MORE than 500 jobs will be lost after it was announced that the biggest private employer in Northumberland is to close.
The Alcan aluminium smelter at Lynemouth, which opened in 1972, employs 515 staff while hundreds more across the region are thought to be dependent on its supply chain.
Another 111 employees work at a power station that powers the plant, the future of which is still under review, though there are hopes it can be sold as a going concern.
Rio Tinto Alcan said it wants to close the Lynemouth smelter in Northumberland due to spiralling energy costs and last night there was strong criticism of the “green taxes” said to have contributed to the plant’s closure.
Jacynthe Côté, chief executive of Rio Tinto Alcan, said yesterday: “This decision follows a thorough strategic review which explored every possible option for continuing to operate the smelter and power station.
“However, it is clear the smelter is no longer a sustainable business because its energy costs are increasing significantly, due largely to emerging legislation.”
The closure came as official figures revealed youth unemployment broke the one million mark and total unemployment rose by 129,000 in the latest quarter to 2.62m, the worst total since 1994.
The North East had the highest rate of unemployment in the country.
Last night James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is a desperate irony that the announcement of the closure of the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter was made on a day when figures demonstrated the highest unemployment in over a decade and record number of young people struggling to find work.”
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the planned closure was “very disappointing” for the workforce and community.
But last night ministers were accused of helping make the closure of the Alcan plant “inevitable” by imposing controversial green taxes.
North East Euro MP Martin Callanan, leader of the Tory group in the European Parliament, said: “This is the price we are paying for Europe’s and the UK’s obsession with reducing carbon emissions.
“Our Government is partly to blame and European policy that has been agreed to by successive Governments, both the previous one and this one.”
Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Wansbeck, said: “The announcement is devastating news for the area. It is devastating for the hard-working people in Alcan. And it is a result of two main factors.
“The first one is that Rio Tinto doesn’t see Alcan as a major profit maker in their portfolio. And secondly, it is a result of the carbon flood tax and the introduction of other green taxes, which will hammer energy intensive industries.
“It is basically a problem created by the company and the Government.”
