Amid an economic slump, capital and R&D spending increased in 2012 for the majority of the 15 US, 16 European and 12 Japanese chemical firms followed by Chemical & Engineering News, indicating confidence in stronger demand ahead. Among these companies, capital spending by the European firms soared 51.8% to $20,512 million and R&D expenditures increased 7.6% to $12,540 million. The European firms’ chemical shipments grew 3.6% to $862.5 billion. EU shipments increased 2.7% to $714.4 billion. However, the US companies’ chemical shipments, including pharmaceuticals, fell 1.5% to $753.0 billion, although shipments of agricultural chemicals grew 7.3% and shipments of coatings and adhesives increased 5.0%. The US chemical companies increased capital spending 6.5% to $10,208 million, and R&D spending rose 4.8% to $5,227 million. R&D spending on pharmaceuticals decreased 2.4% to account for an additional $37,207 million. The Japanese companies’ capital spending and R&D spending grew 4.1% and 1.7% to $9,749 million and $7,138 million, respectively.

Source: Chemical & Engineering News