German chemical industry confident as growth swells
German chemicals manufacturers expressed confidence Thursday with regard to the outlook for the sector, raising their full-year forecasts for sales and output after a strong performance during the first six months.
Industry federation VCI said that sector-wide output increased by 1.5 percent in the period from January to June.
And manufacturers were able to increase their selling prices as prices rose for oil, an important raw material, and capacity utilisation increased.
The combination of increased output and higher prices enabled VCI members to boost sales by around 5.0 percent to 96.9 billion euros ($111.5 billion) in the January-June period.
Looking to the full year, the federation raised its forecast for output growth to 1.5 percent from 1.0 percent previously.
Revenues were also expected to grow by 5.0 percent to 194 billion euros, the VCI said.
Previously, the federation had been pencilling in full-year growth of 3.5 percent.
"We are expecting good business to last at home and abroad," VCI president Kurt Bock said, pointing to stable growth forecasts for producers' most important markets.
Over the first half year, Europe, Asia and the United States saw "significant" increases in sales, Bock said, while a political and economic crisis in Brazil weighed on business in South America.
Companies have scaled up plans to invest in production plants in Germany, increasing spending by 6.7 percent to around 7.5 billion euros.
With around 450,000 employees, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry is Germany's third-largest sector, behind car and machine tool makers.
That gives it a strong voice with politicians ahead of September elections.
The VCI's top priority is to reduce energy prices, driven up by Germany's transition to renewables. Members also want tax breaks for research and development and improved transport and internet infrastructure.
Comments