The show features more than 400 exhibitors, up 40%, and brings together a hundred experts highlighting the strategic role of chemistry
Expoquimia 2026 boosts the industrial sector in a growing edition
Expoquimia 2026 will be one of the largest editions in recent years, with 40% growth in participating companies compared to the previous edition, reaching more than 400 exhibitors. The exhibition will bring together more than 100 experts at its congresses and will focus on the transformation of industry through technological innovation and sustainability. The joint celebration with Equiplast strengthens the synergies between chemistry and plastics.
Organised by Fira de Barcelona, Expoquimia, which will take place from 2 to 5 June at the Gran Via venue, celebrates its 60th anniversary at a time of clear expansion. Thus, the show will grow by 34% in exhibition space and 40% in participating companies compared to the 2023 edition, reaching 400 exhibitors and 900 leading brands in the sector. Among the companies that have confirmed their presence are Air Liquide, BASF, Bondalti, Bosch Iberia, Carburos Metálicos, Covestro, Marchesini, Messer, Moeve, Quimidroga, Scharlab, Sener and Telstar, among other leading firms.
Expoquimia will showcase the main market innovations in areas such as basic chemistry and raw materials, machinery and capital goods, pumps and valves, laboratory equipment, engineering and automation, pharma process, industrial safety and environmental technology. This consolidates the event as a strategic platform for business, knowledge and innovation for a sector whose main challenges are sustainability and technological competition.
The show’s director, Xavier Pascual, stresses that “Expoquimia 2026 represents a qualitative leap both for the show and for the sector as a whole. The strong growth of this edition reinforces its role as a benchmark meeting point for the industry, business generation and debate on its major challenges. With an increasingly ambitious proposal, the event acts as a catalyst for innovation and accelerates industrial transformation.”
As a novelty, the show is launching the Innovation Hub, a space designed to connect research and technology centres, universities, startups and large companies in disruptive projects linked to decarbonisation, digitalisation, energy efficiency and the circular economy. Institutions and entities such as ACCIÓ, Leitat and IQS will be present in this area.
Industry Showcase: technology, sustainability
The Industry Showcase will be one of the central pillars of this edition, with a programme of more than 25 sessions combining technical presentations, debates and real cases of industrial application. The space will structure its content around four main areas: decarbonisation; circular water management; innovation in materials; and advanced digitalisation, with special attention to artificial intelligence as a lever for industrial transformation.
Within this framework, leading companies and entities will share experiences and solutions already implemented in the market. Among the participating organisations are Verdemobil Biogás, the Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT), Ercros, Moeve, the Efficient Energy Cluster of Catalonia (CEEC), LC Paper, BASF, Schneider Electric, the Catalan Water Partnership (CWP), CELSA, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), Natura Bissé, Kern Pharma, L’Oréal, Stanpa and Aqua España, among others. Through these cases, the Industry Showcase will offer insight into how the chemical industry is moving towards more competitive and environmentally friendly models.
Smart Chemistry by FEIQUE
Éxpoquimia will also host a new Smart Chemistry during its celebration. Under the slogan “Green Industry Deal”, the fifth edition of the forum promoted by the Business Federation of the Spanish Chemical Industry (FEIQUE) will focus on industrial competitiveness and the role of chemistry as a key lever for the green transition, through an agenda of conferences, debates and SmartTalks starring leading companies and entities in the sector.
Its programme, which will include success stories and real technological solutions, will include leading companies and organisations such as AEQT, Air Liquide, BASF, Bondalti, Carburos Metálicos, Covestro, Ercros, Moeve, Quimidroga, Repsol and other key institutions of the chemical ecosystem, reinforcing the role of Smart Chemistry as a meeting point between industry, administration, knowledge and innovation centres.
MeCCE: chemical engineering in the face of global challenges
Expoquimia will host a new edition of the Mediterranean Congress of Chemical Engineering (MeCCE), which will bring together more than 350 professionals from industry, research and academia and will consolidate its role as one of the main scientific forums of the sector in southern Europe. The programme will address the key challenges of the sector, and will include presentations by international leaders such as Cristina Alonso Alija, Selina Ambrose, Benoit Celse, Juan M. Lema, Andrea Ramírez Ramírez and Marina Micari.
Engineers Day will also be held during Expoquimia, in collaboration with the Col·legi d’Enginyers Industrials de Catalunya, which will deal with the role of engineering in industrial transformation. In the international arena, the show will dedicate two days to analysing opportunities in Egypt and Japan and will strengthen the attraction of foreign visitors through promotional actions together with Labmas, Fluidex and ACCIÓ. It will also host more than twenty side events organised by sectoral entities such as the Official College of Chemists of Catalonia (COQC), the pharmaceutical sector consultancy ManageArt, Bequinor and the Beauty Cluster.
Gala Dinner: 60 años y Best In Class
Expoquimia will celebrate a history of six decades and 20 editions at its traditional Gala Dinner, which will take place on June 3 in the Oval Room of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and will bring together more than 700 executives, sector representatives and institutional leaders. The event will feature Katja Scharpwinkel, member of the Executive Board of BASF SE and former Vice-President of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic).
Within this framework, Expoquimia and Equiplast will present the Best-in-Class awards, which will distinguish Moeve, L’Oréal Groupe, Lefance and Almirall in the field of chemistry, and SEAT & CUPRA in the field of plastic.
Joint Celebration with Equiplast
Expoquimia 2026 will be held from 2 to 5 June in Fira de Barcelona’s Pavilion 2 of Gran Via, coinciding again with Equiplast, located in Hall 3, a celebration that will allow an integrated trade fair proposal to be articulated and offer a transversal vision of innovation applied to the entire industrial value chain. Together, both shows are expected to bring together more than 800 exhibitors and attract more than 21,000 professionals, strengthening the synergies between chemistry and plastics in areas such as new materials, sustainability, circular economy and digitalisation, and consolidating Barcelona as a benchmark industrial hub in southern Europe.
Barcelona, April 28, 2026
Josep Lluís Mérida / Maria Dolores Herranz
Tel. 932 332114 – 2541
[email protected]
[email protected]