Japan: Battening down the hatches against the storm

Japan got hit in 1992, and it got hit bad. After a long period of higher growth than the U.S. and Europe, recession caught up with Japan's economy, and it has stagnated in 1992. And for Japan's $183-billion/year chemicals industry the impact has been sudden. Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA: Tokyo) says that on a yen basis, the sector's 1992 sales will probably be 5% lower than in 1991. Between 1990 and 1991, the industry chalked up 12% growth. Furthermore, recession outside Japan is magnifying Japanese petrochemical and polymer producers troubles, even though only 10% of output is sold in export markets