The recession has hurt all aspects of commerce, and thechemical industry is no exception. Batch and custommanufacturers have experienced a measurable reduction indemand, with some SOCMA members reporting sales losses ofas much as 20-25 percent.
The full force of the downturn impacted batch manufacturersstarting with the Fourth Quarter of 2008. This period wasparticularly difficult because at that time there was no way topredict how deep and how long the recession would be.Under such freefall conditions, it is difficult to make decisionsthat, while aiding in management of the current crisis,ultimately might affect the company’s future responsiveness tothe market. ...