ICIS reports that chemicals production in Europe grew in September compared with the previous month, according to the latest data released from the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat.
Demand for raw materials and intermediate products has sustained activity in the chemicals industry, while ongoing bottlenecks and skyrocketing energy costs have weighed on the manufacturing sector overall, according to ICIS. Except for Spain, all the key economies registered an increase in output, though the rate of growth varied between regions.
The chemicals sector was stronger than the reading for overall industrial production in September, which fell by 0.2% in the eurozone and by 0.5% in the EU compared with August, says ICIS. Even though output dropped, the rate of decline eased compared with August, when industrial production fell in the eurozone and wider EU by 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.
Energy production remained stable compared with August in the eurozone but increases in the production of durable and non-durable consumer goods couldn’t offset the declines across capital and intermediate goods. Production of capital goods also declined in the wider EU, as intermediate goods remained stable. Production of energy, non-durable and durable consumer goods rose compared with the previous month, according to ICIS. Compared with September 2020, when the pandemic had a more pronounced impact on the manufacturing sector, production remained significantly higher – up 5.2% in the eurozone and 5.0% in the EU.
“Shortages of materials and equipment coupled with lengthened delivery times, higher transport costs and surging energy prices represent the main challenges the sector is facing,” says Oxford Economics.
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