Gas prices and falling demand have spurred Mitsubishi Chemicals UK to stop production at its Billingham factory, leaving more than 200 workers facing redundancy.
The 90-year-old Cassel plant has been offline since January this year, initially to facilitate a planned "overhaul", but which was extended in September due to the rapidly escalating price of gas, which is required in large quantities at the site. Mitsubishi said it intended to make a final decision in January, following a review of the operation but revealed that a review of the business had determined it was not economically sustainable.
The firm says it had looked at temporary mothballing as well as a "complete reinvestment" at Cassel but found the market for methacrylates - a key component of acrylics used in everything from paints to automotive parts - was increasingly competitive. Workers at Mitsubishi's separate electrolyte business at the same site, which makes electric vehicle battery parts, are not affected by the announcement.
