Crewe, UK – Order books are down, sales are falling and margins are turning negative in the UK chemical industry, according to a survey from the UK Chemical Business Association.
The association's latest supply chain trends survey shows a significant decline in confidence. The survey had a positive balance of 14%, compared with 32% in June.
In the survey, respondents compared current sales with the previous three months, and look ahead for three months.
There is a positive balance of 7% for November, but this is down from 27% three months before. Companies' expectations of sales in the future are still 7% positive, but this is down from the 17% positive measure in the earlier survey.
Finally, sales margins have moved into negative territory at -11% compared with +8% in the previous survey. Going forward, respondents said margins will remain negative over the next three months.
The survey was carried out between 5-16 November and 56 companies took part.
The CBA's members are distributors, traders, manufacturers, logistics and service providers in the UK chemical industry.
