Abstract
The recession finally caught up with chemicals last fall. Although some major chemical markets such as automobiles have been sending warnings all year, the full recessionary blow to chemical makers in the fourth quarter was shocking in its severity. Now financial statistics from companies show the full extent of the damage. For instance, fourth-quarter earnings for basic chemical companies grew at only about one fourth the pace they showed in the third quarter. The resulting after-tax net income for the industry still went up about 15% over the fourth-quarter net of 1973. However, the overall slowing trend apparently was accelerating as the quarter closed. Fourth-quarter sales growth slowed to about a 25% gain over fourth-quarter 1973. And profit margins (after-tax earnings or per cent of sales) for the basic chemical industry also slumped. The likely drop for the closing three months last year was about half a percentage point from the 5.9% figure of fourth-quarter ...
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