Losses plague Canadian chemical companies

Abstract

Canada continues to languish in its deepest economic slump since the 1930s. For the country's chemical industry, the impact of that slump is unmistakably severe. Sales are down. Profits have disappeared for many companies. Those few companies that have managed to remain in the black for the first six months of the year have done so only by the slimmest of margins. The combined results of five major Canadian chemical companies charted by C&EN underscore the tailspin that the industry has been in for the past two years. The companies are C-I-L, Celanese Canada, Du Pont Canada, Polysar, and Union Carbide Canada. In the second quarter of 1980, the combined earnings of these companies hit a record $79.2 million (Canadian). By the second quarter of last year, those earnings dipped to $66.5 million. This year, those same five companies registered a painful loss of $4.3 million in the second quarter. For the first six months ...