Economic sentiment for chemical manufacturers improves despite higher costs, ACC says

This article was originally posted on Chemical Engineering Online.

Summary

ACC’s Q1 2026 Chemical Manufacturing Economic Sentiment Index shows improved sentiment among U.S. chemical producers, with indexes for new orders, order backlogs, production, and capacity utilization jumping to their highest levels since the survey began in Q1 2023—despite higher costs.

How is your organization balancing rising input costs with the surge in orders and capacity utilization to protect margins?

Overall economic sentiment for U.S. chemical manufacturers rose in Q1 2026, with several indexes reaching their highest levels since the survey’s inception back in Q1 2023, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) latest Chemical Manufacturing Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Indexes for new orders, order backlogs, production and capacity utilization all jumped […]

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Economic sentiment for chemical manufacturers improves despite higher costs, ACC says

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