Global chemical industry production continued to expand in January, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). In ACC’s latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Trends report, the organization said world chemical production rose by 0.5% in January, a moderated pace compared to early 2010.
On a year-over-year basis, global chemical industry production was 6.2% higher in January 2011 than a year prior, calculated with a three-month moving average. Using the same measure, chemical production in many international regions and countries was above one year ago, but some still lag behind last year. In North America, U.S. chemical production is up 2.7% over a year ago, but Canada and Mexico are slightly down.
Elsewhere, many Asian countries’ chemical productions are up over a year ago, led by China at 13.2%. Production in both Japan and India was down by 1.9% and 1.1%, respectively. Chemical production in Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia was also up over last year, but 9.8%. In Western Europe, the results were mixed, with many countries, as well as the entire region on the positive side (3.6%), but production down in the U.K. (–8.6%) and Switzerland (–0.4%). In Latin America, Brazil was up slightly (0.9%), but lagged behind the rest of the region (5.0%).
In other chemical-related economic data, equity prices for chemical companies rose by 3.6% in February, while the wider S&P 500 Index was up 3.2% over the same time.
In the report, ACC points out that personal income and consumer spending in the U.S. were both up this week, and there was a “strong gain” in light vehicle sales. Also, recent unemployment data slipped to its lowest level in two years. “More jobs will support spending,” ACC says, but adds that “perhaps the largest risk to the economy currently is the rise in oil prices.”