The U.S. chemical industry was one of eight industries reporting growth during August, while a host of others, including textiles, fabricated metals and machinery reported contraction, according to data from the Institute for Supply Management that was analyzed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
U.S. primary metals, food and beverages, paper products and petroleum products were among the eight industry sectors reporting August growth in the ISM’s Manufacturing PMI (purchasing manager’s index). Overall, the manufacturing PMI slipped by 0.2 points in August to 49.6, the third consecutive month the reading has come in below 50, the ACC report says. Values below 50 in the PMI indicate contraction.
Globally, the manufacturing downturn “gathered pace” in August, the ACC report says, discussing data from the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI. “Rates of contraction in output and new orders accelerated to the fastest levels since mid-2009, the ACC says. The Global PMI was at 48.1 in August, down from 48.4 in July. It remained below the neutral 50 mark for the third straight month.
In other sections of the report, ACC says the S&P index for chemical companies rose by 1.0% in August, while the wider S&P 500 index rose by 2.0%. Since the beginning of 2012, the S&P chemicals index is up by 13.8 %, compared to 11.8% for the S&P 500.
The ACC report also said that the U.S. specialty chemicals market volume rose in July at a moderated pace from the gain in June, but at an improved rate compared to the soft activity in March, April and May.
From a broad view, the ACC assessed the week’s economic reports as mixed, with sales of light vehicles and semiconductors edging up, and construction spending falling.