The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that with the effects of COVID-19 fully affecting in the U.S. economy, U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes fell 5.0 percent in March, accelerating from a 0.5 percent decline in February. Of the 28 specialty chemicals segments ACC monitors, only three expanded in March, down from 13 in February. Twenty-five markets declined in March, with large market volume gains (1.0 percent and over) occurring in cosmetic additives and flavors and fragrances, ACC says. On a sequential basis, diffusion was 11 percent, down from 48 percent in February and 63 percent in January.
During March, the overall specialty chemicals volume index was down 4.4 percent on a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis. The index stood at 111.4 percent of its average 2012 levels in March. This is equivalent to 7.29 billion pounds (3.31 million metric tons). On a Y/Y basis, there were gains in only four market and functional specialty chemical segments. Compared with last year, volumes were down in 23 segments, while one was flat. On a year-earlier basis, diffusion was 16 percent, much worse than February.
Specialty chemicals are materials manufactured on the basis of the unique performance or function and provide a wide variety of effects on which many other sectors and end-use products rely. They can be individual molecules or mixtures of molecules, known as formulations. The physical and chemical characteristics of the single molecule or mixtures along with the composition of the mixtures influence the performance end product. Individual market sectors that rely on such products include automobile, aerospace, agriculture, cosmetics and food, among others.
Specialty chemicals differ from commodity chemicals. They may only have one or two uses, whereas commodities may have multiple or different applications for each chemical. Commodity chemicals make up most of the production volume in the global marketplace, whereas specialty chemicals make up most of the diversity in commerce at any given time, and are relatively high value with greater market growth rates.
This data set is the only timely source of market trends for twenty-eight market and functional specialty chemical segments. Chemistry directly touches over 96 percent of all manufactured goods, and trends in these specialty chemical segments provide a detailed view of trends in manufacturing. The data also shed light on how various consumer end-use markets are performing compared to others in the marketplace.