Recent data suggest widespread growth in manufacturing in the U.S. as well as around the world in March, and include several sectors that affect the chemical process industries (CPI).
In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its manufacturing index rose 3.1 percentage points to 59.6 in March, the highest level since July 2004. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) commented on the ISM numbers in its Weekly Chemistry and Economic Trends report for April 2, saying that the advance was well ahead of expectations, and confirms that the manufacturing sector is in recovery. The index can have a value from 0 to 100, and a reading above 50 indicates expanding business activity.
According to the ISM manufacturing index, the manufacturing industry sectors experiencing growth last month include: chemical products, food and beverage products, textile mills, paper, petroleum and coal products and primary metal products. Plastics and rubber products was the only industry sector to report a manufacturing contraction in March.
In its weekly report, ACC also pointed out positive global manufacturing trends. The ACC cited the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI index, which rose 1.3 percentage points to 56.7 in March, its highest reading since May 2004. Like the ISM index, a reading above 50 on the JP Morgan PMI index indicates expansion.
Economic indicators other than manufacturing also appeared positive, according to the ACC report. Increases were observed in 17 of 20 economic indicators tracked regularly by ACC. Market capitalization by U.S. chemical companies rose by 1.3% over last week to close at $558.4 billion on Thursday. The S&P 500 index rose by 1.1% last week. Railcar loadings of polymers and basic chemicals fell slightly last week, but are up 14.1% over a year ago, and up 13.6% this year.