The American Chemistry Council (ACC) reports that the second quarter ended on a strong note, with growth in U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rebounding from a 0.3% gain in May to a 0.5% gain in June. Volumes have generally been moving up since last May, according to ACC. All changes in the data are reported on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. Of the 28 specialty chemical segments monitored, 18 expanded in June, eight experienced decline, while two were stable. During June, large market volume gains (1.0% and over) occurred in mining chemicals and oilfield chemicals.
The overall specialty chemicals volume index was up 4.9% on a year-over-year (Y/Y) 3MMA basis. The index stood at 109.7% of its average 2012 levels. This is equivalent to 7.56 billion pounds (3.43 million metric tons). The downturn in the oil and gas sector had affected headline volumes and along with weakness in other segments resulted in negative year-earlier comparisons from second quarter 2015 through second quarter 2016. Led by the recovery in the oil and gas sector, headline volumes are now positive and strong, according to ACC. On a Y/Y basis, there were gains among 20 market and functional specialty chemical segments.
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