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CAB drops in September, ACC report says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator for the chemical process industries developed by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), dropped in September following a revised decline in August, according to the ACC’s latest Weekly Chemical…

Current Economic Trends

The preliminary value for the July 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) fell compared to the previous month’s value, driven by a decline in the Equipment subindex. The Construction Labor, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindices…

Specialty chemical volumes fall slightly in August, ACC says

Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell by 0.1% in August, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The retreat follows a 1.3% gain in July and a…

Composite leading indicator suggest mixed economic trends, ACC report says

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) released its composite leading indicator (CLI) for July, and the results, discussed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), suggest…

Chemical equity performance fell in August, ACC report says

The S&P index for chemical companies fell by 6.5% in August, while the broader S&P 500 index also fell 6.3%, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The August…

Bookshelf for September 2015

The following list of recently published books may be of interest to those working in the chemical process industies (CPI): Simulated Moving Bed Technology: Principles, Design and Process Applications. By A.E. Rodrigues and others. Elsevier, June 2015, 304 pages, $180.00.…

Bayer MaterialScience now operating as Covestro

One of the world’s leading polymer materials suppliers has a new identity. From September 1, 2015 Bayer MaterialScience is operating under the Covestro name. The company is now legally and economically independent, but will remain a 100 percent subsidiary of…

Concrete: Modern Engineering for an Ancient Material

Novel additives, improved understanding of cement chemistry and thoughtful mix design are making modern concrete increasingly sustainable, durable and versatile Concrete’s origins can be traced back to the ancient world. For example, many believe that missionaries in North America learned…

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Current Economic Trends: June CEPCI

The preliminary value for the June 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) continued the trend of small monthly declines since the beginning of the year. The June CEPCI is 3.1% lower than the corresponding value from…

Fed data show gain in industrial production, ACC report says

Data from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Washington, D.C.; www.federalreserve.gov) indicate that the output of the nation’s industrial sector grew by 0.6% in July, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.;…