Agrochemical manufacturer Syngenta has begun a formal consultation with trade unions and employees over the proposed closure of its site at Grangemouth, placing 377 jobs at risk.
The company stated that no final decision has been taken and that alternatives will be considered during the consultation period.
Syngenta said it had been reviewing its Grangemouth operations for some time against a backdrop of growing international competition and difficult energy conditions. According to the company, the site costs significantly more to run than its other production facilities, a gap that has persisted despite sustained efforts to narrow it.
The Grangemouth plant produces active ingredients used in crop protection products and has a long history in the town’s chemical sector, having previously operated under ICI and later Zeneca before Syngenta was formed in 2000 from the merger of the agribusiness divisions of Novartis and AstraZeneca. The Swiss-headquartered group was acquired by ChemChina in 2017 and is now ultimately owned by Chinese state company Sinochem following the merger of the two state-owned firms. The site received more than £2 million in Scottish Enterprise funding a little over a year ago.
Responding to the announcement, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport Stephen Flynn said in a statement issued by the Scottish Government: “My thoughts are with the workers, their families and the local community who will be affected by this decision.”
Flynn said ministers had told the company’s board of their opposition to any reduction or closure at the site. “We made clear to Syngenta’s board our strong opposition to any potential scale down or closure of their Grangemouth site,” he said, adding: “It is therefore extremely disappointing to hear that the board has taken the commercial decision to enter a consultation period on the closure of the site despite the Scottish Government’s commitment to exploring support for its continued operations.”
The cabinet secretary also turned his attention to Westminster and the £200 million pledged by the UK Government for Grangemouth in 2024. “During this period of consultation, I sincerely hope that the UK Government will now provide some of the £200 million committed to Grangemouth, since not a single penny has yet been allocated from that fund promised in 2024. I will continue to press the UK Government on this,” he said.
Grangemouth’s industrial base has come under sustained pressure in recent years. Petroineos ended crude oil refining at the town’s refinery in 2025, converting the facility into a fuel import terminal with the loss of around 400 jobs. The UK and Scottish governments subsequently commissioned Project Willow, a study published in 2025 that identified a range of potential low-carbon projects intended to secure the long-term future of the industrial cluster.
According to the Scottish Government, its Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative, which supports workers facing redundancy, is ready to assist those affected at Syngenta. “Our priority now is to ensure that the affected workers receive support, which is why the Scottish Government’s initiative for responding to redundancy situations, PACE, stands ready to help those who may be affected by redundancy,” Flynn said.
He added that he had been briefed by the company and intended to meet trade unions, local MSPs and UK Government representatives later on Thursday. “I have been briefed by the company, and aim to meet with the trade unions, local MSPs, and the UK Government later today,” he said.
I’m not sure how many more times you can be stabbed with the same knife before you realise it’s sharp.
If you allow your critical infrastructure and critical manufacturing to be majority owned by foreign companies expect it to be exploited for profit and then shutdown.. it’s not rocket science.
I disagree Jonathan, this was not bought for profit, it was bought to be shut down by a hostile State Actor, heavens I thought the French were bad, but the Chinese are playing a very dark game.
I would also say that the friendliness towards China by Cameron and Osbourne should be firmly shunted into the long grass and the Chinese given the High Port. See my visa comment below.
This is where a Labour Government can really make a difference.
Buy this, the Grangemouth Refinery into public ownership. High Port the traditional Civil Servants – they are useless, recruit a ‘business’ Civil Servant to take overall control and modernise both plants to make them internationally competitive – that includes a remit to decouple Electricity from Gas and deliver those energy savings to business first.
Then, honestly, treat China as a hostile State, I was incredulous that a Chinese national applying from China for a 6 month visa, receives an automatic upgrade to 2 years without payment and generally, rather than go through the complexity route, they are waived through to visit Sellafield – can’t believe it.
China needs to be up there with Russia when it comes to issuing visas and all I can say is write to your MPs and complain.