December 19, 2025 13:31

The task awaiting Markus Kamieth (pictured), CEO of the German group BASF, as the next president of Cefic will be far from easy.
He will take office on Jan. 1, 2026, and will be required to address, as a matter of urgency, a highly complex and demanding scenario for the European chemical industry, squeezed between high energy costs, increasingly intense international competition and weakened end demand due to a lingering crisis in the manufacturing sector.
This is a context marked by a high risk of deindustrialization, as evidenced by the growing number of plant closure announcements.

Kamieth will take over from Ilham Kadri, CEO of Syensqo, who has reached the end of her mandate. To ensure continuity, Cefic has asked Kadri to organize the next edition of the Antwerp Industry Summit, scheduled for February next year.

In addition to the role of Cefic president, Kamieth will also assume the chairmanship of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), the global voice of the chemical industry.

Markus Kamieth has been at the helm of BASF since April last year, succeeding Martin Brudermüller, but he has been with the German chemical group since 1989, after earning a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. Before becoming CEO, he served for seven years as a member of BASF’s board of executive directors and was responsible for the Catalysts, Coatings, Dispersions & Resins and Performance Chemicals divisions, as well as, from a regional perspective, Greater China, South & East Asia, ASEAN & ANZ, and Mega Projects Asia.

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