Germany’s chemical industry growth stalls in Q2

17 September 2008 15:04  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Germany’s chemical production growth slowed markedly in the second quarter due to weaker economic conditions in Europe and the impact of the US financial crisis, industry group VCI said on Wednesday.

 

Also hurting growth were high raw material and energy costs and the strong euro, the group said.

 

Production for the three months ended 30 June was up 0.4% from the 2007 second quarter and rose 0.2% sequentially from the 2008 first quarter.

 

For the full year of 2008, VCI (Verband der Chemischen Industrie) now expected production growth of only 1% and sales growth of 4.5%, it said.

 

This is down from VCI’s earlier projections of output growth of 2.5% and a sales increase of 5.5% in 2008.

 

VCI president Ulrich Lehner said that despite the difficult economic environment the industry was still satisfied with the situation.

 

German chemical firms continued to produce at high levels but had become more sceptical about the outlook for the coming months, he said

 

While the industry’s growth would weaken further going forward VCI did not expect a “crash,” Lehner said.

 

Second-quarter chemical prices rose 4.5% from the year-earlier quarter and 1.6% sequentially from the 2008 first quarter.

 

Sales reached €44bn ($62bn), up 4.7% from the 2007 second quarter and 2.4% sequentially from the 2008 first quarter, mainly due to the higher prices, VCI said.

 

Employment in the industry remained unchanged at around 439,800 workers, it said.

 

($1 = €0.71)

 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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