Cefic’s Chemical Trends Report Q1 2025 is out!

The European chemical industry faces a challenging start to 2025

The competitiveness of the European chemical industry continues to be under serious pressure, with no sign of improvement early in 2025, neither on the cost side, nor on the demand side.

Looking at the first quarter of 2025, the EU27 chemicals capacity utilisation stands at 74%, significantly below the EU’s long-term average and trailing the US average since Q3 2022. Weak demand and declining business confidence continue to challenge the EU27 chemical industry. Additionally, gas prices remain 3.3 times higher than in the US, rendering them uncompetitive on a global scale.

While a significant increase in trade surplus was observed in 2024 in comparison to 2023, driven by lower import rates due to lower domestic demand, this trend risks reversing. This is based on data from first two months of 2025, as the EU chemicals trade surplus decreased by 25% due to increasing imports.

Recovery remains distant, with demand growth constrained by weak economic conditions in Germany and the USA. The business trade environment for European chemical companies faces high risks due to the unprecedented, global trade disruptions caused by US tariffs. Consequently, EU27 chemicals output is projected to grow from 2.5% in 2024, to probably less than 0.5% in 2025.

Urgent and concrete actions are required to create a business environment that allows business to leverage their strengths and enables Europe to achieve its objectives.