Chemical demand rises again in April

U.S. chemical shipments increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in April from the previous month, according to Commerce Department data, and were 11.7% ahead of April 2003. Meanwhile, inventories rose 0.6% from March and 6.5% from April of last year. Thus, the inventories-to-shipments ratio of 1.34 in April was unchanged from the prior month, but down from 1.40 of 12 months earlier. Excluding pharmaceuticals, the chemical industry saw shipments rise 0.6% from March, while they surged 16.4% from the year-earlier month.