Biodiesel plant closure can be ‘devastating’ for Lanarkshire.
A biodiesel producer has proposed closing its Scottish plant, putting dozens of jobs in danger.
Argent Power will open session with affected workers at its Newarthill plant imminently, having cited “market pressures” as the explanation for the doable closure.
Native MP Marion Fellows described the information as a “devastating blow” to North Lanarkshire.
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Argent, which makes use of waste fat and oils to decarbonise transport, mentioned that it had confronted “extreme financial pressures” since 2022.
Staff are believed to have been advised of the information earlier this month.
The positioning, close to Motherwell, was the corporate’s first location in 2005, earlier than it later expanded to Cheshire and Amsterdam.
The Glasgow Occasions reported round 75 roles are below menace, however the firm declined to substantiate if this determine was appropriate.
Louise Calviou, Argent’s chief government officer, mentioned:
This has been the toughest determination for us to make and is one we’ve got not taken flippantly.
“After cautious consideration of market situations and our strategic targets for international decarbonisation efforts, we consider it’s a vital step we have to take.”
The corporate mentioned the atmosphere for biodiesal manufacturing had been weakened by larger competitors from imported Chinese language biodiesel and post-Brexit difficulties in importing feedstock.
‘Large knock-on results’
Marion Fellows, the SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, advised BBC Scotland Information that she was:
Shocked by what seems to be a really sudden reversal in fortune.
She mentioned: “If this goes forward it will likely be a devastating blow to the entire of North Lanarkshire.
“It’s going to come as no comfort to this glorious workforce that the corporate is blaming exterior market forces.
“These are jobs that North Lanarkshire and Scotland doesn’t wish to lose”.
Ms Fellows added that there can be “big knock-on results” for the native financial system if the closure went forward.
Argent Power mentioned it was “too early to say” what number of workers can be affected by the closure due because the session course of had not but began.
A Scottish authorities spokesman described the information as “very disappointing”.
He added: “This can be a regarding time for the employees and their households and supporting affected employees members have to be the rapid precedence.”
The Newarthill plant has the capability to supply as much as 50 million litres of biodiesel a 12 months.
The corporate was based in 2001 and commenced manufacturing in Lanarkshire 4 years later.
Biodiesel plant closure can be ‘devastating’ for Lanarkshire, March 25, 2024
