By Jenny Gross
LONDON--Ineos Group Holdings SA said Wednesday it is shutting
its petrochemicals plant at Grangemouth, Scotland, and will now
decide whether to restart the neighboring refinery.
Ineos, in a statement, said it took the decision after workers
voted against its plan to save the business.
"This is a hugely sad day for everyone at Grangemouth," said
Calum MacLean, chairman of Grangemouth Petrochemicals. "There was
only ever going to be one outcome to this story if nothing changed
and we continued to lose money."
It is anticipated that a liquidation process will commence in a
week, Ineos said.
Ineos, based in Switzerland, said it will now decide whether to
restart the refinery, which the company shut last week ahead of a
planned 48-hour strike by union workers. Unite called off the
strike, but Ineos said it would keep the site shutdown because of
financial distress unless it received a guarantee of no further
strikes.
Steam from the Grangemouth site powers the BP PLC (BP)-operated
Forties Pipeline System, which carries about 400,000 barrels a day
of North Sea output from fields to shore. A prolonged shutdown
could block the flow of Forties and squeeze oil supply in the
region.
The Ineos site at Grangemouth employs about 1,400 full-time
workers.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@wsj.com; Twitter:
@jgginlondon.
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