Recently, the latest Chemical Monthly Bulletin released by the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) shows that in the second quarter of 2024, European chemical production showed growth for the fourth consecutive quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the first quarter of this year and an increase of 4.3% over the same period last year. However, considering insufficient demand growth, the output of the European chemical industry has not yet fully recovered. Cefic said that downstream industries in Europe were still weak, resulting in a decline in orders and demand remained weak.

    Cefic said that downstream destocking in Europe ended in March, and July was the fourth consecutive month that inventories rebounded. However, chemical capacity utilization fell slightly in the second quarter of this year, from 75.6% in the first quarter to 75.2%, still well below the long-term average of 81.4%. As demand is still insufficient to support profits, Cefic cited a survey by the German Institute for Economic Research as saying that some European chemical companies still plan to "significantly lay off workers in the coming months."

    According to Cefic's analysis of Eurostat data, in the first half of 2024, the chemical industry was one of the only three industries in Europe with year-on-year growth in production, up 3.4%. Cefic said: "While most downstream users in the chemical industry, such as automobiles, rubber, plastics, construction, computers, etc., are still showing a downward trend in demand, a strong recovery of chemical production in 2024 is unlikely. The construction and automotive markets are still struggling, especially amid concerns that production and demand levels for automobiles and electric vehicles may remain low in the second half of 2024 and 2025."

    In addition, statistics show that in the first half of 2024, Lithuania, Poland and Greece ranked among the top three chemical production growth rates, with 16.3%, 12.8% and 10.5% respectively. At the same time, several of Europe's largest economies are off to a "better than expected" start to 2024, with production growth in Spain, Germany and Belgium reaching 6.6%, 4.9% and 4.3% respectively.

    In the first half of 2024, European chemical exports fell by 2.9% year-on-year, from 117.2 billion euros in the same period in 2023 to 113.8 billion euros; imports fell from 101.1 billion euros in the first half of 2023 to 89 billion euros in the first half of 2024, a decrease of 11.9%. As a result, Europe's chemicals trade surplus in the first half of the year increased by 54% year-on-year to 24.8 billion euros. Cefic said: "Europe will benefit from the strong recovery of China's economy and the continued decline in energy prices. These will stimulate the medium-term recovery of the European economy, especially in energy-intensive industries and their customer sectors." Source: Sinochem New Network