Revenue from chemicals sales in the UK fell sharply

Recently, the British Chemical Industry Association (CIA) said that British chemical companies saw a sharp decline in sales revenue in the third to fourth quarters of 2022, with half of the companies reporting a decline in demand and exports. According to the CIA, data from the UK chemical industry shows "just how bad" the country's economy is performing.

This comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sharply cut its GDP growth forecast for the UK in 2023 as businesses and households will endure higher borrowing costs and still high energy prices. The CIA said that in its quarterly business survey, 53% of companies surveyed said exports to the EU declined in the fourth quarter of 2022. At the same time, 50% of companies surveyed said that demand for their products declined both domestically and internationally in the fourth quarter of 2022. Tom Warren, CIA's head of economic affairs, said the number of British chemical companies reporting a decline in sales revenue in the third to fourth quarters of 2022 exceeded the first to second quarters of 2020.

The CIA also blamed some of the woes facing the UK's chemical industry on the impact of climate-change-related regulations that could discourage investment in the country. CIA CEO Steve Elliott said: "We know we are heading for challenging times, but the extent of the contraction is worse than expected. As an industry, we stand ready to bring growth and net zero emissions to the UK, but we cannot do that when the policy framework stifles any incentives for manufacturing investment in our country. When a typical UK chemical company not only has to report 17 different climate change measures, but even tries to compete with the more attractive US investment climate, what reason is there to put money into the UK?"