Mixed Reports

Chemical and automotive reports are the main report newsthis month, with few surprises to be had.

The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) March provisionalApril 2009 global chemistry industry production index revealed slightly moreencouraging news with an 0.8% fall in April against 3.6% drop in December. The report states that the downturn is"global and synchronised" and predicts weakened underlying final demand for thefirst half of 2009.

Image:Haydenseek

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reporton the 2008 auto industry makes gloomy, if unsurprising, reading. The report states that while the industry isfundamentally sound and committed to quality manufacture, overcapacity and thecredit crunch has severely damaged the industry.

Together, the 27 main European car making countriesaccount for a little over 32% of world passenger car output, with Japan thelargest single country with an 18.7% share. Germanyremained by far the largest employer in the EU, providing 834,000 jobs in2007.

Image: Nissan

The report coincides with Nissan'slatest sales and production report which showed a drop of nearly 17% inglobal productions over 12 months to the end of March 2009, with a massive44.9% fall in the single month of March 2009 year-on-year. Hardest hit over the 12 month period was Spain, showinga 50.6% reduction in output.

A further ACEA report called on EU governments to take immediatecrisis-relief measures to save commercial vehicle manufacturers citing aten-fold reduction in orders for heavy trucks as an example just how seriousthe problems are.

In the chemical sector, ReportLinker has released its WorldNanocatalyst Market Report, which analyses the catalysts by end-useindustry segments and in US$.  Thesegments include refinery, petrochemical, chemical industry and environmentalapplications, providing annual regional forecasts from 2006-2015.

And finally, aspecial report in the New York Times highlights thedrive to exploit energy from hydrates, previously seen as a costly burdenrequiring protection for gas and oil undersea or cold region pipelines, beingled by the Centre of Excellence in Innovative Nanostructured Materials (CEMIN)in Perugia, Italy.  The report states that hydrates could be usedto store and transport gases more safely, or capture greenhouse gases to fightclimate change.