Cefic: European chemical production to decline in 2025

Recently, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) stated in its "Chemical Trends Report" that European chemical production is expected to decline in 2025, with the specific extent of decline undisclosed, revising previous expectations of a 0.5% growth. In 2024, European chemical production grew by 2.4%. Cefic pointed out that uncertain industry recovery prospects and a weak global economic environment will limit demand growth. Additionally, European chemical companies face high risks due to global trade disruptions such as U.S. tariffs.

Cefic forecasts that the capacity utilization rate for chemicals will further drop to 74.6% in the third quarter, down from 75.6% in the second quarter. "Weak demand and uncompetitive energy prices continue to keep the competitiveness of Europe's chemical industry well below pre-pandemic levels. Basic chemicals and petrochemical products are particularly facing challenges," Cefic said.

In the first half of 2025, European chemical production declined by 2.4% year-on-year and remained 10% lower than pre-pandemic levels. With persistently low demand and flat prices, sales dropped 1.8% year-on-year.

Cefic noted that significant growth for Europe's chemical industry depends on strong domestic demand, but no positive shift in domestic demand has been observed so far, and business outlooks for most downstream users remain pessimistic. In the first half of 2025, European chemical exports rose 0.5% year-on-year, while imports increased by 5.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of 20.1 billion euros, down 17% year-on-year.