In September, the US specialty chemical market was seen to be stable with the slowing recovery of the country’s economy.
Relative to the average 2012 levels, volumes stood at 102.9% in the month, or 7.01 billion pounds (3.18 million metric tons).
Last month, the specialty chemical market volumes barely changed from the 0.9% gain in August, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC). 13 specialty chemical segments expanded out of 28, compared to 27 segments in the prior month. Out of these 13, 8 posted increases of 1.0% or more.
On a sequential basis, diffusion as 46%, sharply downturned from 96% in the previous month.
On a yearly basis, specialty chemical volumes dipped by 8.1% year-on-year, showing a tad improvement from August. Only three chemical segments posted gains with diffusion at 11%.
