ABF announces closure of Vivergo Fuels ethanol plant

Commissioned in 2012, the Vivergo Fuels facility in Hull is the UK’s single largest feed wheat processor, producing up to 420 million litres of fuel ethanol and 420,000 tonnes of high-protein animal feed from 1 million tonnes of feed wheat annually.

According to a statement, the decision to close the plant follows extensive discussions with the UK Government to find a regulatory and financial solution that would enable Vivergo to operate on a profitable and sustainable basis.

These discussions were necessary because “Vivergo’s commercial viability was undermined by the way in which UK regulations were being applied to favour foreign producers”, an issue subsequently made much worse by the Government’s decision in May 2025 to remove the tariffs on bioethanol coming into the UK market from the United States (US).

These two actions meant Vivergo Fuels would inevitably continue to be heavily loss-making without corrective Government intervention to provide short-term financial support and a longer-term regulatory solution.

The Government has decided not to offer either short-term financial support or the long-term regulatory certainty we sought. Given these circumstances and the financial losses already incurred, ABF has therefore determined in the interests of its shareholders that it cannot continue to support Vivergo. ABF will start an orderly closure process immediately, the statement said.

Vivergo will have ceased all production of bioethanol and animal feed by August 31, 2025.