Chemring : Global Chemicals Output Improves in November

WASHINGTON (January 2, 2020) - Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) show that global chemicals production grew by 0.3 percent in November, a reversal of the 0.2 percent decline in October. During November, chemical production increased in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Production was flat in Europe and fell in North America and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Headline global production was up only 1.4 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis and stood at 117.7 percent of its average 2012 levels.

During November, global capacity rose by 0.2 percent and was up 3.5 percent Y/Y. As a result, capacity utilization in the global chemical industry rose 0.1 points to 81.7 percent. This is down from 83.4 percent last November and below the long-term (1987-2017) average of 86.7 percent.

Among chemical industry segments, November results were mixed, with inorganic chemicals, bulk petrochemicals and organics, plastic resins, coatings, and other specialties showing gains. Production was soft in other segments. Considering year-earlier comparisons, growth was strongest in manufactured fibers, followed by synthetic rubber, plastic resins, other specialty chemicals, and coatings.

ACC's Global CPRI measures the production volume of the chemical industry for 33 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 65 nations accounting for about 98 percent of the total global chemical industry. This data set is the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and is comparable to the U.S. CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.