns
Bosses at the UK's largest bioethanol plant say they will be forced to begin consulting on redundancies within the next week unless the government steps British Foods (ABF) said it was in talks with the government to help save its Vivergo Fuels site at Saltend, near Hull, after the removal of a 19% tariff on imports of ethanol from the Sugar chief executive Paul Kenward said it meant that the government had "given away the entre UK market for bioethanol". A government spokesperson said it was working closely with the industry to find a way forward. Speaking to BBC Radio Four, Mr Kenward said there was "a lot at stake".He said the industry was not asking for a "permanent subsidy", but needed "some bridging support from government until some simple common sense changes to regulation can be made".Mr Kenward said representatives from the industry had met with government officials, including Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds."Unfortunately, we gave a deadline which was the 15th [June]."They asked us to wait for another week – we gave them two – but if we don't hear back from them by 25 June we will have to start a consultation process, which may lead to redundancies," he Kenward's comments follow a similar announcement earlier this week by bosses at Ensus's Redcar bioethanol chairman Grant Pearson said the government needed to come up with a "urgent" solution to save skilled jobs in the region. In response, a government spokesperson said: "The deal agreed with the US will save thousands of jobs in the UK, and we will always act in the national interest."A meeting took place last week with representatives from the bioethanol industry "to discuss their concerns", the spokesperson Saltend plant produces bioethanol which is used in E10 petrol.E10 was introduced in 2021 to help cut carbon emissions and contains up to 10% also produces animal feed, which is a by-product of the bioethanol production process. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Times
Unexpected extras in US trade deal
M aybe Britain doesn't need a bioethanol industry. Making fuel from wheat and corn is not everyone's idea of green energy nirvana. And even the byproducts — high protein animal feed and carbon dioxide, used in everything from NHS operating theatres to fizzy drinks — can be sourced elsewhere. Even so, if a government wants to kill off an industry, you'd think it would at least do it on purpose. This one seems to be doing it by accident: the result of Sir Keir Starmer's trade deal with Donald Trump, which threw in a last-minute concession to cut tariffs on 1.4 billion litres of US ethanol, or roughly the UK's entire present annual consumption, from 19 per cent to zero. Less than six weeks on, the impact is clear. Britain's biggest two bioethanol players, with 95 per cent of the market — Associated British Foods' Vivergo Fuels and Ensus, owned by Germany's CropEnergies — are on the brink of closing down. Vivergo has given the government a two-week deadline to come up with a rescue package, including £75 million of short-term subsidies, before it starts redundancy talks with the 160 workers at its plant in Saltend, Hull. Ensus has said it 'faces imminent closure as a result of the recent US-UK trade deal' and a likely flood of cheaper US imports, putting 100-plus jobs at risk at its Wilton site, near Redcar. It hasn't said so, but it's also angling for a similar amount of subsidy.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
US deal may force Redcar biofuel plant to close, Ensus warns
A bioethanol plant will be forced to close "imminently" unless the government acts, according to its which runs the Redcar plant, said the recent UK-US tariff deal "fundamentally undermined its business position", as it removed a 19% tariff on US ethanol firm's chairman Grant Pearson said the government needed to come up with a "urgent" solution to save skilled jobs in the region.A Department for Business and Trade (DBT) spokesperson said it was working closely with the bioethanol industry to understand the impacts of the deal. The company's warning follows a similar announcement made by Associated British Foods (ABF), which operates the only other bioethanol plant in the said the new deal, which is still being worked on, was the "final blow" to its Vivergo Fuels Site at Saltend, near Hull. 'Catastrophic knock-on effect' The two plants produce bioethanol, which is blended with petrol to produce more environmentally friendly fuels, such as E10 petrol in the Redcar plant sources feed grain from farms in the UK and Europe to produce about 400 million litres (88 million gallons) of bioethanol each also sells the byproducts from this process, such as high protein animal feed, to firm said it employed more than 100 people at the plant and that it supported a wider supply chain of about 3,000 people in northern is understood the influx of US produced bioethanol into the UK would severely undercut Ensus and ABF's Pearson said the loss of the Teesside plant would also mean a "catastrophic knock-on effect in other vital sectors of the economy".The UK is already the second-highest destination for US ethanol exports, according to US ethanol lobby group Renewable Fuels head Geoff Cooper said in May: "We are excited about the prospects of expanded market access that will help boost our farm economy, while also delivering lower-cost, cleaner fuel to UK drivers."US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on X on Thursday that he was looking forward to the UK-US deal becoming "simultaneously active in the coming days". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Ethanol Maker in Last-Ditch Effort to Save Plant on US Threat
A UK ethanol producer that has warned of the risk to its business from rising tariff-free US imports said it is almost too late to save its output. The facility at Wilton, England faces 'imminent closure' following last month's trade agreement with the US, operator Ensus said in a statement. A production halt would eliminate more than 100 jobs at the plant and affect a supply chain of about 3,000 people locally.
Reuters
03-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Britain has 12 days to save bioethanol industry, says AB Foods
LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - One of Britain's biggest bioethanol producers warned the government on Tuesday that unless it steps in with a support package for the industry within the next 12 days it will have to start closure processes at its plant. ABF Sugar, part of Associated British Foods (ABF.L), opens new tab, and Ensus together account for nearly all of the UK's bioethanol production capacity. "We have 12 days to save this industry," Paul Kenward, CEO of ABF Sugar, told lawmakers on parliament's Business and Trade Committee. Bioethanol is produced from crops such as wheat and is used to make petrol greener and sustainable aviation fuel. Byproducts include animal feed and carbon dioxide, the latter of which faced severe shortages in 2022. ABF Sugar and Ensus have warned that last month's U.S.-UK trade deal, which will see the UK's 19% tariffs on U.S. ethanol fall to zero, on top of existing regulations giving overseas producers an advantage in the British market, have made the operating environment impossible. They have said their plants at Hull and Teesside in northern England face closure. Along with supply chain partners, the plants support thousands of jobs. Kenward told lawmakers that by June 15 he needed to tell farmers whether he could sign new contracts for wheat supply. "Why would I do that unless I have some confidence that the government's going to step in?" he said. Kenward called on the government to urgently level the regulatory playing field, increase the amount of ethanol in UK petrol from 10% to 15% and support the development of sustainable aviation fuel. He also wants the industry to have access to short-term financial aid of up to 150 million pounds ($203 million). Kenward said AB Foods had invested 700 million pounds in the Hull site. 'Once it goes, it goes. Think what that does to future investors in green industries," he said. A government spokesperson said business minister Jonathan Reynolds had met members of the bioethanol sector and senior officials "continue to consider what options may be available to support the impacted companies". ($1 = 0.7396 pounds)
