Industrial production of chemicals in the U.S. fell by 0.5% in December, reversing a string of gains, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
Production of pharmaceuticals was off by 0.6%, the report notes, so production of chemicals excluding pharmaceuticals was down by 0.4%.
The decline in December follows a 0.3% gain in November, which marked the highest level since May 2008, the report says.
“There were sequential gains across several chemical segments, including organics (0.7%), synthetic rubber (0.3%), adhesives (1.7%) and other specialties (3.0%),” the ACC report says.
Meanwhile, production declined for inorganic chemicals (-0.9%), consumer products (-2.9%), fertilizers (-2.9%), and pesticides (-1.2%).
The report also says that on a three-month-moving-average (3MMA) basis, compared to a year ago, overall production of chemicals was up 2.0% (up 2.7% Y/Y, excluding pharmaceuticals), which are declining comparisons for both compared to several months ago.
In related data, the latest ACC report also noted that producer prices for overall chemistry rose by 0.3% in December (producer prices for pharmaceuticals rose 0.8% and prices for other chemistry, excluding pharmaceuticals, were flat. This follows a 0.4% decline in November and a 0.6% decline in October.