A Year in Review
Focus on our Competitiveness
Strategic priorities for a competitive Chlor-Alkali future.
The challenges facing Europe's Chlor-Alkali industry (high energy costs, low utilisation and regulatory pressure) continue to intensify, driving plant closures and job losses across the continent. Collective, coordinated action at both EU and national level has therefore become essential.
It was against this backdrop that Euro Chlor convened a Special Strategic Planning Workshop on 31 October 2025 with the Management Committee to define the industry's key priorities and map out the road ahead. The overarching mission agreed was to safeguard our sector's ability to produce Chlor-Alkali products – strategically vital to Europe's future sustainability – enabling the industry to operate safely, keep investing in its assets, and secure its long-term viability.
Two clear, interrelated priorities emerged: generating demand through emergency policy measures that protect and promote local production, reducing Europe's import dependency; and making the industry cost competitive by addressing structural costs, primarily energy.
Building on these priorities, Euro Chlor (supported by its Management Committee, Communications Committee (CC) and Advocacy and Regulatory Affairs Committee (ARAC)) has developed an initial set of actions, each marked with the Priority Action icon, which are detailed in the following sections of this website.
The Antwerp Call to Alden Biesen
Well aligned with Euro Chlor's priorities.
At the European Industry Summit organised by Cefic in Antwerp (11 February 2026), the Antwerp Declaration Community (representing over 1,300 companies, associations and trade unions) urged EU leaders to take emergency action. These focused on industrial electricity prices, jobs, trade fairness and demand for European products.
Though Euro Chlor was only indirectly involved, the messages shared here align closely with our sector's priorities.
The Call informed the EU Leaders' Retreat the following day in Alden Biesen, Belgium. This in turn set the stage for concrete measures to be taken forward at the March European Council meeting.
The Council acknowledged the competitiveness crisis and advanced initiatives such as the Grids Package and the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), with binding legislation on these expected to be developed in the coming months.
Engaging with the European Commission 
Priority action
Euro Chlor maintains an ongoing dialogue with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security (DG TRADE) and the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW). This aims to ensure that our sector's challenges are understood at EU level.
In December 2025, senior representatives from the Chlor-Vinyl industry and Euro Chlor met with DG TRADE to discuss the challenges facing these strategically important sectors. The meeting, initiated by Vinyl suppliers within the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM 2010), offered a useful opportunity for open exchange with the Commission on the specific features of our sector.
Then, in March 2026, Euro Chlor hosted a meeting with DG GROW at Vynova Tessenderlo, giving the Commission a first-hand look at the realities facing our sector. The visit sparked substantial discussion on competitive pressures and the impact of Carbon and energy costs, with DG GROW showing genuine interest in the sector's position. The Commission has since expressed a desire for continued engagement and data-sharing.
Finally, with support from Cefic's trade experts, Euro Chlor also monitors import trends (notably for Caustic Soda). Using the European Commission's Trade Diversion Monitoring Tool, the aim is to keep members informed of import surges.
The Commission has expressed a desire for continued engagement and data-sharing.
A more Chlor-Alkali specific tool
The tool remains a useful early-warning system, although it is less effective at capturing gradual, cumulative trends ('slow burns') that can cause structural harm over time (but these features are in development). Members have also pointed to the need for a broader instrument able to track interconnected sectors and the knock-on effects of trade diversion across the value chain. A more 'Chlor-Alkali specific' tool is therefore being developed by the secretariat for use by the members.
Assessing our sector's competitiveness Priority action
At the initiative of Euro Chlor's Management Committee, AI tools have been used to assess the reliability of the forecasts set out in the 2023 Argus Media Competitiveness Study, testing each prediction against actual data.
The analysis evaluates forecast accuracy across five domains – EU industrial electricity, Carbon and EU ETS, commodities, cost competitiveness, and production and capacity – and distils the findings into an overall scorecard and consolidated verdict, with sources and methodology documented throughout.
This will be used to ensure our messages remain supported by real data.
Facts and Figures
Facts and Figures about our sector's Competitiveness
2025 Chlorine production
In 2025, Chlorine production reached 7,728 kilotonnes, with an average capacity utilisation of 66.3%. This represents a further decline on 2024 (8,041 kilotonnes; 68.6%).
Euro Chlor continues to draw the European Commission's attention to the significant impact of the prolonged low utilisation levels on our industry.
Aggregated monthly European Chlorine production, capacity utilisation, and Caustic Soda stock figures reported by members to Cefic are available at eurochlor.org/industry.
2025 Chlorine applications
PVC, EDC/VCM and Isocyanates/Oxygenates remain the main applications for Chlorine, accounting for 62.9% of the total.
For a comprehensive overview of Chlorine products, see trees.eurochlor.org.
2025 Caustic Soda applications
To learn more about the diverse range of applications for Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide), see trees.eurochlor.org.
2025 Hydrogen applications
Most of the Hydrogen produced in Europe's Chlor-Alkali process is used for steam generation and chemical production. However, it also has various other applications as detailed in the chart below.
Learn more about the Hydrogen products at trees.eurochlor.org.
Chlorine manufacturing technologies 
KPI
Membrane technology remains dominant in European Chlor-Alkali production, accounting for 81.9% of installed EU capacity in 2025 (versus 82.6% in 2024).
Diaphragm technology remained stable at 10.1% of installed EU capacity in 2025 (versus 10.0% in 2024).
Mercury technology was fully phased out in 2018, following the Best Available Technique (BAT) conclusions for Chlor-Alkali as part of the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
The remaining 8.0% ('Others') comprises Chlorine-Alcoholate production, Hydrochloric Acid conversion to Chlorine and metal production using Chlorine and Caustic production without Hydrogen as a by-product.
Electricity costs within the EU
Since 2020, Euro Chlor has compiled publicly available data comparing electricity costs in Europe. Data are also collected to compare these costs with those in the US, as well as the cost of CO₂ in Europe relative to other regions.
The heat map below illustrates the variation in electricity prices across EU countries where Euro Chlor members operate.
Comparison of EU-US electricity price for industrial consumers
The graph below compares electricity prices for industrial consumers in the EU and the US, based on an EU weighted average.
In 2025, the price differential narrowed slightly to €52 per MWh, down from €56 per MWh in 2024. Despite this, the gap with US prices remains when compared with 2021, when it stood at €9 per MWh.
CO₂ prices around the world
CO₂ pricing continues to weigh on electricity costs in Europe. In 2025, the EU Carbon price stood at €65.2 per tonne, around 23% higher than the UK, roughly three times higher than North America, and nearly six times higher than China.
This disparity places the European Chlor-Alkali industry at a continued competitive disadvantage relative to regions with different Carbon pricing mechanisms.
Caustic Soda trade balance
Europe remained a structural net importer of Caustic Soda throughout 2019-2025, with the deficit peaking dramatically during the 2022-2023 energy crisis before partially easing. The imbalance has not closed though. Imports continue to exceed exports, which have drifted steadily lower, while production remains well off its 2019-2021 levels.
Euro Chlor continues to monitor this trend closely, given its implications for member competitiveness.
Imports continue to exceed exports, which have drifted steadily lower, while production remains well off its 2019-2021 levels.