Session Summary: Is Europe’s production network in structural decline? What's the future landscape of trade flows and how will that affect the supply chain? Are specialty chemicals the industry’s new lifeline? Is sustainability losing momentum? Will AI reshape or replace the workforce?

The chemical industry underpins more than 90% of manufactured goods. Today, it sits at the epicenter of geopolitical realignment, tariff escalation, shifting trade flows and accelerating digital disruption. The consequences for competitiveness, profitability and long-term survivability are profound.

This forward-looking session by ICIS will have you leaning in as we challenge assumptions and unpack the forces reshaping the global chemical landscape:

• Geopolitical realignment: How power shifts are redirecting demand, altering material flows and redrawing competitive advantage

• Tariffs & policy: What trade measures have already changed — and what’s coming next for supply chains, export controls and regulatory frameworks

• Market dynamics: Where growth is accelerating, how capacity is migrating, and what changing commodity flows mean for regional competitiveness

• Supply chain resilience: Strategies to manage disruption, rising costs and systemic risk in an unstable trading environment

• Survivability in a downturn: What it takes to navigate today’s painful cycle and emerge stronger

• AI & business model reinvention: How digital transformation is reshaping operations, workforce strategy and commercial models

ICIS will challenge you to confront the industry’s most uncomfortable questions and define what the next era of chemicals looks like.