C&EN’s top 50 US chemical producers

Abstract

Last year was another terrific one for the US chemical industry. According to C&EN’s latest ranking of the top 50 US chemical producers, sales and profits both surged. Chemical sales for the top 50 firms increased 17.9% to $297.2 billion in 2018, the year that forms the basis of the survey. This beat the strong increase of 9.4% that C&EN’s survey revealed last year. Profits moved up even more aggressively. For the 42 firms that reported chemical profit figures, income rose 19.5%, to $35.4 billion. Last year’s survey found a modest 3.0% rise in profits. Among the many factors that influenced the sharp rise in sales was an increase in production at US factories. According to the American Chemistry Council, a trade association, US production volumes rose a relatively strong 3.1% last year. Energy prices answer for some of it, too. Most chemicals are made from oil and natural gas