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According to Sinochem New Network, on February 5, Shell’s CEO Waël Sawan said during the quarterly earnings call for 2025 that the company’s chemicals business continued to incur losses, with performance falling short of expectations; the company lost $589 million in the fourth quarter, marking six consecutive quarters of losses. The company is considering shutting down each production unit one by one depending on the circumstances, and no adjustment option has been ruled out. Shell’s chemicals business recorded an adjusted annual loss of $1.12 billion in 2025, with a quarterly loss of $589 million in the fourth quarter. This business has posted annual losses for the past four years, with declining profit margins on chemical products being the main reason. In the fourth quarter, the profit margin for global industrial operations was $140 per ton, while the annual average was $148 per ton, representing a decrease of $4 compared to the previous year. Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Sinéad Gorman, said that by 2026, restructuring the chemical business and repositioning its strategy will be among the top priorities. To improve its cash flow, Shell has planned cost-cutting measures worth hundreds of millions of dollars, with the goal of achieving a balanced free cash flow in its chemicals business in order to cope with the persistently low profit margins in this industry. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the operating rate of Shell’s chemical industry facilities dropped to 76%, primarily due to an increase in planned and unplanned shutdowns for maintenance. Shell has sold its loss-making refining and petrochemical assets in Singapore and will also proceed with adjustments to its chemical asset portfolio.