Overall, the chemical industry benefited greatly from the recovery in industrial production, however, not all sectors within the industry managed to reach the production levels achieved before the crisis. For some sectors, this remains a distant goal.

Sectors upstream of the chemical industry were the first to succumb to the recession and these tended to experience a significant recovery in production levels in 2011. In some businesses, however, the pace was interrupted by technical stoppages. Some were planned, while others arose as production units were started up once again having been stopped during the crisis. These difficulties put pressure on suppliers, particularly producers of monomers and polymers. Closer to the end users, the Speciality Chemicals and Soaps and Perfumes sectors benefited from improved demand from domestic markets and sustained demand from outside France. Overall, the Soaps, Perfumes and Household Products sector contributed most to growth in 2010.