Scottish Enterprise, Great British Chemicals (GBC) and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) convened an expert industry roundtable on 17 June 2026 to explore the future of Grangemouth within the UK’s evolving chemicals landscape. The session was facilitated by Cornerstone Innovations, who also produced the summary report which captures what industry collectively communicated during that discussion.
The conversation evolved in a defining way. What began as an exploration of future chemicals technologies rapidly became a focused discussion about the conditions required to convert commercially credible opportunities into investable industrial projects. This shift – from technology selection to industrial deployment – represents the principal message from the roundtable and runs as the central narrative.
Key Findings
Industry identified genuine commercial opportunity across multiple value chains, including renewable carbon pathways, methanol as a platform molecule, speciality chemicals and circular feedstocks. There was broad rejection of the idea that Grangemouth should pursue a single technology pathway — contributors focused instead on the characteristics of commercially successful opportunities.
Grangemouth’s greatest competitive advantage lies not in any individual asset, but in the strength and integration of its existing industrial ecosystem. Established manufacturing capability, COMAH status, port infrastructure, pipelines, utilities, a skilled workforce and available industrial land collectively represent a strategic platform that would be extremely difficult to replicate elsewhere.
The strongest and most consistent message to emerge from the discussion was that technology is no longer the principal barrier. Many commercially credible technologies already exist at sufficient maturity for deployment. The challenge has shifted to creating the economic, regulatory, commercial and infrastructure conditions that allow those technologies to attract investment and reach scale.
A recurring message was that industrial deployment is an interconnected system. Weakness at any point – whether in feedstocks, infrastructure, regulation, investment or market demand – has the potential to prevent otherwise attractive projects progressing. This systems perspective defined the character of the discussion.
