Wholesale sales of chemical products rose 0.5% in November 2012 to $10.2 billion in the U.S., according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
The November increase follows a gain of 1.3% last October. Meanwhile, inventories fell by 0.7% to $11.9 billion in November, following a 1.0% advance in October. The November changes meant that the inventories-to-sales ratio for chemicals slipped to 1.17 from 1.19. A year ago, the ratio was at 1.15.
Sales of chemical at the wholesale level are up 2.6% compared to last year, and inventories were ahead by 4.5%. “Inventories remain comparatively lean, though there has been some accumulation in recent months,” the report says.
In terms of imports and exports, non-seasonally adjusted exports of chemicals from the U.S. fell by 7.6%, from 16.7 billion in October 2012 to $15.5 billion in November. “With the exception of organic chemicals, [U.S.] exports fell in all categories,” the ACC report notes.
Looking at the overall economy, ACC said that while the week did not produce many economic reports, those that were released were generally somewhat positive.