German chemical industry sales fall by 3% YOY in fourth quarter

摘要

Germany’s chemical-pharmaceutical industry ended 2018, as expected, with a very weak fourth quarter, trade association VCI (Frankfurt) says in its latest quarterly report. Falling demand for chemicals from industrial customers in both Germany and the rest of Europe forced companies to strongly throttle back production. The slowdown was particularly marked in the pharmaceutical sector because of a one-of efect. A slight increase in selling prices could not compensate for the drop in production. Exports in particular were hit by the fall in demand, both within and without Europe.