London (Platts)--22Nov2012/840 am EST/1340 GMT
Germany's chemical trade surplus in September fell 4.7% year on year to Eur2.74 billion ($3.52 billion) as the value of exports fell faster than imports, an analysis of detailed data from statistics agency Destatis showed Thursday. Chemical export revenues declined 4.6% to Eur8.46 billion year on year on a 7% drop in volumes, while imports decreased in value terms by 4.5% to Eur5.73 billion, reflecting a 4.6% fall in underlying quantities. Compared with August's positive trade balance of Eur2.87 billion, the trade surplus was 4.8% lower as import revenues firmed 0.4%, while exports receded 1.4% month on month. Chemical export activity at Northwest European trading hubs was mixed, growing 4.1% to Eur698.35 million via the Netherlands and softening 2.9% to Eur541.57 million through Belgium. Sales to France eased 0.6% to Eur877.58 million, to Italy dropped 9.1% to Eur585.96 million, to the UK fell 7.6% to Eur462.38 million and to Poland were down 13.2% at Eur405.71 million. Article continues below...Sign up to Petrochemical Alert today. Petrochemical Alert gives you everything you need to stay informed and react to changing market conditions, including minute-to-minute updates on news and pricing for all your petrochemical needs. From news flashes to long-range analysis, and real-time deal reporting to end-of-day price assessments, Petrochemical Alert is consistently first to deliver breaking news that moves the world's petrochemicals markets. It's an indispensable tool for those making crucial decisions.
Germany's chemical trade surplus in September fell 4.7% year on year to Eur2.74 billion ($3.52 billion) as the value of exports fell faster than imports, an analysis of detailed data from statistics agency Destatis showed Thursday. Chemical export revenues declined 4.6% to Eur8.46 billion year on year on a 7% drop in volumes, while imports decreased in value terms by 4.5% to Eur5.73 billion, reflecting a 4.6% fall in underlying quantities. Compared with August's positive trade balance of Eur2.87 billion, the trade surplus was 4.8% lower as import revenues firmed 0.4%, while exports receded 1.4% month on month. Chemical export activity at Northwest European trading hubs was mixed, growing 4.1% to Eur698.35 million via the Netherlands and softening 2.9% to Eur541.57 million through Belgium. Sales to France eased 0.6% to Eur877.58 million, to Italy dropped 9.1% to Eur585.96 million, to the UK fell 7.6% to Eur462.38 million and to Poland were down 13.2% at Eur405.71 million.
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Petrochemical Alert gives you everything you need to stay informed and react to changing market conditions, including minute-to-minute updates on news and pricing for all your petrochemical needs. From news flashes to long-range analysis, and real-time deal reporting to end-of-day price assessments, Petrochemical Alert is consistently first to deliver breaking news that moves the world's petrochemicals markets. It's an indispensable tool for those making crucial decisions.
Chemicals imports via the Netherlands declined 5.2% year on year to Eur948.31 million and through Belgium weakened 6.2% to Eur745.09 million. Purchases from major European sources were also lower, including a 4.8% fall to Eur588.06 million from France, a 13.7% plunge to Eur256.70 million from Italy, a 1% decline to Eur344.90 million from the UK and a 12.3% drop to Eur141.36 million from Poland. Over the first three quarters of 2012, Germany's chemical trade surplus was 10.7% stronger than a year ago at Eur25.19 billion, with exports up 1.7% at Eur79.29 billion and imports declining 2.0% to Eur54.09 billion, according to the official data.--Inge Erhard, newsdesk@platts.com--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com
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