List of largest chemical producers

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The Friedrich-Engelhorn-Hochhaus, headquarters of BASF from 1957 to 2013

Chemical & Engineering News publishes an annual list of the world's largest chemical producers by sales, excluding formulated products such as pharmaceutical drugs and coatings.[1] In 2018, sales of the top fifty companies amounted to US$951,000,000,000, an increase of 11.8% compared to the top fifty producers of 2017.[2] The American Chemistry Council estimated that global chemical sales in 2014 rose by 3.7% to US$5,389,000,000,000.[3]

In 2018, DowDuPont, the result of the 2017 merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont, became the world's top chemical producer ending BASF’s 12-year reign as the largest chemical company in the world. However, in April 2019, DowDuPont then split into three separate firms—Dow, DuPont, and Corteva Agriscience.[1][4] In 2018, more than half of the companies on the list were headquartered in the United States (10), Japan (8) or Germany (5); 18 countries in total were represented.[1]

In 2018, Forty-eight of the companies on the list disclosed chemical profits, which totaled US$110,100,000,000, an increase of 1.3% from 2017. The average profit margin for chemical operations for these companies was 9.6%.[1]

Top fifty producers by sales (2018)[]

Rank Company Chemical sales in 2018
USD millions[A] 		Change from 2017
in percent 		Headquarters
1 BASF 74,066 2.4 Germany Ludwigshafen, Germany
2 Dow 69,977 37.6 United States Midland, Michigan, USA
3 Sinopec 69,210 22.4 China Beijing, China
4 Sabic 42,120 12 Saudi Arabia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5 Ineos 36,970 2.1 United Kingdom London, UK
6 Formosa Plastics[B] 36,891 13.8 Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
7 ExxonMobil Chemical 32,443 13.1 United States Irving, Texas, USA
8 LyondellBasell Industries 30,783 8.7 United States Houston, Texas USA/ Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands
9 Mitsubishi Chemical 28,747 7.1 Japan Tokyo, Japan
10 DuPont 25,935 37.6 United States Wilmington, Delaware, USA
11 LG Chem 25,637 9.7 South Korea Seoul, South Korea
12 Reliance Industries 25,167 37.3 India Mumbai, India
13 PetroChina 24,849 n/a China Beijing, China
14 Air Liquide 24,322 2.8 France Paris, France
15 Toray Industries 18,651 8.7 Japan Tokyo, Japan
16 Evonik Industries 17,755 4.2 Germany Essen, Germany
17 Covestro 17,273 3.4 Germany Leverkusen, Germany
18 Bayer[C] 16,859 49 Germany Leverkusen, Germany
19 Sumitomo Chemical 16,081 8.7 Japan Tokyo, Japan
20 Braskem 15,885 17.7 Brazil São Paulo, Brazil
21 Lotte Chemical 15,051 4.2 South Korea Seoul, South Korea
22 Linde plc 14,900 30.3 United States Germany Dublin, Ireland
23 Shin-Etsu Chemical[C] 14,439 10.6 Japan Tokyo, Japan
24 Mitsui Chemicals 13,432 11.6 Japan Tokyo, Japan
25 Solvay 13,353 3.7 Belgium Brussels, Belgium
26 Yara 12,928 13.8 Norway Oslo, Norway
27 Chevron Phillips Chemical 11,310 24.8 United States The Woodlands, Texas, USA
28 DSM 10,951 7.4 Netherlands Heerlen, Netherlands
29 Indorama 10,747 21.2 Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
30 Asahi Kasei 10,654 8.1 Japan Tokyo, Japan
31 Arkema 10,418 5.9 France Colombes, France
32 Syngenta 10,413 12.6 Switzerland Basel, Switzerland
33 Eastman Chemical 10,151 6.3 United States Kingsport, Tennessee, USA
34 Borealis 9,852 10.2 Austria Vienna, Austria
35 SK Innovation 9,719 14.4 South Korea Seoul, South Korea
36 Mosaic 9,587 29.4 United States Tampa, Florida, USA
37 Huntsman 9,379 12.2 United States The Woodlands, Texas, USA
38 Wanhua Chemical 9,172 14.1 China Yantai, China
39 PTT Global Chemical 8,969 15.7 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand
40 Ecolab[C] 8,964 11 United States Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
41 Air Products & Chemicals 8,930 9.1 United States Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
42 Westlake Chemical 8,635 7.4 United States Houston, USA
43 Lanxess 8,505 -25.5 Germany Cologne, Germany
44 Nutrien 8,130 75.9 Canada Saskatoon, Canada
45 Umicore[C] 8,113 27.1 Belgium Brussels, Belgium
46 Sasol 8,110 4.2 South Africa Sandton, South Africa
47 Tosoh 7,803 4.7 Japan Tokyo, Japan
48 Johnson Matthey[C] 7,579 16.1 United Kingdom London, UK
49 DIC 7,296 2 Japan Tokyo, Japan
50 Hanwha Chemical[D] 7,273 3.3 South Korea Seoul, South Korea
51 Celanese 7,155 16.5 United States Irving, Texas, USA
A.^ Some figures converted at 2018 average exchange rates of US$1.00 = R$3.6513 Brazilian, CN¥ 6.609, €0.8462, ₹67.16, ¥110.1, ₩1,099.29, ر.س 3.75, R13.2255, CHF 0.9784, NT$30.129, and ฿32.303.[1]
B.^ Estimate by Chemical and Engineering News.[1]
C.^ Sales include a significant amount of non-chemical products.[1]
D.^ Chemical sales less administrative expenses and cost of sales.[1]

Largest companies before 2019[]

Since Chemical & Engineering News began keeping records in 1989, BASF has been the world's largest chemical producer by annual sales more frequently than any other company. The other companies that have headed the list are Dow Chemical, DowDuPont (which broke up into a Dow, a new DuPont, and Corteva Agriscience in 2019), Hoechst (which merged with Rhône-Poulenc in 1999 and is now a subsidiary of Sanofi), ICI (acquired by AkzoNobel in 2008) and Bayer.

Year Company Chemical sales
USD millions[A] 		Source
1988 Bayer 22,694 [5]
1989 BASF 17,122 [6]
1990 BASF 18,520 [7]
1991 ICI 18,127 [8]
1992 BASF 22,883 [9]
1993 Hoechst 16,682 [10]
1994 Hoechst 19,702 [11]
1995 BASF 22,030 [12]
1996 BASF 26,519 [13]
1997 BASF 27,047 [14]
1998 BASF 27,740 [15]
1999 BASF 31,250 [16]
2000 BASF 30,791 [17]
2001 Dow Chemical 27,805 [18]
2002 Dow Chemical 27,609 [19]
2003 Dow Chemical 32,632 [20]
2004 Dow Chemical 40,161 [21]
2005 Dow Chemical 46,307 [22]
2006 BASF 49,516 [23]
2007 BASF 65,037 [24]
2008 BASF 70,485 [25]
2009 BASF 54,817 [26]
2010 BASF 70,391 [27]
2011 BASF 85,603 [28]
2012 BASF 79,760 [29]
2013 BASF 78,615 [30]
2014 BASF 78,698 [31]
2015 BASF 63,749 [32]
2016 BASF 60,653 [33]
2017 BASF 69,195 [2]
2018 DowDuPont 85,977 [1]
A.^ Foreign currencies converted to USD using average exchange rates of that year.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tullo, Alexander H. (30 July 2019). "C&EN's Global Top 50 chemical companies of 2018". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Tullo, Alexander H. (30 July 2018). "C&EN's Global Top 50 chemical companies of 2017". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. ^ Davis, Nigel (7 September 2015). "ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies". ICIS Chemical Business. Reed Business Information.
  4. ^ Bromels, John (August 19, 2017). "After the DowDuPont Split: An Investor's Guide to the 3 New Companies". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  5. ^ Aftalion, Fred (1991). History of the international chemical industry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-81-228207-8.
  6. ^ Layman, Patricia; Storck, William (5 November 1990). "Europe dominates global chemical sales". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. doi:10.1021/cen-v068n045.p020.
  7. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (5 August 1991). "German Firms Continue To Dominate Global Top 50 Chemical Producers". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  8. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (7 September 1992). "Shifts in Rankings, Losses Mark Global Top 50 list". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  9. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (26 July 1993). "Sales Up, Profitability Suffers For Global Top 50 Chemical Makers". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  10. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (25 July 1994). "Global Top 50 Chemical Producers Troubled By Low Prices, Slow Economies". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  11. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (24 July 1995). "Global Top 50 Chemical Producers Show Rise In Profits And Sales". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  12. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (22 July 1996). "Global Top 50 Chemical Producers Shift Rankings During Profitable 1995". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  13. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (21 July 1997). "Slowdown for global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  14. ^ Layman, Patricia (20 July 1998). "Global top 50 chemical producers". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  15. ^ Layman, Patricia L. (26 July 1999). "BASF still tops global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  16. ^ Short, Patricia L. (24 July 2000). "Global top 50: BASF retains apex". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  17. ^ Short, Patricia L. (23 July 2001). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  18. ^ Short, Patricia L. (29 July 2002). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  19. ^ Short, Patricia L. (28 July 2003). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  20. ^ Short, Patricia L. (19 July 2004). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  21. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (16 May 2005). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  22. ^ Short, Patricia L. (24 July 2006). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  23. ^ Short, Patricia L. (6 August 2007). "'Top 50' correction". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  24. ^ Short, Patricia L. (28 July 2008). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  25. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (3 August 2009). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  26. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (26 July 2010). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  27. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (25 July 2011). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  28. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (30 July 2012). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  29. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (29 July 2013). "Global top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society.
  30. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (28 July 2014). "C&EN's Global Top 50 Chemical Firms For 2014". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  31. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (27 July 2015). "Global Top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. Vol. 93, no. 30. p. 16.
  32. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (25 July 2016). "C&EN's Global Top 50". Chemical & Engineering News. Vol. 94, no. 30. p. 35.
  33. ^ Tullo, Alexander H. (24 July 2017). "C&EN's Global Top 50 chemical companies of 2016". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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