Syngenta has started a formal consultation with trade unions and staff over plans to close its site in Grangemouth, placing 377 jobs at risk. The Swiss-owned company, which produces crop protection products and seeds for farmers around the world, said the plant cannot compete on cost with its other sources of supply.
The company said the site remains much more expensive to run than its other production facilities, despite substantial efforts to narrow the gap. It said it had found some potential savings and looked at options for its formulation technologies, but these would not close the shortfall. Mike Hollands, global head of production and supply at Syngenta Crop Protection and president of Syngenta UK, praised the skill of the Grangemouth workforce but said the business had been unable to make the site competitive. Syngenta stressed that no final decision has been taken. In May 2025 it received £2.2m from Scottish Enterprise towards a £14.7m expansion that was due to create 38 jobs and safeguard 14 more.
Brian Leishman, Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, called the proposal “absolutely horrendous news for the workforce”. He said the UK and Scottish governments had put together a joint support package, but the company concluded its future lay elsewhere. He urged the Treasury to start spending the £200m from the National Wealth Fund promised to Grangemouth, none of which has yet been used. SNP Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said the Scottish government had told the Syngenta board of its strong opposition to any closure, and that its PACE redundancy support initiative was ready to help affected workers.
Unite national officer Tony Devlin said closure would be a “hammer blow” for the workers, the town and the Scottish economy. Reindustrialisation Minister Blair McDougall met the company on Thursday to discuss options for the site and its staff. Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander described the move as a commercial decision for a business facing global challenges, and said the UK government would work with Holyrood to secure long-term jobs for the industrial cluster.
The news is another setback for Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest industrial hub. Around 400 workers lost their jobs last year when Petroineos, a joint venture between Sir Jim Ratcliffe and PetroChina, closed Scotland’s last oil refinery. The town also missed out on a separate £200m UK government fund for sustainable aviation fuel, even though the Project Willow report had identified the industry as a source of new jobs at the site. One new project is under way: MiAlgae, which makes fish-free omega 3 from whisky byproducts, broke ground on a facility in December that is expected to support 310 jobs over five years.
