EU chemicals industry taps the brakes
13 Aug 2012
Brussels - EU chemicals production fell 2.1% in the first five months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, European chemicals industry group Cefic has reported.
Confidence in the EU chemicals industry deteriorated in May, noted Cefic’s latest Chemicals Trends Report – citing how an EU Commission survey from 30 July had found a “strong deterioration” in managers’ expectations for the months ahead.
The sentiment, which is leading to downward revisions in companies’ employment plans, reflected lower capacity utilisation, which decreased in the second quarter of 2012 to 78.3% in the EU chemicals industry.
The EU Commission reported that confidence in the EU chemicals industry deteriorated markedly (-5.4) in May 2012, based mainly on a strong deterioration in managers’ expectations for the months ahead (-8.5).
Moreover, it said, manager’ assessment of their companies’ current level of order books deteriorated sharply (-4.2). Also, the assessment of the adequacy of current level of stocks of finished products worsened.
In May there a 0.7% decline for the EU chemicals industry output compared with the same month a year ago. This included dips of 4.5% for polymers production and 0.3% for speciality chemicals.
Bucking the trend, however, were basic inorganics and petrochemicals, which rose 4.4% and 3% respectively on a year-on-year basis and consumer chemicals which lifted 0.2%.
Overall, though, Cefic’s data for May 2012 showed that the EU chemicals production level remained 4.7% below the peak in 2007.
On a brighter note, the EU trade surplus in chemicals improved by Euro2.3 billion through first four months of 2012. April 2012 trade data indicated a Euro16 billion overall EU chemicals net trade surplus.
The NAFTA region, said Cefic, contributed significantly to the additional surplus generated in January-April, reaching Euro4 billion, up Euro1.2 billion compared with the same period in 2011.
