US chemical manufacturers report their company’s activity level overall (e.g., sales, production, output) improved in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest findings from American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Chemical Manufacturing Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). While chemical manufacturers’ sentiment regarding the state of the global economy remained negative in Q1, their assessment of the US economy improved.
US chemicals and plastics producers have expectedly slammed a new legislative initiative called Protecting Communities from Plastics Act (PCPA) introduced by Democratic Party senators and representatives in both houses of Congress at the beginning of December.
Michael Bloomberg’s $85 million campaign against the proliferation of large chemicals and plastics production complexes and the pollution they can cause has been praised by environmental advocacy groups but has not gone down well with representatives of the US industries.
Michael Bloomberg, the founder of US-based financial, software, data and media group Bloomberg LP and a United Nations special envoy on climate ambition and solutions, has launched a campaign to stop the expansion of petrochemicals and plastics production in the US.
American Chemistry Council (ACC), the industry association representing US chemical producers, is suing the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its Lifetime Health Advisories (LHAs) for per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS).
For the report "Value Creation in Chemicals 2020: Bouncing Back from a Year of Adversity", Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analyzed the development of the global chemicals market in the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and in the years 2015 to 2019 using key figures. The result shows: The current crisis is forcing companies to increase their resilience. The entire value chain, exposure to the end industry, and technical, commercial and digital capabilities must be put to the test in order to respond more effectively to changes in the markets in the future.
US chemistry remains in demand around the world despite ongoing trade tensions and Covid-19. In 2019, the US chemical industry was one of the world’s largest exporters, at $136 billion. The industry has a large and growing trade surplus, reaching more than $35 billion in 2019.
