Chemicals
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) forecasts that chemical production by the EU27 countries will decline 0.3% in 2009, after rising 0.2% this year. In contrast, US chemical production is expected to decline 1.1% this year before increasing 0.5% in 2009. Excluding pharmaceuticals, EU27 and US chemical output are each forecasted to decline this year, decreasing 0.6% and 2.4%, respectively. In 2009, EU27 and US chemical production excluding pharmaceuticals is expected to decline 1.3% and 2.0%, respectively. Pharmaceutical chemical output by the EU27 is expected to grow 2.4% both this year and next. For the US, production of pharmaceuticals should increase 1.1% this year and climb 1.9% in 2009. The only sector where EU27 chemical output is not expected to decline next year is consumer chemicals, which will experience the same level of output as this year.
Source: Cefic