The European chemical industry's 'shutdown wave': Exactly how many chemical plants have been shut down? We list them all for you.

In July 2025, the company upgraded its 'assessment scope' to a 'formal exit plan', deciding to shut down aromatic and olefin units at its Rheinland integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Germany, and certain olefin and derivative units at its Moerdijk site in the Netherlands. It plans to phase out the cracker unit at its Mossmorran facility in the UK between 2026 and 2027. TotalEnergies announced in April 2025 that it will permanently close an aging cracker unit at its Antwerp refinery-petrochemical complex in Belgium by the end of 2027. The unit has an ethylene capacity of 550,000 tons/year and a propylene capacity of 230,000 tons/year. SGL Carbon announced in May 2025 that, as part of its restructuring of its loss-making carbon fiber business, it will close its production site in Lavradio, Portugal (producing acrylic fibers and carbon fiber precursors). Production will cease in June 2025, with full shutdown completed by the end of 2026. Lanxess announced in Q2 2025 that it would advance the closure of its caprolactam plant at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site in Germany to the end of Q2 2025. BASF announced progressively between June and July 2025 that it would shut down or divest multiple production lines at its Ludwigshafen integrated site in Germany—including adipic acid, cyclododecanone (CDON), cyclopentanone (CPON), caprolactam, synthetic ammonia, and TDI units. The company stated this move aims to adjust its production structure to adapt to evolving market conditions and ensure long-term profitability across its value chain. This represents BASF’s largest-scale 'streamlining' action in Europe since shutting down some ammonia and methanol units in 2023–2024. Westlake announced in June 2025 that it would close its bisphenol A and liquid epoxy resin units at its Pernis plant in the Netherlands—and would not restart its chloropropene and epichlorohydrin units, which had already ceased operations in July 2024. The entire plant will be closed in 2025. Trinseo confirmed in June 2025 that its 160,000-ton-per-year polycarbonate (PC) plant in Stade, Germany, will be permanently shut down. The company cited declining European demand and unfavorable energy and raw material price spreads causing the site to operate at a 'long-term loss'. Dow will announce additional shutdown plans in Q4 2025, halting a chemical recycling project at its Böhlen plant in Germany—valued at over USD 100 million. The immediate reason is the planned shutdown of its main cracker unit; deeper causes include prohibitively high European energy costs (accounting for up to 40% of operating expenses), persistently weak end-market demand, and stringent regulatory conditions—rendering such investments economically unviable. INEOS’s exit initiatives spanned from January to July 2025: — Sold its composites division to KPS Capital Partners for EUR 1.7 billion, covering 17 global manufacturing sites. — Permanently closed its phenol plant in Gladbeck, Germany (with phenol capacity of 650,000 tons/year and acetone capacity of 409,000 tons/year; built in 1954).

Deliberately concealing the hazards of this chemical! DuPont, 3M, and 17 other chemical companies face lawsuits!

The allegations primarily include: chemical companies deliberately concealed scientific evidence and recklessly sold, transported, supplied, disposed of, and used PFAS, causing severe environmental damage in Michigan. In response to these allegations, a DuPont spokesperson stated they were 'deeply disappointed' by the Attorney General’s ruling. DuPont does not manufacture PFOA, PFOS, or GenX. Moreover, DuPont never produced or sold firefighting foam. Other perfluoroalkanes used by DuPont account for only a small fraction of global perfluoroalkane production—and DuPont is actively pursuing alternatives to PFAS. The list of defendant companies includes: — Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. (3M) — DuPont — The Chemours Co. — Corteva Inc. — Dyneon LLC — Archroma entities — Arkema entities — AGC Chemicals Americas Inc. — Daikin Industries entities — Solvay Specialty Polymers — Asahi Kasei Plastics North America DuPont was recently implicated in a shocking scandal exposed by its former subsidiary! A court filing recently released by Chemours—the company spun off from DuPont—reveals that DuPont employed ruthless methods to avoid bearing the costs of cleaning up hazardous chemicals.

Chemours Company Faces Securities Lawsuit Over Opteon Demand Allegations

4 days ago

Chemours Co. faces a securities class action alleging overstated Opteon demand and poor financial guidance caused a stock drop. Investors may join the suit before the December 7, 2026 deadline.

PR Newswire

Chemours Company Faces Securities Fraud Lawsuit Over Opteon Demand Claims

Carroll County Mirror-Democrat

2026-10-09

Chemours Company Faces Securities Fraud Class Action Over Opteon Demand Claims

2026-10-11

Chemours Faces Securities Lawsuit Over Disclosures and Guidance

2026-10-11

Chemours Company Faces Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Investor Harm

2026-10-12

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Chemours for Misleading Investors on Product Demand and Financial Guidance.