January 28, 2026 09:27

It is a stark picture painted by The European Chemical Closures & Investments Radar 2022–2025 (downloadable with this article), a study commissioned by the European chemicals federation Cefic and produced by consultancy Roland Berger.

Across more than thirty pages of charts and data, the report lays bare the scale of the challenge facing the chemical industry on the continent. Since 2022, plant shutdowns have eliminated 37 million tonnes of capacity—almost 9% of Europe’s total—as well as 20,000 direct jobs.
On an annual basis, closures have surged from 2.9 million tonnes to 17.2 million tonnes per year, a sixfold increase.

The concern extends beyond shrinking volumes. The restructuring of production footprints is being accompanied by a sharp slowdown in new investment, with serious implications for the sector’s competitiveness and long-term viability.
One figure encapsulates the trend: annual additions of new capacity fell from 2.7 million tonnes in 2022 to just 300,000 tonnes year to date in 2025. Over the 2022–2025 period, total additions amount to roughly 7 million tonnes, compared with capacity losses of 37 million tonnes.
The report highlights a shift from a broad pipeline of projects spanning multiple innovation pathways—electrification, hydrogen-based feedstocks and circular plastics—to a single pilot initiative.

“It’s no longer a question of being five minutes before or after twelve,” comments Marco Mensink, Cefic’s Director General. “The sector is under severe stress and breaking. The rate of closures has doubled in a year, and even worse, annual investments are half and close to zero. On both sides, the speed is accelerating, not slowing. We need decisive action this year, with impact at factory floor level.”

Closures have been driven by several factors. Energy costs are the dominant cause, accounting for nearly half of cases, followed by weak demand (19%), overcapacity (9%) and regulation (8%).

Looking more closely at Cefic’s breakdown of closures and openings by segment, and focusing on polymers, permanent shutdowns over the period total almost 5.4 million tonnes, equivalent to 6% of Europe’s polymer capacity. By contrast, investments covered just over 600,000 tonnes, resulting in a negative balance of 4.8 million tonnes.
Here too, the loss of energy competitiveness is the primary driver of shutdowns. In addition, upstream difficulties in petrochemicals and steam cracking pose a significant structural risk for the polymer value chain, given its strong dependence on these assets. As the report makes clear, upstream closures can cascade through the system and undermine the viability of downstream polymer plants.

Turning to Europe’s crackers, the study notes that between 2022 and 2025 there were nine announced shutdowns, reducing nameplate capacity for ethylene, propylene and butadiene by 16%, from around 40 million tonnes to 33 million tonnes. Once again, energy costs emerge as the main driver of deindustrialisation.

On a country-by-country basis, Germany tops the disinvestment ranking with 8.8 million tonnes of capacity lost, accounting for 25% of the European total. It is followed by the Netherlands (7.2 million tonnes, 20%), the United Kingdom (4.5 million tonnes, 12%), France (3.9 million tonnes, 10%) and Italy (2.5 million tonnes, 7%).

Cefic has pledged to maintain attention on these developments. The Radar will be updated quarterly, and twice a year the federation will publish a summary to provide policymakers and industry decision-makers with clear signals and up-to-date trends.

© Polimerica -  Reproduction prohibited, all rights reserved