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Mar 21, 2005 2:42 PM

US chemical manufacturers are upbeat about further growth and strength due in large part to sales of newly developed products, according to information from the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

The reaction is a significant turnaround for chemical companies which were especially hard hit during the past few years, ACC pointed out.

Net operating income for the typical chemical company is projected to expand by 24.8 percent this year, spending on research and development is expected to increase by nearly three percent of total sales in 2005 and 2006, and investment in plants and equipment is anticipated to rise 11.8 percent in 2005 and by 10.1 percent in 2006.

Despite the projected growth, large basic chemical companies expect employment to decline in 2005 by 1.7 percent as downsizing and outsourcing continue.

However, smaller companies indicated that they expect their employment to increase by 1.2 percent in 2005, while specialty chemical companies expect flat employment (0.1 percent increase this year).