The UK government has backed a £150mn support package for Ineos’s Grangemouth chemical plant, in a move it says will protect 500 jobs at a time when groups across Europe are shuttering facilities.
Ineos, the chemicals giant owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will inject £25mn in equity and raise £75mn in debt from NatWest for investment into the Scottish site, which is the UK’s last plant making ethylene, a key gas used in the manufacture of plastics, according to a company spokesperson.
The UK government is providing a £50mn grant as well as guaranteeing the £75mn loan. The support package will be used to upgrade production units, improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.