Federchimica – Chemical Industry Jan 2023

Federchimica's Chemical Industry report for January 2023 provides an overview of the current state of the international economy and its impact on the chemical industry. The report notes that during 2022, the international economy has suffered a marked deterioration, with the Euro Area being affected the most by the negative impact of the conflict in Ukraine, specifically the energy crisis. It also highlights that all three motors of the world growth have been having a hard time due to the management of the pandemic, inflation impulses and monetary policies tightening. The report states that the deterioration is evident mainly in manufacturing that is already in a recession, with the energy shock hitting manufacturing more than services and worsening a slowdown that started well before the war in Ukraine. It also mentions that this contributes to mitigating prices of non-energy raw materials, though with partial benefits for European manufacturing in light of the Euro weakening and still very high energy prices. The report also states that the weak Euro and reduction of costs for international transport favor EU exports while demand is slowing down but intensify pressure on imports.