Argentina's March polymer output nearly flat on year, up from February

29-Apr-13

Production of polymer and synthetic rubber in Argentina slipped 0.5% in March compared with the year-earlier period, but was up 4.9% from February 2013, as per Indec, in Platts For Q1-2013, output of these products was up 0.9% from the same quarter last year. March chemical production fell 12.6% compared with a year earlier and dropped 17.6% compared with February. Chemical output for all of Q1 was down 4.5% from the year-ago period. Production of plastic goods by compounders, an indicator of demand for polymers, fell 9.3% in March compared with March 2012 and was up 0.9% compared with February. In Q1, output was down 6% compared with the same 2012 period. Leading petrochemical producers in the country include state-run YPF and units of LyondellBasell, Dow Chemical, Petrobras and Solvay Group. They used an average of 78.4% of installed capacity in March, down from 83.1% in March 2012 and 84.3% in February.