Germany's Chemical Trade Surplus in September Fell 4.7% Year on Year

Germany's chemical trade surplus in September fell 4.7% year on year to Eur2.74 billion ($3.52 billion) as the value of exports fell faster than imports, an analysis of detailed data from statistics agency Destatis showed Thursday.

Chemical export revenues declined 4.6% to Eur8.46 billion year on year on a 7% drop in volumes, while imports decreased in value terms by 4.5% to Eur5.73 billion, reflecting a 4.6% fall in underlying quantities.

Compared with August's positive trade balance of Eur2.87 billion, the trade surplus was 4.8% lower as import revenues firmed 0.4%, while exports receded 1.4% month on month.

Chemical export activity at Northwest European trading hubs was mixed, growing 4.1% to Eur698.35 million via the Netherlands and softening 2.9% to Eur541.57 million through Belgium. Sales to France eased 0.6% to Eur877.58 million, to Italy dropped 9.1% to Eur585.96 million, to the UK fell 7.6% to Eur462.38 million and to Poland were down 13.2% at Eur405.71 million.

Chemicals imports via the Netherlands declined 5.2% year on year to Eur948.31 million and through Belgium weakened 6.2% to Eur745.09 million. Purchases from major European sources were also lower, including a 4.8% fall to Eur588.06 million from France, a 13.7% plunge to Eur256.70 million from Italy, a 1% decline to Eur344.90 million from the UK and a 12.3% drop to Eur141.36 million from Poland.

Over the first three quarters of 2012, Germany's chemical trade surplus was 10.7% stronger than a year ago at Eur25.19 billion, with exports up 1.7% at Eur79.29 billion and imports declining 2.0% to Eur54.09 billion, according to the official data.