UK natural gas prices roughly doubled between July and September 2026, reaching the highest level since December 2022, driven by the US-Israel war in Iran and disruption to oil and gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ineos paused production at its three chemical plants in Hull, UK, with two plants already ceased and the third due to stop within days, due to high UK gas prices.
We are being forced to mothball some of the most efficient plants in Europe because UK gas prices are now 12 times the level in the US and eight times that of China, making it impossible for us to compete.
The ridiculously high gas price is massively increasing the environmental burden because replacement products supplied from the USA have double the carbon emissions and those from China have eight times the emission level.
We urge the UK and EU governments to put in place tariff protections against Chinese products to protect our manufacturing base.
We have taken bold action to support the chemicals industry, including £350 million for strategically important chemicals producers on a co-investment basis, trade measures on foreign chemicals imports, and schemes to tackle high electricity costs.
The current government's energy policy is economic vandalism on an industrial scale.
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