Vivergo Fuels closure’s impact to be felt far and wide

In the United Kingdom, the impact of Vivergo Fuels’ closure will be felt beyond the 150 employees, as 900 farms across Yorkshire and the 1.1 million tons of wheat that the biofuel plant processes is now at risk. It is estimated that the closure will affect over 3,000 jobs directly or indirectly.

As reported in The Digest on September 6, Vivergo Fuels is closing due to “the continued difficult trading environment and delays in the implementation of E10 in the UK over time.”

Now union leaders and farmers across the region are concerned about the impact beyond Vivergo Fuels’ walls. The National Farming Union’s regional director for the North East, Adam Bedford, told Hull Daily Mail that he was saddened to hear about the 150 job losses at Vivergo and was worried for the future of its suppliers. Farmers will now need to find new markets for their wheat.

“The 1.1m tonnes of wheat processed by Vivergo represents a significant proportion of UK feed wheat production and an even higher proportion of Yorkshire’s output,” he said. “As a result, its loss will be keenly felt by growers across our region, whose grain will now have to find its way into other domestic feed wheat markets across the North East.”