The EU chemical industry confidence indicator (CCI) published by the European Chemistry Council, CEFIC, soared in October 2014 and reached its highest level since July 2011, the industry federation said, adding that capacity utilization reached its highest level in three years.

After sagging business earlier in the year - chemical output grew by just 0.9% year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, according to CEFIC's latest trend report - order book levels and output expectations are said to have been "significantly higher" in October compared with September.

CEFIC said it saw similar improvements in other forward-looking CCI indicators, including production, export orders and stocks. The employment expectations component was at its most positive since April 2012.

European capacity utilization rates rose to 81.3% in the third quarter, the highest level since the 2011 period, even if they remained 3.7 percentage points below the post-crisis peak seen in the first quarter of 2011 and only 0.2 percentage points below the long-term average from 1995 to 2013.

Across the EU, the chemical producers' federation said output is expected to continue growing in 2015, although expectations about the pace of European and global economic growth have weakened in recent months. CEFIC now expects production to grow by 1% in 2015, down from the 1.5% foreseen earlier.

Growth across the industry was sluggish in the first nine months of 2014, the trend report said. This is attributed in major part to "further contraction" in petrochemicals output, which dipped by 2.8%. The petchems setback was partially offset by 3.3% growth in specialty chemicals and 1.8% expansion in consumer chemicals. Polymer production rose 0.8%, with output of basic inorganics rising 0.3%.

In the year's first eight months, chemical sales were nearly unchanged year-on-year and just 0.8% higher than in the pre-crisis full-year peak reached in 2008. Producer selling prices dropped 1.7%.

In the first seven months of 2014, the EU had a €26.2 billion net trade surplus in chemicals, thanks in particular to a €7.1 billion positive trade balance with non-EU countries in Europe, including Russia, Turkey and Switzerland. The balance was €1.8 billion lower in the first half year than in the 2013 period, however. The EU's chemicals trade surplus with Asia - excluding Japan and China - grew by just €186 million. The net chemicals trade surplus with China contracted slightly to €261 million. The US further narrowed its chemicals trade deficit with the EU by €396 million to €3.5 billion over the seven-month period.