Goldman Sachs flags downturn risk for Europe chemicals sector

Clariant AG

08/06/2026 08:33

** Goldman Sachs sees European chemicals facing another downturn after initially remaining pro-cyclical in the early months of the Middle East conflict
** It cites faster-than-expected demand destruction, as well as Chinese export pressure weighting on the anticipated market share gains 
** Europe's chemicals index .SX4P is up about 11% since its December 2025 trough, outperforming the STOXX 600 .SXXP by roughly 3 percentage points, but earnings expectations are increasingly driven by pricing rather than volumes, GS says
** "With a new inflation cycle underway, preference is shifting toward companies with defensive pricing power and secular growth exposure," it adds
** Shares of Arkema AKE.PA and DSM-Firmenich DSFIR.AS are down 2.5%, while Syensqo SYENS.BR drops 3.5%

COMPANY
NEW RATING
OLD RATING
NEW PT
OLD PT
DSM-Firmenich
Sell
Neutral
EUR 65
EUR 75
Syensqo
Sell
Buy
EUR 59
EUR 70
Evonik
Neutral
Buy
Clariant
Neutral
Sell
CHF 8.50
CHF 7.50
Givaudan
Buy
Sell
CHF 3,500
CHF 2,900
Symrise
Neutral
Buy
Arkema
Neutral
Buy


 (Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Ferdinand Eibach)
 ((Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com))