Chemical monitor

Profits in the chemical industry have been fluctuating since the beginning of the year but, over the past few months, margins have been gradually improving. However, profit margins for some products are tight in the chemical sector.

In April, margins were rising and price increases exceeded costs movements by 0.2%. However, over the longer term, the trend was variable with cost increases surpassing price rises by 1.6%.

During April, selling prices in the chemical industry rose by 0.1%, which was a similar rate as in the previous month. On an annual basis, prices went up by 1.4% compared with April last year.

In the case of intermediate products, prices have gone up by 0.5% in April as against 0.2% in March.

For pharmaceuticals, their prices went up by 0.2% in April having been static in the previous month. The price movements have been quite limited.

Material costs and fuel in the chemical industry dropped by 0.1% in April following a fall of 0.4% in March. Compared with a year ago, the index has moved up on average of 3% in this industry.

Costs for pharmaceuticals remained stable in April though they were up by 2.3% compared with year ago. For intermediate chemicals, their costs declined by 0.2% having fallen by 0.7% in the previous month.

However, compared with April 2000, the cost index for the intermediate products has moved up by 3.8% in value terms. With the latest rise in crude oil prices, it is expected that costs for organics will show a significant rise over the medium term.