Canadian chemicals enloy good first half

Abstract

The long-term future of the Canadian chemical industry may indeed turn out to be as bright as most analysts say that it will be. But for the immediate future, the outlook is far from exhilarating. That's not necessarily the industry's fault. Although exports are becoming an increasingly important part of the chemical industry's business, its fortunes still are dictated in large part by Canada's overall economy. And right now, that economy is a mess. Inflation is running at an uncomfortably high rate of about 13%. Interest rates have soared, with the Canadian prime rate approaching 23% before declining a little recently. Although the chemical industry remains one of the fastest growing in Canada, its major indicators seem to mirror what has been happening in the economy generally. For instance, when the Canadian economy nosedived in the first half of last year, the chemical industry's production index (the RDP, or real domestic product, index) dropped 4%. ...