German chemical sales to fall this year

Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), Germany’s main chemical industry association, says it expects the country’s chemical sales to fall 3.5% in 2024 from the year earlier. The organization attributes the decline to weakness in the German economy as well as specific competitive disadvantages facing the sector, including high energy prices. Sales fell 12.2% in 2023, to $253 billion. “Companies must be able to trust in permanently affordable energy prices, smart regulation and reasonable company taxation,” VCI says in a press release.