EU, eurozone chems August output up 0.2%, but key economies post declines

LONDON (ICIS)–Chemicals production in the eurozone and the wider EU increased by 0.2% in August compared to the previous month, according to data from the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat on Monday.

Sentiment in individual countries was less buoyant, with decreases in chemical production output across key European economies, most notably in Spain where output fell by 1.7% in August compared to July.

Chems output month on month, %	Aug 19	Jul 19	Jun 19	May 19	Apr 19	Mar 19	Feb 19	Jan 19
Eurozone	0.2	-1.3	-0.1	-0.2	0.1	-0.4	-0.4	1.7
Germany	-0.6	-0.6	1.0	-2.2	1.2	-1.5	-0.7	2.5
France	-0.2	-1.9	-0.1	3.9	-0.1	-4.3	3.2	-0.2
Italy	-0.1	1.1	-1.9	0.8	-0.7	1.4	-0.2	0.1
Spain	-1.7	0.9	-0.7	-1.4	0.2	0.8	-1.0	1.6
The Netherlands	-0.5	-2.7	-3.3	-2.8	1.0	2.7	-3.3	2.8
EU	0.2	-0.7	-0.8	0.0	-0.5	-0.4	-0.4	2.0
UK	-0.8	-2.6	0.8	1.6	-7.7	0.5	-0.5	3.0
Poland	-0.9	1.5	-2.2	0.6	-0.9	0.3	-1.4	3.9

Activity slows in August as many European producers typically schedule maintenance for the summer while market activity quietens in line with the holiday season.

Growth has been limited in chemical output in Europe over recurring concerns of a slowdown, and stagnant discussions between the US and China over tariffs hampering global trade flows.

Overall industrial production in the eurozone performed slightly better, ticking up 0.4% in August on the previous month, while the wider 28-country bloc recorded more modest growth of 0.1% for the same time.

Output fell substantially compared to the previous year, falling by 2.8% in the 19-country single-currency bloc and by 2.0% for the whole EU.

Within this, intermediate goods declined by 3.1% for the eurozone, and by 2.3% for the whole of the EU, reflecting the tepid economic sentiment which has limited trading.

While this increase for the wider country blocs shows some sign of recovery, this has not been enough to shake the pessimism surrounding economic sentiment.

“The small gain was not enough to alleviate our concerns regarding the state of the bloc’s industrial sector, with Q3 likely to see another output decline,” said analysts at London-based Oxford Economics.

“And with recent manufacturing PMIs remaining deep in contractionary territory, there seems little hope of a fast turnaround.”