The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that headline global production started the year on a strong note, rising 0.6 percent in January after a similar gain in December, as measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. During January, chemical production increased in North America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, and Asia-Pacific but fell in Latin America. Activity in Africa & the Middle East was flat. The Global CPRI was up 3.3 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a 3MMA basis and stood at 109.9% of its average 2012 levels in December
During January, capacity utilization in the global business of chemistry rose 0.4 percentage points to 79.2 percent. This is off from 80.6 percent last January and is below the long-term (1987-2016) average of 88.8 percent.
During January, results were positive on a product basis. Year-over-year comparisons growth was strongest in coatings followed by synthetic rubber, plastic resins, and inorganic chemicals.
ACC’s Global CPRI measures the production volume of the business of chemistry 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 business of chemistry. This data are the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and are comparable to the US CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.