EU chemical production fell by 1% month-on-month in September to a low so fat this year due to a broad-based downturn across major producer countries, initial data by statistical agency Eurostat showed Monday.
Chemical production fell 1.2% in the eurozone. Year-on-year, output was down 0.6% in the EU and 0.7% in the eurozone.
Italian output dropped 3.1% from August, with tangible decreases also recorded in Spain (2.8%), France (2.6%) and Germany (1.3%). Output in the UK fell 0.8%.
Year-on-year, Italian output shrank 9.3% in a 9-month downtrend, as the country struggles with a sovereign debt crisis, while output rose in France (3.2%) and the UK (2.3%) and was almost steady in Germany (-0.2%) and Spain (0.4%). Ireland's output was up 20.2%, marking the sixth month of double-digit growth.
At the segment level, Eurostat's estimates indicate a 0.7% month-on-month fall in EU base chemicals output, with a 2.9% drop in organic and a 0.8% decline in inorganic base chemicals. However, output of plastics in primary forms was up 1.2%.
In January-September, EU factories produced 2.2% more chemical products than a year earlier and eurozone output was up 2.6%.
