Two American chemicals companies are closing their factories at Rotterdam port, sending alarm bells ringing and highlighting the crisis facing the sector, the Financieele Dagblad said on Wednesday.

A pigment factory operated by Tronox and a LyondellBasell plant are both closing their doors permanently with the loss of 400 jobs in total.

The high cost of energy in the Netherlands is said to be behind the closures, according to umbrella organisation Deltalinqa. “We hope the government realises how serious the situation is,” chairman Victor van den Chijs said.

LyondellBasell said in a statement it is closing the plant because of “continued pressure on Maasvlakte’s profitability due to global overcapacities, a strong increase in imports from Asia and high costs of European production.” Its two other plants in Moerdijk and Botlek remain open.

Tronox, which makes titanium dioxide, blamed “Chinese competition”  as well as an increasingly challenged operating environment over the last two and a half years.” The plant in question has been closed since March last year because of problems with the chlorine supply.

At the end of last year, two other companies closed their doors at the port, citing strong competition from abroad.

The European petrochemicals industry has been hit by high electricity and gas costs in the Netherlands, and gas, for example, is five times as expensive as in the US.

Although the entire EU is in the same boat, the nitrogen issue, the planned tax on plastic and the extra Dutch CO2 tax are making the situation more difficult, the paper said.

“This is an illustration of the way Dutch industry is collapsing,” said Ingrid Thijssen, chairwoman of the employers’ organisation VNO-NCW. “The Hague needs to take urgent action to restore the level playing field for Dutch industry.”