U.S. Specialty Chemicals Markets Start Third Quarter on Solid Note: American Chemistry Council

The third quarter started on a good note, with growth in U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes expanding 0.4 percent in July, following an upwardly revised 0.6 percent gain in June, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) reported.

The ACC said volumes have generally been moving up since May 2016. All changes in the data are reported on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, per the ACC.

Of the 28 specialty chemical segments ACC monitors, 12 expanded in July; 14 markets experienced decline, while two were stable.

During July, large market volume gains (1.0 percent and over) occurred in cosmetic chemicals, oilfield chemicals, plastic additives, and plasticizers, according to the ACC.

The overall specialty chemicals volume index was up 5.0 percent on a year-over-year (Y/Y) 3MMA basis.

The index stood at 109.9 percent of its average 2012 levels. The ACC reported that this is equivalent to 7.57 billion pounds (3.44 million metric tons).

The downturn in the oil and gas sector had affected headline volumes and, along with weakness in other segments, resulted in negative year-earlier comparisons from second quarter 2015 through second quarter 2016, according to the ACC.

Led by the recovery in the oil and gas sector, headline volumes are now positive and strong, the ACC said, adding that on a Y/Y basis, there were gains among 19 market and functional specialty chemical segments.

Specialty chemicals are materials manufactured on the basis of the unique performance or function and provide a wide variety of effects on which many other sectors and end-use products rely. They can be individual molecules or mixtures of molecules, known as formulations. The physical and chemical characteristics of the single molecule or mixtures along with the composition of the mixtures influence the performance end product. Individual market sectors that rely on such products include automobile, aerospace, agriculture, cosmetics and food, among others.

Specialty chemicals differ from commodity chemicals. They may only have one or two uses, while commodities may have multiple or different applications for each chemical. Commodity chemicals make up most of the production volume in the global marketplace, while specialty chemicals make up most of the diversity in commerce at any given time, and are relatively high value with greater market growth rates, per the ACC. 

This data is the only timely source of market trends for 28 market and functional specialty chemical segments, the ACC said.

Chemistry directly touches over 96 percent of all manufactured goods, and trends in these specialty chemical segments provide a detailed view of trends in manufacturing, according to the ACC.

The data also sheds light on how various consumer end-use markets are performing compared to others in the marketplace, the ACC added.
 




Chart courtesy American Chemistry Council