A quarterly report by The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) showed that chemicals output in the European Union fell by 5.2% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, steeper than the global chemical production decline of 3.4% year-on-year. Production prices in the 27 EU member countries fell 4.8% year-on-year in the period. Combined domestic and export sales dropped 7.9% year-on-year to €202.2 billion ($239.6 billion).
Cefic says that the declines were mostly attributed to the worsening market climate due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chemical production capacity utilization in these countries declined by about 9% year-on-year in the January-June period. Cefic noted that France and Italy suffered the most impact from the pandemic, with chemical output in the two countries falling by about 12% year-on-year.
The declines in other countries include -6.5% in Spain and Portugal, -6% in Belgium and the Netherlands, -3.6% in Germany, and -1.7% in Poland. According to Cefic, despite the overall output decline, soaps and detergents outputs increased by 2.9% year-on-year in the first six months of 2020.
The UK reported a year-on-year decrease of 6.2%, Cefic added. Chemical exports to outside the 27 countries in the January-May of 2020 fell by 3.7% or €2.7 billion from €72.4 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, imports to these countries declined by 1.4% to €56.2 billion in the same period.
