The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) reading (on a three-month moving average basis) in December strengthened from November, rising 0.1 points from 93.8 to 93.9, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
The December increase occurred at a pace that has moderated since the 0.4% gain in September, ACC noted, and the CAB now stands at 2.8% greater than last year at the same time.
The CAB, a macroeconomic indicator developed by ACC, has four main components consisting of a variety of indicators: production, equity prices, product prices, and others.
The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose by 0.3% in November, following three consecutive monthly declines. Production increased in all seven regions of the U.S. during November, the ACC report said.
On a three-month moving average basis, output of the nation’s overall manufacturing sector (beyond chemicals) was 0.4% higher in November, following a similar gain October, according to ACC data.
“Compared to November 2012, total chemical production in all regions was ahead by 1.5% on a year-over-year basis, following a revised 1.7% gain in October,” the report states, and chemical production remained ahead in all regions compared to a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Global CPRI rose 0.4% on a three-month-moving-average basis in November, the ACC report said, adding that there were gains in all major regions. The index was up 3.6% year-over-year and stood at 112.3% of its average 2007 levels, ACC remarked.
“During November, capacity utilization in the global business of chemistry rose by 0.2 percentage points to 82.3%,” the ACC report said. This is below the long-term (1987-2012) average of 90.9%, but is higher than capacity utilization one year ago, which was 81.3%.