Chemical monitor

The trend in increasing costs for the chemical industry has continued unabated, putting added pressure on many chemical companies.

During November, the combined index for materials and fuel moved up by 0.5%, having already risen by 0.6% in the previous month. As a result, the cumulative index has gone up by an average of 3.8%.

Fuel costs have been a major factor, rising by 7.3% in November, while the price of crude oil advanced by nearly 5%. In the case of imported products, raw chemicals were slightly lower but prices of imported metals rose by 0.9% in this period.

Costs of pharmaceuticals gained momentum, rising by 0.4% in November compared with 0.3% in the previous month. On average, costs for intermediates products rose by 0.8% and by 6.5% on an annual basis.

Chemical prices showed little change; moreover, compared to a year ago, the index for chemical prices rose by only 1.9%. Evidently, competitive pressures have made it difficult for chemical companies to increase their prices, even though production costs continued to move ahead in November.

Prices for pharmaceuticals were largely static in November. However, prices of intermediate chemicals advanced by 0.6% compared with a gain of 0.5% in the previous month, while the underlying trend showed a rise of 4.6% compared to 1999.