Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, recently confirmed its earlier expectation that chemical output of the EU will grow 2.5% YoY in 2022, mainly spurred by the manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, it raised its growth forecast for 2021 from 5% to 6%. Many uncertainties will still exist in the long term, given consumer price inflation, soaring prices of energy and raw materials, etc. However, the chemical industry is good at recovering, as shown in 2021, when demand from industries like furniture, electrical appliances and textiles kept rising rapidly. Further, export demand also rebounded last year, with export volume to countries outside the EU increasing more than 15% and export value exceeding Euro 160 billion (equivalent to US$182 billion), according to Cefic.