Argentine polymer and synthetic rubber production fell 3.4% in June compared with the year-earlier period, the state statistics office Indec said Friday.
Output fell 2.2% compared with May and was up 0.6% in the first half of 2011 compared with the year-earlier period, Indec said in a report that did not give raw data.
The economy is expected to grow more than 6% this year after 9.1% expansion in 2010, boosting demand for petrochemicals. Producers are concerned of worsening shortages of natural gas as feedstock and energy. The government is stepping up imports of LNG and Bolivian gas to try to limit the deficit during the winter crunch between June and August, when heating demand puts strains on domestic supplies of gas, source of half of the country's energy.
Indec said chemical production fell 7.9% in June from a year earlier and was down 7.7% compared with May. Chemical production in the country was 1.4% lower in the first six months of 2011 compared with the January-June period of 2010.
Output of urea and other chemicals for fertilizers rose 2% in June compared with June 2010 and was up 1.8% compared with May. In the first half of 2011, output fell 2% compared with the year-earlier period.
Production of industrial gases fell 2.8% in June compared with the year-earlier period and was down 5.2% compared with May. Output was down 0.7% in the January-June period of this year compared with the same period in 2010.
Production of plastic goods by compounders, an indicator of demand for polymers, rose 7.5% in June compared with June 2010 and was down 18.1% compared with May. In the first six months of this year, output rose 6% compared with the January-June period of 2010.
Production of tires, a sign of demand for synthetic rubber and its polymer feedstock, rose 8.9% in June compared with June 2010 and was down 1.2% compared with May. Output was up 9.6% in the first half of 2011 compared with the same 2010 period.
Chemical producers used 76.5% of installed capacity in June, up from 74.2% in May and down from 77.3% in June 2011.
