Core Insights - The European chemical industry is facing significant challenges, including a shrinking global market share and increased competition, with its share of the world chemical market dropping to 13% [1] - In the previous year, the industry generated a revenue of €635 billion and directly provided 1.2 million jobs, serving as a crucial support for key sectors such as automotive and healthcare [1] - Energy costs remain a primary concern, with European natural gas prices consistently three times higher than those in the United States, which continues to erode the industry's cost competitiveness [1] Industry Challenges - The industry is experiencing weak demand, increasing import pressures, and persistently low capacity utilization rates, which are currently 9.5 percentage points below the average levels from 2014 to 2019 [1] - Despite maintaining a net export position due to high-value specialty chemicals, the growth of Europe's trade surplus has not kept pace with global trade expansion, leading to a relative decline in market position compared to other major exporting regions [1]