Fourth Quarter Global Chemicals Production Continues at Strong Pace

    Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council shows that growth in global chemistry during November was buoyed by a synchronized up-swing in the global economy. The American Chemistry Council’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that global chemicals production rose 0.6 percent in November, following a 0.5 percent gain in October. During November, production gains were broad-based with all regions growing. The Global CPRI was up 3.1 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis and stood at 112.4 percent of its average 2012 levels in November.

    During November, capacity utilization in the global business of chemistry gained 0.4 percentage points to 81.0 percent. This is up from 80.3 percent last November but is below the long-term (1987-2016) average of 88.8 percent.

    Results were generally positive on a product basis during November, with weakness only in synthetic rubber and pharmaceuticals. Considering year-over-year comparisons, growth was strongest in coatings followed by pharmaceuticals, consumer products, manufactured fibers, and organic chemicals.

    ACC’s Global CPRI measures the production volume of the business of chemistry for 33 key nations, sub-regions, and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices and features a similar base year where 2012=100. This index is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from over 65 nations accounting for about 98 percent of the total global business of chemistry. This data are the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and are comparable to the US CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.