Europe is under increasing pressure to find new ways to create a sustainable competitive advantage

Global competition in the chemical market has been intensifying the past decade. Although low crude oil prices have given the European chemical industry some breathing space recently, the abundance of shale gas in the US, oil and gas in the Middle East and coal in China mean Europe is under increasing pressure to find new ways to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The key to future success lies in innovation and new strategic partnerships.

An outstanding opportunity exists in the creation of new value chains with biobased feedstocks as the starting point and biorefineries at the core. The industrial application of biotechnology will not only broaden the range of raw materials used as the principal input for chemical production but also generate products and materials with new properties and applications. The required infrastructure to bridge the existing gaps between the agricultural and the chemical industry and business communities, while significant, is manageable.

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