| SIC Codes: | 2823 2824 2833 2834 2835 2836 2841 2842 2843 2844 2851 2861 2865 2869 2873 2874 2875 2879 2891 2892 2893 3087 3861 2822 2821 2819 2812 2813 2816 |
| NAICS Codes: | 325130 325180 325194 325220 325998 325992 325920 325991 325910 325620 325613 325612 325611 325520 325510 325414 325413 325412 325411 325320 325314 325312 325311 325110 325120 325193 325199 325211 325212 |
Companies in this industry manufacture basic, intermediate, and specialty chemicals. Major companies include BASF (Germany), Dow and DuPont (US), Roche (Switzerland), Mitsubishi Chemical (Japan), INEOS Group (UK), and LyondellBasell (the Netherlands).
Because chemicals are used to make a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, demand is driven by the overall health of the US economy. The profitability of individual companies is closely tied to efficient operations. Big companies have large economies of scale in production. Small companies can compete effectively by producing specialty products, of which there are a large number, or by operating a single plant highly efficiently. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies account for about 55 percent of revenue.
Basic chemicals include petrochemicals, industrial gases, dyes and pigments, alkalies and chlorine, alcohols, and various other organic (based on the chemistry of carbon and oxygen) and inorganic chemicals. These basic chemicals are made from mined materials like crude oil, natural gas, and minerals, or from crops and other natural substances. The raw materials are called feedstocks. Chemicals companies use basic chemicals to produce intermediate products like polyethylene; polyethylene oxide (PO); ethylene oxide (EO); and ethylene glycol, or final products like phosphate and nitrogen agricultural fertilizers.
Buy Now