2012m m 2013 m m 2014 m m

Econom ic Ind icato rs

DOWNLOAD THE CEPCI TWO WEEKS SOONER AT

WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM/PCI

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT COST INDEX (CEPCI)

(1957-59 = 100)

CE In d e x

O ct. 14
Prelim.
579.8

S e p t.'14
Final
580.1

O c t.'13
Final
567.5

704.1
652.3
666.9
876.4
411.9
941.1
516.0
769.1
324.4
547.2
320.3

704.6
650.9
668.1
877.4
413.4
939.0
515.7
775.1
323.9
546.3
321.4

686.6
620.0
655.7
874.5
411.8
924.7
513.8
744.1
321.6
533.7
324.4

Equipment
Heat exchangers & tanks
Process machinery
Pipes, valves & fittinqs
Process instruments
Pumps & compressors
Electrical equipm ent
Structural supports & misc
Construction labor
Buildinqs
Enqineerinq & supervision

LATEST

CURRENT BUSINESS INDICATORS*

CPI output index (2007 = 100)
CPI value of output. $ billions
CPI operating rate. % ______
Producer prices, industrial chem icals (1982 = 100)
_________
Industrial Production in M anufacturing (2007 = 100) ________
Hourly earnings index, chem ical & allied products (1992 = 100)
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100)

2300

95

2200

90

2100

85

2000

80

1900

75

Nov.'14
Oct: 14
Nov.'14

=
=
=

93.9
2,056.1
78.7

Nov.'14
Nov.'14
Nov: 14
Nov.'14

=
=
=
-

283.4
102.2
157.4
107.8

Oct.'14
Sept.'14
Oct: 14

=
=
=

93.1
2,114.6
78.1

Sept.'14
Aug.'14
Sept.' 14

=
=
=

92.9
2,123.6
77.9

Nov.'13
Oct.'13
Nov.'13

=
=
=

89.1
2,137.9
75.5

Sept.'14 =
Oct: 14 =
Oct: 14 =
Oct: 14 =

293.2
101.1
156.2
107.8

Aug.'14
Sept.'14
Sept: 14
Sept.'14

=
=
=
=

296.6
100.7
157.0
107.9

Nov.'13
Nov.'13
Nov.'13
Nov.'13

=
=
=
=

290.0
97.6
157.4

CPI OUTPUT VALUE ($ billions )

CPI OUTPUT INDEX (2007 = 100)

100 _

YEAR AGO

P R E V IO U S

106.8

CPI OPERATING RATE (%)

80

1800

J F M A M J

J A S O N D

J F M A M J

J A S O N D

* Current Business Indicators provided by IHS Global Insight, Inc., Lexington, Mass.

s----------------- ;-----------------------

CURRENT TRENDS

HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT ACC ECONOMIC DATA

he Am erican Chemistry Council (ACC; W ashington, D.C.; www.am ericanchem istry.com )
released its "Year-end Chemical Industry Situation and O utlook" report in late December.
The report says that despite facing global headwinds, the Am erican chemical industry ex
panded at a 2.0% growth rate in 2 0 1 4 , and is expected to reach a 3.7% gain in output in
2 0 1 5 , before hitting 3.9% in 2 0 1 6 . The report's consensus is that U.S. chemical output w ill
continue to expand well into the second half o f the decade, exceeding that o f the overall U.S.
economy. O ther key highlights o f the Situation and O utlook report include the follow ing:

Light vehicle sales ($ 3 ,5 0 0 o f chemistry per unit) g rew 5.2% in 2 0 1 4

Housing starts ($ 1 5 ,0 0 0 o f chemistry per start) g rew 7.5% in 2 0 1 4

Basic chemicals were hard hit from recessions in Japan and Brazil

During the second h a lf o f the current decade, U.S. chemical industry grow th is ex
pected to expand a t a pace o f more than 4% per ye a r on average, exceeding that o f
the overall U.S. economy

A trade surplus o f $ 7 7 billio n is expected by 2 0 1 9

M ore than 2 1 5 new chemical production projects valued at over $ 1 3 5 billio n have
been announced in the U.S., helping capital spending to surge nearly 12% in 2 0 1 4 to
more than $ 3 3 bill ion
G lobally, the AC C reported that the O rg a n iza tio n fo r Economic C ooperation and Develop
ment's (OECD; Paris; w w w .o e cd .o rg ) composite leading indicator pointed to stable growth
momentum for the OECD regions as a whole.

64

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JANUARY 2015

he preliminary value for the

October CE Plant Cost Index
(CEPCI; top; the most recent avail
able) declined slightly (0.05%) from
the final September value, reversing
the increasing trend that has been
observed for the past six months.
The Equipment subindex saw a
very small decline in October, as
did the Buildings and Engineering
& Supervision subindices, while the
Construction & Labor subindex saw
a small increase. The overall Octo
ber PCI value stands at 2.2% higher
than its value from October 2013.
Meanwhile, updated values for the
Current Business Indicators (CBI)
from IHS Global Insight (middle)
show that the CPI output index was
up slightly from the previous month,
while the value of output declined. O

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