US chemical production will increase by 1.9% next year

Recently, the American Chemical Industry Council (ACC) released the end of 2012 status and outlook report, said that in 2013 the US chemical production (excluding drugs) is expected to increase by 1.9%, compared to 1.5% this year, the increase has increased. ACC chief economist Kevin Swift said that the slowdown in the pace of recovery of the US manufacturing industry has led to a decrease in the demand for chemicals in the United States. This, together with the economic recession in Europe and the economic weakness in other regions, has impeded US exports of chemicals.

It is expected that the growth rate of chemical production in the United States will increase to 2.3% in 2014, and it is expected that the plastic resin will drive the recovery of the export market. The end-use market demand will drive the growth of the production of specialty chemicals, mainly the demand of the light-duty vehicles and the housing industry. In the long term, due to the cost advantage brought by the development of shale gas in the United States, the growth rate of US chemical industry will exceed the overall growth of the US economy, Swift said. The European and global economic crisis has seriously affected the US’s chemical exports in 2012, and the slowdown in the recovery of the manufacturing industry has also inhibited the growth of domestic chemical demand in the United States. However, thanks to the cost advantage of shale gas, it is expected that the US chemical exports will resume growth in 2013.

In the United States, chemical exports increased by 1.8% in 2012, export volume reached 191 billion U.S. dollars, and reversed the deficit in chemical trade to a small surplus, Swift said. It is expected that the US chemical exports will continue to grow by 4.7% in 2013. In 2014, the export growth rate will be 6.2% to reach US$209 billion.