The chemical industry upgrades energy and raw materials into products required by other industrial sectors as well as by final consumers. The cost of these inputs is a prime factor in competitiveness on world markets.

From the energy sector, it consumes coal, oil products, natural gas, electricity and renewables, using them both as raw materials (feedstock) and as power and fuel. In 2005, the European chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals) used a total of 131 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE) of energy.