The aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan caused the overall Global Chemical Production Regional Index (global CPRI) to slip by 0.1% in March, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
According to data collected by ACC, gains in chemical production have slowed on a year-over-year basis, but were 5.4% greater than compared to a year ago at this time, on a three-month moving-average basis. “Most leading indicators of global industrial activity signal additional, but moderating, gains,” ACC remarked in its most recent weekly Chemical and Economic Trends report.
Regionally, compared to a year ago, North American chemical production was 2.4% higher, while Latin American production was down 0.4%, largely because of lower output in Brazil. Overall chemical production in the U.S. was 2.5% higher than a year ago. Western Europe’s chemical production was up 4.6% over last year at this time, and Eastern Europe was up 9.0%, according to ACC data. Production in Japan was down, but production in other Asian countries remained at higher levels than last year, so the Asia-Pacific region as a whole was up 8.4%.
When observed by industry segment, global chemical production in all areas seems to have “expanded from the trough of the recession,” ACC says, adding that the “most pronounced recovery has occurred in those cyclical segments, such as petrochemicals and organic chemicals, plastic resins, synthetic rubber, manmade fibers and coatings.”
On the other hand, other segments, such as pharmaceuticals, consumer products and specialty chemicals, have managed only slower gains. There has been a slowdown in agricultural chemicals and inorganic chemicals, according to ACC information.
Data from the U.S. economy were positive, including surprising upticks in sales of existing homes and new housing construction. However, the sector is still “bumping along the bottom,” ACC says. The index of leading indicators suggest “strengthening business conditions in the near-term,” the ACC report states, but rising prices of oil “present a large risk to the outlook.”