Ensus announced yesterday that it is restarting its £300 million bioethanol plant on Teesside – Europe’s largest bio-refinery – in late August, following a 15-month enforced shutdown.

After several months delay, the European Union's Customs Code Committee has now acted to close the loophole in the tariff system that allowed imports of subsidised US product to distort the market. This, together with the ending of US taxpayer subsidies for ethanol, has been a major factor in the improvement of market conditions and Ensus is confident in its plans for a restart.

Ensus employs around 100 people directly who have been kept on full pay throughout the shutdown and also supports over 2000 jobs in the wider supply chain.

General engineering and maintenance activities have been taking place for several weeks and it is expected that the plant, on the Wilton International site, will be at full rates of operation within the next 2 months.

Meanwhile the director general of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has called upon the United States to suspend their current biofuel mandate which would allow more crops to go into food production. The UN argue that the drought in the US is inflicting huge damage on the US maize crop, with serious consequences for the overall international food supply.

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