The European chemical industry is facing a scenario marked by a loss of global competitiveness, regulatory pressure, and energy cost differentials, but also by its increasingly decisive role in the energy transition and the continent’s strategic autonomy.
This assessment was the focus of a meeting held in Barcelona as a prelude to Expoquimia, organised by Fira de Barcelona, Foment del Treball Nacional and FedeQuim, with the participation of institutional representatives and senior executives from the chemical sector and process industries.
A structural sector for European industry
The chemical sector remains a cornerstone of industry in Spain, generating €85.417 billion in revenue, accounting for 12% of industrial GDP, and supporting more than one million direct, indirect and induced jobs.
It also consolidates its export leadership, with around 74% of production destined for international markets, and its position as a highly innovation-intensive sector, playing a key role in R&D investment and technological development.
An essential infrastructure within industrial value chains
Participants agreed that chemistry constitutes a critical infrastructure for the functioning of Europe’s industrial fabric, as it is present in more than 95% of value chains.
Its contribution is decisive in strategic sectors such as energy storage, advanced mobility, semiconductors, renewable hydrogen, high-performance materials, and applications in health and biosciences.
However, this positioning contrasts with a level of institutional recognition that the sector considers insufficient given its systemic importance.
Competitiveness: energy, regulation and industrial scale
The analysis focused on three key drivers shaping the competitiveness of Europe’s process industry.
First, energy costs, which are between two and three times higher than in the United States and Asia, directly impacting the production of basic chemicals and intermediate products.
Second, the regulatory framework, characterised by increasing complexity, cumulative legislation, and heterogeneous implementation, with direct effects on investment, project timelines and compliance costs.
Third, the gap between knowledge generation and industrial scaling, where Europe maintains scientific leadership but faces structural challenges in translating innovation into production capacity, particularly in capital-intensive projects.
Strategic autonomy and industrial base
The sector has warned of the gradual loss of basic chemical production capacity in Europe in recent years, with the closure of industrial assets and increasing dependence on third countries for raw materials and intermediate products.
This trend reinforces the debate on strategic autonomy and supply chain resilience, particularly in a context of increasing geopolitical fragmentation.
In contrast, Spain’s chemical sector has shown stronger performance, recovering pre-pandemic activity levels and demonstrating a comparatively higher degree of industrial stability within the European context.
Next edition: Expoquimia 2026
The meeting forms part of the roadmap towards the next edition of Expoquimia 2026, which will take place from 2 to 5 June at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, alongside Equiplast.
The event will bring together around 800 exhibitors and more than 21,000 professionals, consolidating its position as a leading platform for the chemical and process industries in Europe.
IMAGES FROM THE EVENT here
PRESS RELEASE here
