U.S. specialty chemical market volumes ended the third quarter strongly, with a 0.9% gain in September, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
The September gain followed no change in August, and a 0.7% gain in July. Of the 28 specialty chemical market segments monitored by ACC, 24 expanded in September. This total is up from 13 expanding in August, the ACC report noted.
The segments experiencing growths of greater than 1.0% included adhesives & sealants, antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, cosmetic chemicals, flame retardants, foundry chemicals, oilfield chemicals, paint additives, pigments, plastic additives, rubber processing chemicals and textile specialties.
“This buoyancy was led by strength in manufacturing,” the ACC report said.
Meanwhile, the ACC’s Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) for September signaled growing U.S. economic activity through the second quarter of 2015. Also, the ACC’s running tab of shale-gas related chemical industry projects in the U.S. rose to 211 and $135.1 billion in investment.