The American Chemistry Council’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that the fourth quarter started on a soft note with the index for October showing no gain or loss on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows a slight decline in September and six months of relatively stable activity after fairly good gains last year.
During October, chemical production increased in North America, Europe and Africa, and the Middle East but fell in the Asia-Pacific region. The Global CPRI was up 0.8% year-on-year (YoY) on a 3MMA basis and stood at 108.0% of its average 2012 levels in September.
Also within October, capacity utilisation in the global business of chemistry declined 0.1% points to 78.4%. This is off from 80.5% last October and is below the long-term (1987-2015) average of 89.1%.
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