Foreign trade of chemicals improved during the first quarter of 2010, with the value of exports increasing slightly more than that of imports.
Exports were up 13.3% in value compared to the first quarter of 2009. All sectors within the industry experienced growth in exports, with Organic Chemicals achieving the greatest improvement by far: up 28.4% in value compared to the first quarter of 2009.
Similarly, imports of Organic Chemicals outperformed the sector overall: up 14.8% in value compared to the first quarter of 2009, versus 7.3% for all chemicals.
For the sector as a whole (including Pharmaceuticals), the balance of trade increased from €896m during the first quarter of 2009 to €1.6bn during the first quarter of 2010. Therefore, the export/import ratio improved from 1.09 during the first quarter of 2009 to 1.15 in the first quarter of 2010.