KONSTANZ, Germany - Despite the debt crisis and an expected cooling down of the economy, the chemical and plastic industries are optimistic, that according to a new survey by Ceresana Research. The majority of the companies interviewed by Ceresana Research were able to increase their production volume in the last six months. However, many companies are expecting increased pressure on their profit margins due to rising costs of commodities, transport and energy. Treasury instruments might be able to curb this trend and provide companies with more reliability in planning. Furthermore, companies need to increase their share of bio-based products.
The chemical and plastic industries continue to be optimistic, with 43 percent of the survey participants expecting their business situation to improve within the next six to 12 months. On all continents, there are more respondents that expect their business situation to improve than to worsen. Expectations are above the average, especially in North America and Asia-Pacific.