Associated British Foods (ABF) has announced the closure of Vivergo, its UK bioethanol production plant in Hull, which also produces animal feed for UK farms.
The decision to close the plant follows extensive discussions with the Government to find a regulatory and financial solution that would enable Vivergo to operate on a profitable and sustainable basis.
“These discussions were necessary because Vivergo’s commercial viability was undermined by the way in which UK regulations were being applied to favour foreign producers,” said ABF, “an issue subsequently made much worse by the Government’s decision in May to remove the tariffs on US bioethanol coming into the UK market.”
The deal has made it impossible for Vivergo to compete with the cheaper, heavily subsidised US ethanol.
These actions meant Vivergo would continue to be heavily loss-making without corrective Government intervention to provide short-term financial support and a longer-term regulatory solution, ABF explained.
The Government has decided not to offer either short-term financial support or the long-term regulatory certainty ABF sought.
The business continued: “Given these circumstances and the financial losses already incurred, ABF has therefore determined in the interests of its shareholders that it cannot continue to support Vivergo. ABF will start an orderly closure process immediately.”
Vivergo will have ceased all production of bioethanol and animal feed by 31 August 2025.
Vivergo is a strategically important anchor employer in the region, supporting over 160 skilled jobs directly and around 4,000 more in the supply chain, the majority of which are based in the Hull and East Riding region.
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