Brussels, 20 January 2016 - In its latest monthly chemicals trends report – rounding up data and insight on chemicals production, trade, prices and total sales – Cefic notes that while European chemicals production followed a flat trajectory, overall the trade surplus rose by €1.7bn while employment in the industry rose slightly, the second consecutive quarter of sector job growth*.

Key trends:

• European chemical output grew just 0.2 per cent during the first ten months of 2015 compared to the same period of 2014
• The EU net trade surplus was €30.4 billion during the first eight months of 2015
• Petrochemicals prices declined significantly by 14.6 per cent in October 2015 compared to the same month of 2014
• Total EU chemical sales dropped 3.1 per cent during the first nine months of 2015 compared to the same period one year ago
• EU chemical industry employment rose slightly during the third quarter 2015 to 1.17 million

To download the complete report sharing more indepth data, please click here.

Contact:  Dervla Gleeson, Media Relations, Cefic, +32 (0)2 676 72 89, dgl@cefic.be

* Based on Eurostat data