The covid-19 is having a major impact on the chemicals industry. Demand for chemicals is experiencing severe shocks , global supply chains are strained, which have been hitting chemical makers of countries hard.

The global year-to-date chemical production has declined by 1.3 percent as of March 2020. North America and Europe are tied as of March 2020 for the largest regional chemical production decreases worldwide, with 2020 year-to-date chemicals production decreases of 2.1 percent.

Year-to-date global chemical production change by region 2020

The global chemical production declined by 3.1 percent in March 2020. Although chemicals production increased in few places in January through March 2020, production decreased in most world regions during that timeframe. Asia Pacific's February decrease was the largest, at 5.1 percent.

Monthly global chemical production change by region 2020

The global chemical production declined by 3.1 percent in March 2020. Although chemical production increased in some categories in January 2020 as compared to December 2019, production in February compared to January and in March compared to February declined in every category. Coatings production decreased by the largest margin during March compared to February, at 12.9 percent.

Global chemical production change by type 2020

Now that countries is planning to urge industries to resume operations as soon as possible, chemicals companies should consider what the industry recovery may look like, and plan for what steps they can take now to position themselves as well as possible in a post-COVID-19 world.