QUO VADIS, PETROCHEMICALS?

Petrochemicals play a crucial role in the chemical industry. Firstly, they mark the starting point of almost all chemical value chains and, hence, provide a secure raw material basis to all the subsequent segments, such as specialties, fine chemicals or polymers, the more so as the majority of chemical plants in Europe is backwards integrated. Secondly, individually they represent also one of the biggest business segments in the chemical industry.   FACTS AND FIGURES In the current structure of Europe’s chemical industry petrochemicals contribute: On average some €132 billion per year to the overall European GDP, representing 26.4% of the overall EU27 chemical sales 2020 (= €499 billion) 300,000 highly qualified jobs, and this number can be extrapolated to 1.2 million, if the entire chemical value chain is taken into account This shows the importance of petrochemicals as an economic factor. 90% of all manufactured goods such as electronics, furniture, appliances, textiles and many more are based on petrochemicals. Additionally, petrochemicals are an enabler industry for many sustainable solutions, such as insulation material to save energy, durable and...