More than 1 million people work in the industry in the EU alone and in Europe the industry remains in the top 5 largest manufacturing industries by revenues. Estimates put the number of companies above 200,000 spread across the region. In the middle east, there are approximately 1200 companies include a mix of large multinationals and smaller specialized companies. The petrochemicals is key due to oil and gas resources in the region.

Let’s look at some of the issues being faced by the chemical industry: