This is a defining year for Europe’s chemical industry.
Production capacity is shrinking, investments are under pressure, and competition from low-cost, high-emission imports is intensifying. At the same time, expectations on sustainability, transparency and supply security continue to rise. These forces are not temporary, they are structural.
At the General Assembly of the Critical Chemicals Alliance, the chemical sector was once again described as the industry of industries. And rightly so. What happens in chemicals cascades through the entire European economy, from manufacturing and construction to healthcare, food and mobility.
The launch of the Critical Chemicals Alliance reflects this reality. It also signals a shift in how Europe intends to act. Market-side measures, including potential quota-based instruments, are now on the table. If demand for sustainable chemicals is actively supported, availability will become the limiting factor. There will not be enough product.
This makes 2026 a true inflection point. The industry will change and those that survive will do so in a new operating reality.
This is not about how well-positioned you are today. It is about how you respond. How you interpret risk. How you act under pressure. And ultimately, what kind of company you choose to be on the other side of this transition.
The choices made now will shape not just individual companies but the future of European industry as a whole.
Eva-Marie Byberg
EVP, Chief Sustainability & Strategy Officer
This is the concluding comment of Sekab newsletter, read all our newsletters here