EU chemicals output down 0.2% in Jan-Nov 2013

LONDON (ICIS)–Chemicals output in the EU dropped 0.2% for January to November 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, with a 7.2% fall in petrochemicals production in November, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) said in its Chemicals Trend Report on Thursday.

The 7.2% year-on-year fall in petrochemicals output in November was partially offset by a strong growth in polymers (up 8.2% in the same period) while specialty chemicals expanded 3.3% and both consumer chemicals and basic inorganics output rose 4%.  

Chemicals output in November 2013 grew 0.6% compared to October and rose by 2.8% compared with November 2012.

Petrochemicals fell 2.2% in November 2013 month on month and fell by 7.2% compared to November 2012. There was a 7.9% year-on-year decrease in January-November 2013.

Chemicals output in the EU in January-November 2013 was still 6.6% below the pre-crisis peak of 2007, although the sector has shown signs of recovery since the second quarter of 2013, when it left behind a six-month recession, said Cefic.

Chemical prices also struggled to recover in the period, falling 2.9% in November compared to the same month in 2012 while producer prices for January-November 2013 were 0.8% lower than for the same period in 2012. However, January-November chemical prices are 11.8% higher than the pre-crisis, full-year peak level reached in 2008, added Cefic.

Cefic said October sales fell 1.5% compared with the same month in 2012. For January-October 2013, sales were also lower than the same comparable period registering a 3.4% decrease, although the total sales for the period were 1% higher than in 2008.

Employment in the EU chemicals sector decreased slightly in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months to 1.14m workers. In Q3 2007 the workforce totalled 1.28m.

The balance of trade is favourable to EU producers with a net trade surplus of €41.7bn for January-October 2013, an increase of €755m compared to the same period a year earlier. The surplus was led by a €13bn positive trade balance with non-EU countries in Europe, said Cefic.

The trade surplus with Russia grew by €500m in January-October 2013 while the surplus with Asia (excluding Japan and China) grew 46% to €6bn. The EU’s net chemicals trade surplus with China decreased 9% to €910m.

The US reduced its deficit gap with the EU countries for January to October 2013 by 25.7% to €5.5bn.

Capacity utilisation dropped slightly from 79.1% in Q3 2013 to 78.8% in Q4. It is still 6.6% lower than post-crisis peak level, recorded in the second quarter of 2011.

Chemicals sector sentiment, which Cefic measures in its confidence indicator, was lower in January 2014 than the previous month on the back of poor expectations for the next months as order books registered a decrease in January.

However, the reading for the sector in January was above the long-term average, measured from 2005 to 2012, for the fifth consecutive month.

EU petrochemicals production

EU chemicals production