Global Chemicals Production Continues On A Good Note

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Apr 12, 2016, 10:03 ET

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Chemistry Council (ACC) released its Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) for February with the headline index rising 0.2 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows a 0.4 percent gain in January and a strong 4th quarter. During February, chemical production rose in North America, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific; was flat in Africa & the Middle East; and fell in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. The Global CPRI was up 3.4 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a 3MMA basis and stood at 110.1 percent of its average 2012 levels in February.

During February, capacity utilization in the global business of chemistry slipped slightly to 81.6 percent. This is off from 81.9 percent last February and is still below the long-term (1987-2015) average of 89.2 percent.

All segments of the business of chemistry have improved from the trough of the recession with the most pronounced recovery having occurred in the cyclical segments. During February, results were positive, with production of manufactured fibers, synthetic rubber, inorganic chemicals, and coatings as weak segments. Considering year-over-year comparisons, chemical production increased in every category. Growth was strongest in plastic resins followed by pharmaceuticals, consumer products, manufactured fibers, and other specialties. Other segments featured more modest year-earlier comparisons.

ACC's Global CPRI measures the production volume of the business of chemistry for thirty-three key nations, sub-regions, and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices and features a similar base year where 2012=100. This index is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from over sixty-five nations accounting for about 98 precent of the total global business of chemistry. This data are the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and are comparable to the U.S. CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.

Global Chemical Production by Country/Region, Percentage Change
(Seasonally adjusted, 3-month moving average)

	Current	Prior	Year/		Year-to-
	Month	Month	Year		Date
	Feb 16/	Jan 16/	Feb 16/		YTD 16/
	Jan 16	Dec 15		Feb 15	YTD 15
Global Total	0.2	0.4		3.4	3.4
North America	0.2	0.5		2.1	2.2
United States	0.2	0.6		2.2	2.3
Canada	0.4	0.0		1.5	2.7
Mexico	-0.3	-0.8		0.0	-0.4
Latin America	-1.0	-0.6		-5.5	-5.6
Brazil	-1.0	-0.4		-4.3	-4.2
Other Latin America	-0.9	-0.8		-6.8	-7.0
Western Europe	0.6	0.7		4.0	3.8
France	0.9	1.5		4.4	4.6
Germany	0.1	0.4		0.0	0.0
Italy	0.3	0.1		3.1	3.3
United Kingdom	-0.8	-1.4		-0.7	0.1
Belgium	-0.3	-0.3		-2.4	-4.5
Netherlands	-1.9	0.7		8.4	8.9
Spain	0.5	0.6		5.4	5.6
Sweden	-2.1	-0.3		-11.6	-11.4
Switzerland	0.1	-0.1		1.0	1.0
Other Western Europe	1.2	0.7		1.6	1.1
Central & Eastern Europe	-0.1	-0.5		6.3	6.8
Russia	-0.8	-1.5		5.4	6.6
Other Central & Eastern Europe	0.4	0.5		7.1	7.0
Africa & Middle East	0.0	0.0		5.6	5.4
Asia- Pacific	0.3	0.3		4.6	4.7
Japan	-0.3	-0.1		3.4	3.8
Asia-Pacific excluding Japan	0.4	0.5		5.0	5.0
China	0.7	1.0		6.5	6.3
India	-0.4	-1.4		0.0	0.8
Australia	0.1	-0.1		-0.3	-0.2
South Korea	-0.1	-0.2		2.1	2.4
Singapore	-1.0	-0.4		4.9	5.5
Taiwan	-0.2	0.3		2.6	2.7
Other Asia-Pacific	1.1	1.1		8.5	7.9

Global Chemical Production by Segment, Percentage Change
(Seasonally adjusted, 3-month moving average)

	Current	Prior	Year/		Year-to-
	Month	Month	Year		Date
	Feb 16/	Jan 16/	Feb 16/		YTD 16/
	Jan 16	Dec 15		Feb 15	YTD 15
Global Total	0.2	0.4		3.4	3.4
Pharmaceuticals	0.8	1.0		4.0	3.7
Chemicals (excluding Pharma)	0.0	0.2		3.2	3.3
Agricultural Chemicals	0.0	0.6		0.6	1.0
Consumer Products	0.5	0.7		3.6	3.6
Basic Chemicals	-0.2	0.0		3.6	3.7
Inorganic Chemicals	-0.9	-0.4		-0.2	0.2
Organic Chemicals	0.6	0.4		2.7	2.7
Plastic Resins	0.3	0.5		6.9	6.7
Synthetic Rubber	-2.8	-1.8		-1.2	0.3
Manufactured Fibers	-4.0	-2.1		3.6	5.0
Specialty Chemicals	0.2	0.4		2.6	2.7
Coatings	-0.2	0.0		0.8	1.0
Other Specialty Chemicals	0.3	0.5		3.1	3.2