German chemical industry sales decline

Source: China Chemical Industry News April 04, 2019

Sinochem New Network News The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) recently announced in its latest quarterly report that the German chemical and pharmaceutical industries performed weakly in the fourth quarter of last year. Declining demand for chemicals from industrial customers in Germany and other parts of Europe has forced chemical companies to restrict production, especially the slowdown in the pharmaceutical industry. Although the sales price rose slightly, it was still insufficient to compensate for the decline in production.

The sales price of chemicals in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 2.7% year-on-year, but only increased by 0.4% compared with the previous quarter. Although German chemical sales increased by only 0.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, they fell 3.1% compared to the previous quarter to 46.5 billion euros.

Vtz Director General Utz Tillmann said: \"The outlook for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries is not as optimistic as it was at the beginning of last year.\" Demand for chemicals in both German and European industries is declining. In addition, Brexit has had a negative impact on the economy. VCI said it expects chemical output to decline by 3.5% in 2019. Chemical prices are expected to rise by 1% this year, but sales in the chemical industry are expected to fall by 2.5% to 198.5 billion euros (about 223 billion US dollars).

Despite the weak economy, chemical companies continued to expand employment opportunities in the fourth quarter of last year. The industry currently has 462,000 employees, a 2% increase from a year ago.