ExxonMobil to shut chemicals plant in Fife with loss of up to 450 jobs

US oil firm blames UK government policy and supply costs for closure of site near Cowdenbeath in Scotland

ExxonMobil is to close a chemicals plant in Scotland that employs hundreds of workers within months, blaming the decision on the UK government’s “economic and policy environment”.

Workers at Fife Ethylene Plant were told on Tuesday that the oil company would shut the 40-year-old facility near Cowdenbeath by February next year owing to the difficult policy and market conditions in the UK.