German chemicals output up 3% in first half

03 July 2008 12:05  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--German chemicals production increased by 3% in the first half of 2008, dropping from 6% growth in the same period last year, the German chemical industry association |(VCI) said on Thursday.

 

VCI said it expected a further slowdown in the coming months but believes a slump is unlikely, forecasting an output growth of 2.5% and a sales increase of 5.5% in 2008.

 

“We think that the impacts of extremely high raw material and oil prices, the strong euro and the less favourable economic situation in the USA will make themselves felt more heavily in the German chemical industry, especially in business with industrial customers in Europe,” VCI president, Ulrich Lehner, said.

 

“Helpful elements in this context are the pharma business, which is not influenced by cyclical developments, and the economies in Asia which continue to grow dynamically,” he added.

 

In the first half of 2008, chemicals prices increased by 3.5% year on year, while total sales for the German chemicals industry rose 5.5% to €88.9bn ($141bn), according to VCI.

 

Business with customers abroad improved by 6% to €50.2bn and domestic sales climbed 5% to €38.7bn.

 

VCI said that employment in the German chemicals industry dropped by 0.3% to an average of 439,000.

 

"Today we are in a clearly better position than back in the nineties. Therefore, we think that we can increase the production in the German chemical industry by annually 3 per cent on average, up to the year 2020,” said Lehner.

 

($1 = €0.63)

 

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By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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