The businessman said the sector is having “the life squeezed out of it” as a result of high energy prices and carbon taxes.
Last week, Ineos closed its synthetic ethanol plant at Grangemouth, which was one of only two in Europe.
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The oil refinery at Grangemouth meanwhile is set to close this summer, with hundreds of job losses expected.
Speaking to The Scotsman, Ratcliffe said; “Deindustrialising Britain achieves nothing for the environment. It merely shifts production and emissions elsewhere.
“The UK, and particularly the north, needs high quality manufacturing and the associated manufacturing jobs.
“We are witnessing the extinction of one of our major industries as chemical manufacture has the life squeezed out of it.”
Synthetic ethanol was produced in the Grangemouth plant primarily for use in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
Ineos said it had produced the equivalent of 25 billion bottles of whisky since starting production more than 40 years ago.
The Grangemouth plant had capacity of 180,000 tonnes per year, which was the equivalent of 226 million litres.
Ineos has called on the UK Government to take action, including creating an energy policy which “provides globally competitive pricing of natural gas and hydrogen” as part of the move towards net zero.
As well as this, it called for an emissions trading scheme which supports industry and decarbonisation equally, and a trade policy that supports UK manufacturing in its own domestic markets rather than incentivising imports.
Chief executive of Ineos Olefins & Polymers UK Stuart Collings told The Scotsman the closure of the ethanol plant was a “sad loss”.
He also warned that further closures across the industry would happen unless action is taken.
The plant’s closure will result in a net loss of around 80 jobs, but all direct employees will be redeployed across the chemicals business at Grangemouth.
However, more than 500 roles will be indirectly impacted in the wider economy.
A spokesperson for the UK Government said: “This is very disappointing news from Ineos. Although the company has said affected employees will be redeployed elsewhere across the site, this announcement will still cause concern for workers and their families.
The refinery is to close this year (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
“This is yet another example of the failure of Scotland’s two governments to have had a credible industrial strategy over the past 14 years.
“That is why the UK Government is developing an industrial strategy that works for Scotland and the whole of the UK, but that comes after over a decade where Scotland’s industries had no joined up plan for growth.
“Before July last year there was no plan to support the Grangemouth workers. Within a matter of weeks, and working with the Scottish Government, we announced £100 million to support the local economy and create jobs, and launched Project Willow to explore options for a sustainable industrial future for the wider Grangemouth site.”
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As set out in our draft Grangemouth Just Transition plan, the Scottish Government is committed to securing a long term and sustainable future for the Grangemouth industrial cluster including for Ineos’ petrochemicals business.
“We recognise the valuable contribution that the business makes to the Scottish economy and its leading role in the plastics sector – particularly the contribution of the highly skilled workforce.
“Through the Project Willow cross site study and other initiatives, we will continue to explore viable routes to support industrial emitters at Grangemouth as they decarbonise and transition to low carbon and renewable projects.”