Managing The Future - Over the last months, chemical companies across all regions reported increasing production volumes and sales. Even though in many cases pre-recession levels have not yet been reached, it is largely agreed that the industry is now heading for growth again. Yet, which growth paths are promising? Which technologies and geographies bear potential and which do not? What hurdles need to be cleared?

These questions will be raised in this year's top management panel Chemical Customer Connectivity Index (C3X) of A.T. Kearney, CHEManager Europe and Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster with a special section dedicated to the topic of growth. The survey is available at www.chemanager-europe.com/C3X.

After it recovered well in 2010, the European chemical industry is now gaining steam again and is looking optimistically ahead.

"Even though further economic recovery will most likely slow down a little compared to 2010, the European chemical industry is clearly on target for growth. This is also backed by a recent increase in larger-scale M&A activity such as Clariant's acquisition of Süd Chemie or BASF's takeover of Cognis," said Dr. Tobias Lewe, Partner in the Chemicals and Oil Practice at A.T. Kearney. "In the mid-term, companies will increasingly look beyond the boundaries of their current businesses and into new market opportunities. We will see companies enter new geographies and new product segments and tap into entirely new value chains. However, these activities will only be crowned with success if they are based upon a sound understanding of what the chemical customers actually need."

Starting on June 1, top management panel Chemical Customer Connectivity Index (C3X) is going to the next round and will once again look at the issues that are leading the agenda of European chemical companies and their customers. Next to the recurring questions on customer interface priorities, innovation and sustainability, this issue will contain a special section devoted to the topic of growth. It will deal with the critical success factors for the European chemical industry as well as with the factors that can put growth at risk, ranging from an increasing lack of qualified workforce in mature Western markets to expected higher electricity cost as a result of the planned nuclear phase-out in leading European economies such as Germany. Furthermore, the survey will address aspects such as: What is the impact of expected increases in raw material costs on growth and profitability of Europe's chemical industry? In which geographies will European companies add capacity and for what kind of products? How important will emerging technologies e.g. in the field of energy efficiency and bio-refining be for European chemical companies and what is the right strategy to address them? And how will regulation impact growth?

Joining The Panel

Until June 30th, executives of chemical companies as well as executives of customer industries such as automotive, consumer goods, pharma and pulp and paper, can register as members of the C3X top management panel at www.chemanager-europe.com/C3X and take part in the survey. Therewith they can make a vital contribution to improve both parties' understanding of the issues that are crucial at the interface to the customer in the European chemical industry.

Answering the questions on our portal will not take longer than 10-15 minutes. All information will be treated in strict confidence and only anonymous data will be included in the overall evaluation.

As an incentive, participants will receive the survey results in an exclusively edited form. The results of the survey will be published in the September issue of CHEManager Europe