The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI), rose 1.2% in December, following a 0.6% gain in November and a 1.2% increase in October, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). During December, chemical output grew in all regions, with the largest gains occurring in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions, ACC said. Chemical production expanded in all segments except miscellaneous other inorganic chemicals. The U.S. CPRI is measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis.
As nearly all manufactured goods are produced using chemistry in some form, manufacturing activity is an important indicator for chemical demand. The manufacturing recovery continued for a sixth straight month in December, with overall factory activity up 1.1% (3MMA). The trend in production rose in nearly all key chemistry end-use industries, with the strongest gains seen in iron and steel, appliances, aerospace, construction supplies, foundries, plastic products, tires, paper, structural panels, and apparel.
Compared with December 2019, U.S. chemical production was off 2.7%, the nineteenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines, but reflecting improvement versus earlier in the year. Chemical production remained lower than a year ago in all regions, with the largest year-ago declines seen in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and West Coast regions.