Ineos to build hand sanitiser plant in just 10 days to produce 1m bottles a month amid coronavirus demand surge

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Ineos has announced it will produce one million bottles of hand sanitiser a month
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Rebecca Speare-Cole24 March 2020

Ineos is to build a hand sanitiser plant near Middlesbrough in just 10 days as demand for the product skyrockets due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The chemicals giant will open the factory to produce one million bottles a month, helping with the shortage seen throughout Europe, the company announced on Tuesday.

It said the site near Middlesbrough will be ready within 10 days, adding that products will be given to hospitals free of charge.

Ineos said it intends to also build another factory in Germany as well and is already talking to retail outlets across Europe.

UK shoppers have been stockpiling toilet paper, pasta, hand sanitiser and tinned foods as fears grow over the spread of the coronavirus
PA

In the UK, Brits have been clearing pharmacy shelves over the last few weeks, causing supply to plummet for products like hand sanitiser, soap, toilet role and cleaning products.

It comes as the country continues to battle with the Covid-19 crisis as the number of cases rose steeply to 335, with more than 6,000 reported cases and 335 deaths as of Monday.

London panic buying during the Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures

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Meanwhile, Ineos says it will step up to help as Europe’s largest producer of the two key raw material needed for hospital grade hand sanitiser - isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ethanol.

The company will develop both standard and pocket-sized bottles of hand sanitiser.

It will first build the UK to help with the shortage before building a similar factory in Germany.

​Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of Ineos said: It is becoming increasingly clear that hand to mouth infection is a significant cause of Corona virus contagion and INEOS is Europe’s largest manufacturer of the core ingredient of hand sanitiser.

"We will build two factories in the UK and Germany in 10 days to produce very substantial supplies.”

The company said the products will be made according to World Health Organisation specifications and be specifically designed to kill bacteria and viruses.

"Supplies to NHS hospitals will be free of charge for the period of the crisis with the public being able to purchase bottles through retailers," the company said in a statement.

The company will produce standard and pocket-sized bottles of hand sanitiser.
Ineos

"Ineos takes its corporate and social responsibilities extremely seriously, its products are essential to the production of essential healthcare products from rubber gloves, to PVC saline drips, syringes, ventilators, medical tubing," it added.

"Its products purify the public drinking water. It produces raw materials for soap, acetone for aspirin and paracetamol, and its phenol is being used in pharmaceutical analysis essential in procedures necessary to find a vaccine."

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