Europe’s chemical industry is sliding into crisis as rising energy costs, weak demand, and dwindling investments force widespread plant shutdowns. Without swift policy intervention, the region risks losing its industrial backbone to competitors in lower cost, faster growing markets.

AI is no longer a buzzword; it’s reshaping how industries work. From Gen AI and Computer Vision to Edge AI and Agentic AI, chemical and oil & gas leaders are already exploring these technologies to streamline workflows, cut downtime, and strengthen safety. As companies face rising pressure to modernize and meet sustainability goals, next gen AI is emerging as the game changer for operational excellence and safety.

Under an agreement signed between Ineos Inovyn and Esseco Industrial, Ineos Inovyn will sell its shares in Inovyn Produzione Italia, which operates the Rosignano and Tavazzano sites in Italy. Both the sites produce essential chemicals for critical sectors.

The 150,000 pph High-Pressure Saturated Steam Boiler and the 110,000 pph High-Pressure Superheated Steam Boiler are two of the most robust and versatile trailer-mounted boilers for chemical processing applications in Nationwide Boiler’s rental fleet.

Kemira, Cusp AI have utilized the Gen AI technology to design new materials for removing forever chemicals from drinking water and process water at trace concentrations. This is the first commercial partnership to apply generative AI end-to-end to the design of new materials for PFAS remediation.

BASF has recently inaugurated its new Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The 8.7 billion project sets a new benchmark for sustainable chemical production in China and across the globe.

The EU-India free trade agreement is expected to double EU goods exports to India by 2032. With a specific focus on the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries, the trade deal highlights that India will eliminate current tariffs of up to 22 % on EU chemicals and 11 % on EU pharmaceuticals while the EU will also cut tariffs to zero on Indian chemical exports as well as offer Indian pharmaceutical and medical devices companies’ preferential access to the EU market. In this scenario, what do industry leaders in the chemical and pharma space have to say about the EU-India free trade deal? Read on to find out…

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) are no longer fringe technologies — they are becoming central pillars of industrial decarbonization. As governments and companies face mounting pressure to achieve net‑zero emissions by 2050, the deployment of CCS/CCUS projects has accelerated worldwide. From chemicals to energy, industries are embracing carbon capture as a critical lever to reduce emissions.

PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the ‘Top 10 plant engineering projects of May 2026’ from all over the world. Right from Trillium launching the world’s first demonstration plant for bio-based acrylonitrile to Lanzatech finalizing the site for Europe’s first commercial alcohol-to-jet SAF facility, find out all the projects making headlines here.

Lummus and Sumitomo Chemical have announced the commercial availability of their highly-efficient Polymethyl Methacrylate Chemical Recycling technology. The technology aims to reduce waste, lower emissions and unlock new value from recycled materials.