Chemical, Plastics & Green Business

This powerful sector includes both basic and fine chemistry, energy production and distribution, energy efficiency, water cycle treatment and waste management, among others.

Thanks to its industrial and entrepreneurial culture, Catalonia has accumulated a tremendous level of sectorial know-how and features a large number of suppliers in raw materials, energy and resources, chemical and plastics, and circular economy.

The largest chemical hub in Southern Europe

International chemical companies are located in the region, boosting the Catalan industry ecosystem in the entire value chain, from raw materials and petrochemicals to basic and specialty chemical companies. Furthermore, it is highly dynamic when interacting and creating synergies with other economic sectors.

One-hour south of Barcelona, there is a leading chemical hub located in Tarragona that congregates a wide range of competitive companies as well as leading infrastructures like the Port of Tarragona. The Tarragona chemical hub (ChemMed) is a strong logistics platform that facilitates the import and export of chemical materials to the Mediterranean and the North of Africa and concentrates potential partners and suppliers for your chemical, energy, and resources business.

Kao, Merck, Repsol, Dow, Hempel, BASF or Akzo Nobel are just a few of the multinationals that have settled in Catalonia, backed up by highly active industrial clusters, excellent research institutions, and a wide network of providers in the chemical and plastics sector. What’s more, Catalonia ranks 3rd in Western Europe for the number of foreign investment projects attracted into the chemical industry.

R&D activity is highly dynamic thanks to leading institutions such as the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) and Eurecat, as well as universities like the University Rovira i Virgili, the University of Barcelona, the University Autònoma of Barcelona or the Chemical Institute of Sarrià (IQS).