EU monthly chemicals production nudges higher
Monthly European Union (EU) chemicals production nudged higher in November, led largely by strong output growth in petrochemicals, industry trade group Cefic said on Thursday.
The monthly data for November 2012 showed a 1.5% increase compared with the same month in 2011.
However, EU chemicals production was still down 1.8% in the first 11 months of 2012 compared with the same period of 2011. Levels are off 6.2% from the 2007 peak.
EU chemicals prices climbed by 2.7% in November on a year-on-year basis, led by an overall price hike in petrochemicals.
Trade data available through October 2012 show the EU chemicals net trade surplus during the first ten months of 2012 growing well beyond the level seen during the same period the year prior, up by €9.2 billion to €41.7 billion.
Broader chemicals industry confidence indicators showed a slight weakening in December, mainly due to less optimistic production expectations.
The full report can be read at the Cefic website.
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