In his farewell as editor-in-chief, Chemical Week's Ian Young sits down with Vincent Valk to reflect on his 36-year career covering the chemical industry. He highlights the industry's most significant transformations, including the rise of digitalization and artificial intelligence, as well as China's rapid development from a dependent partner in joint ventures to a dominant global powerhouse across various chemical segments. Despite current regulatory and economic hurdles, Young remains optimistic about the sector's resilience and its vital role in driving sustainability and societal progress.

The Chemical Week podcast is the industry's premier platform for wide-ranging discussion of issues impacting the global chemicals sector, hosted by the editors of Chemical Week and S&P Global Commodity Insights. Subscribe to the Chemical Week podcast on your favorite platform, or visit chemweek.com/podcast to view our episode archive.