The mood in the boardrooms of the German chemical industry brightened for the third month in a row in April, despite a widespread lack of orders.

The barometer for the business climate rose to minus 6.0 points, after minus 10.1 points in March, according to the Munich-based Ifo Institute's company survey on Tuesday. Companies assessed the current business situation slightly better than in March at minus 16.0 points. At the same time, business expectations have brightened considerably and are positive again: this indicator rose to plus 4.6 points in April after minus 1.9 points in March. "The chemical industry is somewhat more confident about the coming months," said Ifo industry expert Anna Wolf.

However, the demand situation in the chemical industry remains tense. Almost half of the companies are complaining about too few orders: In April, the figure was 46.6 percent, the researchers found. "However, chemical companies are expecting more orders from abroad," according to the Ifo Institute. For the first time since January 2023, companies are also planning for rising sales prices. More companies also want to expand their production in the coming months.

Some chemical companies have recently been more optimistic. At specialty chemicals company Lanxess, for example, confidence in better business is growing. For 2024, CEO Matthias Zachert now expects an increase in adjusted operating profit (EBITDA) of ten to 20 percent. Previously, he had forecast moderate growth. "It seems that we have reached the bottom of the economic trough in the chemical industry," said Zachert recently. The Munich-based Wacker Chemie Group is also hopeful that the slump in orders is coming to an end. Compared to the end of the year, orders rose again in the first quarter, said CEO Christian Hartel.

(Report by Rene Wagner, edited by Christian Götz. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)