Chemical plant closures in Europe have increased sixfold since 2022, reaching a cumulative 37 Mt of capacity, or around 9% of European production capacity, and resulting in the loss of 20,000 direct jobs in the chemical industry, revealed a new report published on Wednesday 28 January, by Cefic, the forum for the EU chemical industry.
“In addition to the 20,000 direct job losses, an estimated 89,000 indirect jobs are at risk across Europe, reflecting the chemical industry’s central role in regional value chains” says Cefic.
New investment has also slowed dramatically, with annual announced investment capacity falling from 2.7 Mt in 2022 to just 0.3 Mt in early 2025.
Closure announcements have mainly concerned the upstream petrochemicals sector (17.8 Mt, 48%), basic inorganics (11.7 Mt, 32%), polymers (5.4 Mt, 15%) and specialty chemicals (2.0 Mt, 5%).
The announcements span countries where the chemical industry has the largest presence, including Germany (8.8 Mt, 25%), the Netherlands (7.2 Mt, 20%), the United Kingdom (4.5 Mt, 12%), France (3.9 Mt, 10%), Italy (2.5 Mt, 7%), Belgium (2.3 Mt, 6%) and Spain (1.6 Mt, 4%).
In 49% of cases, companies indicate energy cost competitiveness as the primary rationale for closing, followed by demand-related considerations (19%), overcapacity (9%), and regulatory factors (8%).
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/kgp (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)