Wholesale trade in chemicals in the U.S. fell 0.4% to $9.94 billion in October, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau that was compiled by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) in its most recent Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report.
The small decline in October follows a 7.5% gain the previous month, and left wholesale chemical sales up 13.2% compared to last year. Inventories also fell in October, yielding an inventory-to-sales ratio that remained stable at 1.17, but was elevated from 1.12 a year ago, the report says.
“Inventories and sales remain slightly imbalanced compared to last year, but the October trend is in the right direction,” ACC commented.
Although the latest set of economic reports was mixed, chemical product reports “indicate recent softness,” the ACC report says. The ISM services report showed continued economic expansion, but at a slowing pace, ACC said. “On a positive note, the new orders component continued to expand and at a faster rates than during October.”
U.S. consumer debt increased, the ACC report noted, but “it’s unclear at this point whether it reflects consumer optimism or consumer desperation.”
The ACC report says that the overall job market in the U.S. seems to be slowly repairing, but the major risk to the U.S. economy is feeling the effects of the recession in Europe.
Next week, ACC will release its year-end report and 2012 outlook.
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