The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that headline global production rose 0.3 percent in February, following a 0.5 percent gain in January, as measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. During February, chemical production increased in every region except Latin America. The Global CPRI was up 1.9 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a 3MMA basis and stood at 110.4 percent of its average 2012 levels in February.
During February, capacity utilization in the global business of chemistry improved 0.1 percentage points to 79.4 percent. This is off from 80.3 percent last February and is below the long-term (1987-2016) average of 88.8 percent.
Results were mixed on a product basis during February, with gains in pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, consumer products, inorganic chemicals, bulk petrochemicals & organics, plastic resins and other specialties. Year-over-year comparisons growth was strongest in coatings followed by 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 U.S. CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.