Chemical companies are putting European assets up for sale as they review their operations in the region to cope with high energy prices and competition from newer plants in Asia and the Middle East.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of petrochemicals group Ineos, has consistently warned that Britain’s chemical industry is heading for extinction because of high energy prices and carbon taxes.
Considering the damage chemical companies do to the environment and public health this sounds like a very good thing for Europe, but they will look for places where the leach is looser and it might be a really bad thing for the planet as a whole. I hope EU governments care enough about that
This is just about the petrochemical industry. They have to die anyway.
Sure, let’s just import it all instead
You do understand that petrochemical industry is a nice term for oil refineries? The bit we actually need can be imported no problem, but not all of it, as most should be replaced with greener alternatives.
I do.
But replacing those with greener alternatives is easier said than done. Petrochemicals are used to make detergents, lubes (industrial and otherwise), tar for roads, plastics, etc… Importing all those things is a massive undertaking I’m not sure we’ll benefit from, either financially nor ecologically…
3/4 of refined oil is made up of gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel. We would import significantly less by just importing those products or just in between products.
“Die” is a bit harsh but stripped of their political influence and cut down to their bone, allowing the parts of these companies that are net negatives in terms of human survival to go under.
Petrochemicals groups were part of the lobbyism shitshow that landed us in these prices.
We cannot all work in the IT field or bank.
When we will all of us be unemployed, not sure we will be able to buy everything from asia or russia.
We just witnessed a month ago that we need an european army/ industry, and some of you think it’s good we lose the only things that we still have.
If you want to improve the industry, maintain it in Europe.
