A survey by the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) on its members revealed that 80% of member companies expected improved stability and a rise in domestic and export sales in the third quarter of 2020. More than 70% of respondents also saw an upward trend for exports to the EU, despite significant uncertainty after Brexit.
The survey also showed that the majority of member companies expected capital expenditure to increase during the period, while only 10% of them expected job layoffs and a reduction in spending on research and development. Overall, the majority of the surveyed producers showed signs of optimism after the coronavirus pandemic brought the industry sales to a halt in the second quarter.
The CIA noted that about 50% of the surveyed companies reported stability or improvement. Despite the optimism, the surveyed companies said that visibility remained unclear for the next 12 months. This was mostly attributed to fear of resurging COVID-19 cases which could threaten the recovery in the sector’s performance, new orders, production levels, and capacity utilization.
