Tata Chemicals to shut soda ash plant in Winnington

The proposed restructure would see TCE close its soda ash and calcium chloride factory in Winnington, retain and expand the sodium bicarbonate factory in Winnington and retain its soda ash and sodium bicarbonate factories in Lostock. TCE's sister company, Middlewich-based British Salt is unaffected by this proposal.

This action is in response to the serious threat posed by high and rising energy prices and it would result in around 220 redundancies across Winnington and Lostock operations and from support services. As such, TCE has commenced a 45-day period of statutory consultation with unions and employees about the proposal.

Closure of Winnington's soda ash plant would enable TCE to reconfigure the combined heat and power plant supplying power and steam to both Winnington and Lostock in order to make it more sustainable and reduce its massive energy costs.

"It is hugely regrettable that we've had to announce proposed redundancies, but it is necessary to secure a sustainable future for our business," commented Managing Director, Martin Ashcroft. "In the face of high and rising gas prices, we have to reconfigure our business to focus on higher-value products and reduce our energy bill in order to continue manufacturing in Northwich. We believe that this proposal will help TCE to achieve that."

Tata Chemicals