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Policy
Facts & Figures for the Chemical Industry
by Business Department
July 11, 2005
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 83, Issue 28
Although 2003 may have been the preface, 2004 was the story of the turnaround in the fortunes of chemical producers around the world. Last year at this time, C&EN was saying that while it did not show up in the annual figures, the fourth quarter of 2003 showed major improvement in economies around the world and that it looked like the trend was continuing in 2004.
And the turnaround did expand in most chemical-producing countries. In the U.S., the most important chapter was the increase in prices, which, when combined with cost cutting, helped pull chemical company earnings sharply higher.
But there were other important trends. Production volumes increased in most countries. The laggards were mainly in European countries where national economies are not expanding as fast as those for other countries around the world.
Employment is still falling in many areas, but in the U.S., at least, this means that labor productivity is improving.
In the era of globalization, foreign trade has become an ever more important aspect of the chemical industry. Many of the countries saw their chemical exports expand in double-digit percentages in 2004. Often they were growing faster than imports, providing improvements in chemical trade balances.
Even though this year's Facts & Figures for the Chemical Industry reports the changes in chemical fortunes, the format in which that it is presented is little changed. But there is a huge change for readers who want to parse the numbers. This year, for the first time, all tables are available in a downloadable Excel format on C&EN's website.
The collection of industry data from the major chemical-producing countries and regions has been accomplished by
FINANCES: RISING PRICES ARE KEY AGAIN
Cost curtailment and increased product prices spurred growth for most chemical companies
(2 MB)
PRODUCTION: GROWTH IN MOST REGIONS
Although output increased, rise was probably less than most nations had hoped
(516 KB)
TRADE: INCREASES WERE COMMON LAST YEAR
Deficits were cut or surpluses grew in many countries; the U.S. deficit in chemicals neared zero (472 KB)
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