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Years of EPCA: A Nostalgic Look Back Before We Head to Vienna Again
Some Traditions Are Worth Keeping
Somewhere along the way, EPCA stopped being just another event on our calendar and became a tradition.
For many years, the Annual Meeting has been one of those fixed points in the year for us. Different cities, different meetings and an industry that never seems to stand still, but every autumn, EPCA brings many of the same customers, suppliers, partners and friends back together again.
We recently looked through some of our old EPCA photos and realised just how long we've been doing this. Some go back far enough that we're no longer completely sure which year they were taken. Others immediately bring back a particular meeting, dinner or conversation.
And with the 60th Annual Meeting bringing us back to Vienna this October, it seemed like a good moment to look back before we do it all over again.
What EPCA actually is, for anyone who's never heard of it
If you don't work in petrochemicals or chemical distribution, there's a decent chance “EPCA” means nothing to you. Within our industry, however, it's one of the dates that rarely needs explaining.
EPCA — the European Petrochemical Association — is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit trade association founded in 1967. It brings together companies from across the petrochemical value chain, including producers, traders, distributors, logistics providers and service companies.
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Its flagship event is the Annual Meeting, and 2026 marks its 60th edition.
For a few days each year, a remarkably large part of the international petrochemical industry finds itself in the same city. That makes EPCA difficult to compare with a conventional conference.
Of course there are official sessions and events, but much of the real value happens around them: meetings with suppliers and customers, introductions to new partners, conversations over breakfast or coffee, and finally sitting across the table from people you may have been speaking to by phone and email for the rest of the year.
That's a large part of why we've kept coming back.
Why EPCA still matters to us
Chemical distribution has changed enormously over the years. Information moves faster, markets are more transparent and a great deal of business can now be handled without ever leaving the office.
But ours is still very much a relationship business.
A phone call or Teams meeting can solve a problem quickly. It doesn't quite replace spending an hour across the table from someone you've worked with for years — or meeting someone for the first time and discovering that there may be an opportunity to work together.
EPCA creates a few days where those relationships become unusually easy to maintain.
People who spend the rest of the year spread across Europe and far beyond it suddenly find themselves within a few streets of each other. Long-standing partners are there, customers are there, suppliers are there, and inevitably there are new people to meet as well.
For a company like Rotterdam Chemicals Group, that's what makes the trip worthwhile year after year.
The people behind the business
Looking back at the old photographs also reminds us that EPCA hasn't only been about meetings and business. There are plenty of memories around them too.
Colleagues who travelled together, customers and suppliers who became long-standing partners, dinners after a packed day of appointments, and the occasional moment when everyone finally stopped talking about chemicals. Some of the people in these photographs are still people we work with today.
That's perhaps the nicest part of looking back. Products change. Markets change. Companies change. But many of the relationships built along the way remain. And that's difficult to capture in a spreadsheet.
See you in Vienna — 5–8 October 2026
This October, we're doing it again. Rotterdam Chemicals Group will be at EPCA's 60th Annual Meeting in Vienna, with our co-owners Elijan Buchbot and Rick Kok attending this year. There will be familiar faces to catch up with, new ones to meet, and, inevitably, too many meetings squeezed into too few days.
We're grateful to EPCA for continuing to bring our industry together year after year, and we're looking forward to being part of it once again.
If you'd like to set up a meeting with Elijan or Rick while they're there, reach out beforehand and we'll find a time.
Rotterdam Chemicals Group
sales@rotterdamchemicals.com
rotterdamchemicals.com
A few memories from over the years
EPCA - 2016
EPCA - 2023
EPCA - 2024
EPCA - 2025
