Weak euro stimulates German chemical sector business overseas

A weak euro stimulated German chemical sector's overseas business in the first half of 2015 and is expected to boost sales of the sector for the whole year, the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) said Wednesday.

The lobby group said the devaluation of the euro stimulated exports of Germany's third largest industrial sector during the first six months of this year despite a sluggish global economy.

In the first half of 2015, exports went up year-on-year by 2.5 percent to 59.1 billion euros (about 64.46 billion U.S. dollars), offsetting a drop of 1.5 percent in domestic sales and leading a growth of 0.5 percent in the sector's overall sales.

The benefit of foreign exchange rate was expected to remain in the second half year. "All in all, we are expecting a moderate upward trend in the coming months," said VCI president Marijn Dekkers in a statement.

The group lifted its forecast for sales growth of the sector in 2015 to 0.5 percent, expecting revenues to increase to 191.8 billion euros with "strong contribution from foreign trade." Previously, VCI saw a sales drop of 0.5 percent in the sector for the whole year.

Chemical companies like BASF and Bayer were among beneficiaries of Germany's recovering foreign trade. In May, net exports in Germany hit a record high level, boosting economists' expectation that Europe's biggest economy would also be driven by foreign demand along with domestic consumption in present year.

Earlier this week, German central bank Bundesbank said the German economy likely grew at a higher pace in the second quarter than in previous three months when it expanded mildly by 0.3 percent.

A significant improvement of foreign trade was seen as one of main contributors to the economy's upswing. Endit