C&ENsTop
50
Chemical Products
100 Chemical Producers
As 1984 began, a full year after the end of the previous economic recession, chemical producers were in full gear. And although the economy tailed off after the first six months, 1984 was, all in all, a good year for the chemical industry. That is not to say the year was trouble free. Producers had to contend with the effects of the unprecedented strength of the dollar against foreign currencies. Imports increased sharply in many areas, and export markets fled American products for those priced in cheaper currencies. And less expensive imports kept producers from raising prices. Still, production volumes increased handily. Output of C&EN's Top 50 chemical products jumped 9.2% overall in 1984 from the year before. Organics output rose 9.2%; that of inorganics climbed 9.4% last year. Because of the intransigence of many product prices, however, the jump in output did not bring with it as big an increase in sales revenues. For C&EN's Top 100 chemical producers, sales totals increased only 7% in 1984 from 1983. At the same time, efficiency measures paid off: Operating profits soared an impressive 41% last year. May 6, 1985 C&EN
11
News Focus
C&ENsTbp
Basic chemical production grew strongly in 1984
50
Chemical Products
David Webber C&EN New York
Production of basic chemicals returned to solid growth in almost all categories last year. The composite increase in output of C&EN's Top 50 chemicals, which includes both organics and inorganics, totaled some 9.2%, compared with 7.4% in 1983. All in all, business in the second full year after the last recession ended in late 1982 was good enough to bring most of the stragglers—those products that were unable to reverse their production slump in 1983—into positive growth again. In 1983, for example, the first year of economic recovery, only 36 of the Top 50 chemicals recorded production gains. Last year, by comparison, all but five of the largest-volume prod-
a B M
^
M
^
B M M M M M B |
^
ucts had increases in output. And those were chemicals that for the most part have been declining for the past decade because of long-term problems in their individual industry segments. Nevertheless, the overall growth in production was not enough to raise totals to the levels reached in 1979, still the peak year historically for chemical output. Five-year compound growth (the base period for which is the big 1979 year) remained negative for both the entire Top 50 group and its two subcategories, organics and inorganics. In fact, the last year in which Top 50 output was higher than in the comparable period five years earlier was 1981. Between 1979 and 1984, production of the Top 50 chemicals declined at an average rate of 1.1%—organics output fell 0.4% per year and inorganics output fell 1.4% per year, on a compounded annual basis. The overall negative performance of chemical production during the past five years reflects the topsy-
About the Top 50 list of chemical products Government data, trade association figures, and industry estimates all go into preparing C&EN's annual list of the Top 50 chemical products, ranked by production volume. The federal government is relied upon most heavily, but when government figures are not available, other sources, primarily trade associations, are used. Industry sources and C&EN estimates are used only when other data are lacking. Government data are not always accurate—they are only as good as the information that individual companies report. But they are an objective measure of production extending back for many years. Therefore, relatively accurate indications of growth can be made on a consistent basis. At this time of year, C&EN has access only to preliminary reports of production for 1984. When the government and trade associations issue their final reports, the outcome can be changed, sometimes dramatically. As a result, production figures for earlier years that appear in the table on page 12
May 6, 1985 C&EN
13 are different in some cases from those published in last year's Top 50 report. The final reports also can affect the rankings of chemicals. The 1983 rankings of eight of the chemicals listed in the table, for example, are different from those in the similar table published by C&EN a year ago. The list itself covers production figures for the U.S. and includes chemicals produced for export. Candidates for the list include all basic, intermediate, and chemically homogeneous finished products. These range from chemical building blocks like ethylene and propylene to downstream products like vinyl acetate and ethylene glycol. This year methyl fe/t-butyl ether (MTBE) is included for the first time. Synthetic ethanol, number 50 last year, has been dropped. The roster also includes basic inorganic chemicals, but does not include what C&EN considers to be minerals, such as salt, gypsum, and sulfur. Lime is included because it is processed
and has many chemical and industrial applications. Refractory (dead-burned) dolomite is excluded in the calculation of lime production. In the organics list, such petrochemical feedstocks as ethane, butane, and propane are excluded arbitrarily, because they are considered to be products of oil companies and because they have many nonchemical uses. There are other gray areas besides lime and petrochemical feedstocks. For example, the basic aromatics—benzene, toluene, and xylene—are included. Admittedly, this makes the list less pure chemically. Production figures are published by the government and trade associations in a variety of units—millions of pounds, thousands of tons, billions of cubic feet, millions of gallons, metric tons. To provide an accurate ranking and to make comparison of production volumes easier, C&EN not only gives production in common units but converts production to. billions of pounds as well.
Γορ 50 chemical production increased 9% in 1984 Rank 1984
Billions of lb
1983 a
1984
1983
Common units** 1984
39,683 tt
1983
1
1
Sulfuric acid
79.37
73.17
2
2
Nitrogen
43.41
40.58
3
6
Ammonia
32.41
28.14
16,204 tt
4
3
Lime c
32.20
29.73
16,100 tt
5
4
Ethylene
31.18
28.68
31,178 mp
6
5
Oxygen
31.04
28.39
7
7
Sodium hydroxide
22.45
20.46
11,224 tt
10,230 tt
599 bcf
375 bcf
36,583 tt
Average annual growth 1983-84
1982-83
1979-84
10.1%
7.0
15.9
7.0
14,072 tt
15.2
-10.9
-2.8
0.3
14,867 tt
8.3
5.6
-5.1
-2.3
28,677 mp
8.7
17.0
0.8
2.7
343 bcf
9.3
-1.7
-3.8
0.4
9.7
9.0
-2.6
0.0
560 bcf
-1.7%
1974-84
8.5%
1.6% 9.4
8
9
Phosphoric acid
22.22
19.53
11,111 tt
9,767 tt
13.8
18.3
1.5
4.4
9
8
Chlorine
21.45
19.92
10,724 tt
9,960 tt
7.7
8.5
-2.6
0.0
10
10
Sodium carbonate d
17.02
16.93
8,511 tt
8,467 tt
0.5
8.3
0.6
1.2
11
12
Nitricacid
16.08
13.94
8,041 tt
6,968 tt
15.4
-5.7
-2.0
0.1
12
11
Propylene
15.47
13.96
15,470 mp
13,959 mp
10.8
11.4
1.7
4.0
13
14
Urea e
14.30
12.27
7,148 tt
6,137 tt
16.5
-5.1
0.4
6.9
14
13
Ammonium nitrate 1
14.01
12.48
7,005 tt
6,240 tt
12.3
-12.0
-3.3
0.7
15
15
Ethylene dichloride
13.73
11.51
13,731 mp
11,506 mp
19.3
51.0
3.1
4.1
16
16
Benzene
9.86
9.08
1,339 mg
1,233 mg
8.6
17.2
-4.3
-1.0
17
18
Ethylbenzene
8.61
7.88
8,613 mp
7,876 mp
9.4
18.3
0.4
3.6
18
17
Methanol
8.28
7.98
8,280 mp
7,982 mp
3.7
5.7
2.4
1.9
19
19
Carbon dioxide»
7.80
7.76
3,898 tt
3,880 tt
0.5
1.6
5.5
8.0
20
21
Styrene
7.71
6.80
7,706 mp
6,802 mp
13.3
14.5
0.6
2.6
21
20
Vinyl chloride
7.51
6.88
7,513 mp
6,875 mp
9.3
40.2
3.3
2.9
22
26
Xylene
6.12
5.23
850 mg
726 mg
17.1
10.3
-2.6
0.6
23
23
Terephthalic acid h
6.05
5.63
6,047 mp
5,626 mp
7.5
16.2
0.4
3.6
24
24
Ethylene oxide
5.96
5.53
5,957 mp
5,534 mp
7.6
11.0
0.7
3.4
25
27
Hydrochloric acid
5.72
4.84
2,862 tt
2,420 tt
18.3
-1.2
-1.5
1.5
26
25
Formaldehyde 1
5.71
5.47
5,712 mp
5,465 mp
4.5
13.5
-0.9
-0.1
27
22
Toluene*
5.27
5.66
726 mg
780 mg
-6.9
9.2
-6.4
-2.4
28
28
Ethylene glycol
4.84
4.43
4,842 mp
4,425 mp
9.4
2.7
0.5
3.8
29
29
p-Xylene
4.27
4.11
4,268 mp
4,114 mp
3.7
28.3
-1.7
4.7
30
30
Ammonium sulfate
4.13
3.91
2,063 tt
1,956 tt
5.5
10.6
-2.7
-0.3
31
32
Potash k
3.53
3.15
1,600 tmt
1,429 tmt
12.0
-19.9
-6.4
-4.6
32
31
Cumene
3.36
3.35
3,360 mp
3,345 mp
0.4
21.9
-3.0
1.5
33
35
Carbon black
2.89
2.50
2,893 mp
2,496 mp
15.9
8.4
-2.8
-1.5
34
34
Phenol»
2.85
2.64
2,845 mp
2,637 mp
7.9
30.4
-0.9
2.0
35
33
Acetic acid
2.64
2.81
2,642 mp
2,807 mp
-5.9
2.1
-4.1
0.2
36
36
Butadiene™
2.53
2.35
2,531 mp
2,353 mp
7.6
22.9
-6.7
-3.7
37
38
Acrylonitrile
2.20
2.15
2,201 mp
2,146 mp
2.6
5.5
1.8
4.5
38
37
Aluminum sulfate
2.16
2.21
1,079 tt
1,103 tt
-2.2
-4.3
-3.9
-1.5
1,656 mp
28.6
29.9
-2.6
-1.0
857 tt
22.4
0.5
1.3
-0.5 3.7
39
44
Cyclohexane
2.13
1.66
2,130 mp
40
42
Calcium chloride"
2.10
1.71
1,049 tt
41
39
Vinyl acetate
2.02
1.96
2,023 mp
1,963 mp
3.1
4.6
0.4
42
41
Propylene oxide
1.90
1.80
1,900 mp
1,800 mp
5.6
7.1
-3.3
0.8
43
40
Acetone
1.89
1.86
1,887 mp
1,859 mp
1.5
9.7
-6.6
-0.5
44
43
Sodium sulfate 0
1.74
1.71
872 tt
854 tt
2.1
-1.2
-4.9
-4.3
45
45
Titanium dioxide
1.60
1.51
799 tt
757 tt
5.5
15.2
1.5
0.2
46
46
Sodium silicate
1.50
1.46
750 tt
3.0
9.6
-1.6
-0.3
47
—
Methyl ferf-butyl ether 0
1.47
0.84
1,469 mp
839 mp
75.1
1.8
48
48
Adipicacid
1.39
1.28
1,390 mp
1,280 mp
8.6
10.6
49
47
Sodium tripolyphosphate
1.33
1.34
667 tt
669 tt
-0.3
2.8
-2.5
-3.0
50
49
Isopropyl alcohol
1.15
1.21
1,147 mp
1,209 mp
-5.1
-12.4
-9.6
-5.1
180.39 366.15 546.54
164.97 335.38 500.35
TOTAL ORGANICS TOTAL INORGANICS GRAND TOTAL
728 tt
9.2% 9.4% 9.2%
13.5% 4.7% 7.4%
nm -4.4
-0.4% -1.4% -1.1%
nm -0.6
2.2% 1.1% 1.4%
a Revised, b tt = thousands of tons, bcf ~ billions of cubic feet, mp = millions of pounds, mg = millions of gallons, tmt = thousands of metric tons, c Except refractory dolomite, d Synthetic and natural, e 100% basis, f Original solution, g Liquid and solid only, h Includes both acid and ester without double counting, ί 37% by weight, j Ail grades, k K 2 0 basis. I Synthetic only, m Rubber grade, η Solid and liquid, ο High and low purity, ρ First year in which qualified for inclusion in Top 50; ethanol has been excluded, nm - not meaningful. Sources: Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Mines, International Trade Commission, C&EN estimates
May 6, 1985 C&EN
13
Mews Focus Production of basic chemicals continued to rise in 1984 Billions of lb 600
% annual change
15 Top 5 ( ) ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ k
J
500 ^ ^ .
.^^^^^^^^^Hl
O r n a n l A f m Τ Λ Λ Cn
t^^^^^^^^^^M
300 l ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ l ^^^^^^^^^^^J
Inorganics in Top 50
^^^^^B
200 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
100 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H
• Total Top 50 • Organics in Top 50 • Inorganics in Top 50
η ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Η 1974
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
turvy nature of the nation's economy during the early 1980s. The general maturity of the basic chemicals industry is reflected even more in composite growth figures for the past 10 years. Since 1974, the entire group's production has increased at a compound an nual rate of just 1.4%. Inorganics output grew just 1.1% per year and organics output 2.2% per year over that span. And the decline is widespread: 17 of the Top 50 chemicals recorded lower production in 1984 than in 1974. Output of another 10 products has grown at an annual compound rate of less than 1% over the past decade. Still, there were some impressive gains made in 1984 compared with 1983. Of the Top 50 group, 15 products recorded production increases of more than 10%. The greatest growth was registered by one of the smallest of the group: methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), output of which was 75% higher than in 1983. MTBE, which five years ago was not produced in enough volume to merit even an individual line entry in the International Trade Commission's annual compendi um of synthetic organic chemicals production, was elevated into the Top 50 group for the first time in 1984, thanks to its increasing use in gasoline and the bringing on stream of a number of new MTBE pro duction facilities. The inclusion of MTBE displaced synthetic ethanol, which finally managed to shrink itself off the list. Ethanol production increased in each of the past two years—up 2.9% in the 1983-84 period and up 5.3% in the 1982-83 period. However, over the past decade, the product has been one of the fastest decreasing chemicals, at an annual compound decline of 3.7%. After MTBE, the next biggest production gains in 1984 compared to 1983 were recorded by (in order) cyclohexane, up 29%; calcium chloride, up 22%; ethyl ene dichloride, up 19%; and hydrochloric acid, up 14
May 6, 1985 C&EN
I 1983-84
1982-83
1979-84
1974-84
18%. The five worst performers in terms of output were: toluene, battered by the slumping gasoline busi ness and competition from MTBE, down 6.9%; acetic acid, down 5.9%; isopropyl alcohol, down 5.1%; alumi num sulfate, down 2.2%; and sodium tripolyphosphate, down less than 1%. The picture for production changes over the past 10 years is somewhat different. Over that span, the best performer has been nitrogen, output of which grew between 1974 and 1984 at an average annual rate of 9.4%. Next best was another industrial gas, carbon dioxide; output of liquid and solid forms of carbon dioxide increased at a compound rate of 8%. Follow ing were urea, up 6.9% per year; p-xylene, up 4.7% per year; and acrylonitrile, up 4.5% per year over the past decade. Over the past 10 years, the greatest declines in production have been registered by isopropyl alcohol, output of which has plunged at an average annual rate of 5.1%; potash, down 4.6% per year; sodium sulfate, down 4.3% per year; butadiene, despite two annual production increases in a row for synthetic rubber, down 3.7% per year; and sodium tripolyphos phate, down 3% per year. There are no real surprises in the group: All were in the five worst category in 1983 as well, with the exception of sodium tripoly phosphate, which would have been had ethanol been excluded from that dubious honor. There were many changes in ranking between 1983 and 1984, but most of them involved no more than the transposition of two products on sequential eche lons. The most notable differences were ammonia, which jumped from sixth place in 1983 to third last year; xylene, which climbed from 26 to 22; toluene, which dropped from 22 to 27; cyclohexane, which rose from 44 to 39; and acetone, which fell from 40 in 1983 to 43 last year. D
C&ENsTbp
Sales, profits rose for largest chemical producers
κ·:·:
Chemical Producers
ers, chiefly autos and housing. However, the one that made the most difference for many companies was agriculture. In 1984, the government's payment-inkind crop set-aside program was all but ended, provid Chemical producers ing rapidly increasing markets for all agricultural ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ generally did well chemicals—pesticides and fertilizers—as farmers were last year. Both sales once again increasing planted acreage. and operating prof its were up despite lower prices, foreign competition Thus, with market opportunities increasing as op in both domestic and export markets because of the posed to the past few years, the number of producers high value of the dollar, and a rather lackluster capac with declining sales from chemicals were few. Of the ity use picture. Granted, chemical executives had more companies on C&EN's list of the Top 100 chemical to complain about as 1984 ground on, but overall, producers (in terms of sales from chemical opera results were fairly impressive, especially when com tions), only 14 registered a decline in chemical sales pared with those for prior years. in 1984 from the year before. Sales from chemicals for the companies grew almost 8% in 1984 to $127 billion. A number of end-use markets turned up forproducIn the combined listing for 1983, 34 producers had declines in chem ical sales from the year before. Larger companies dominate chemical sales, earnings Operating profits from chemi cals also increased last year with the growth dwarfing that for sales. Chemical operating profits (gen erally sales minus administrative Top 50 Top 50 costs and costs of goods) for the 85% 85% companies that reported this fig ure increased an average of 41% from 1983 to $11.0 billion. Once again, Du Pont is the U.S/s Second 50 Second 50 largest chemical producer, with 15 V 15% J about $12.0 billion in chemical sales, up 3.4% from the year be fore. In fact, Du Pont typifies the stability of the top 10 producers. 1984 sales = $127 billion 1984 operating profits = $11 billion All of the first 10 for 1984 com prised the top 10 for 1983. There . and among types of firms, chemicals perform best is no change in ranking until six Foreign on the list. For 1984, Shell, which Foreign owned owned had been ranked seven in 1983, 7% traded places with Celanese, which had been six that year. The other change in the first 10 is Atlantic Petroleum Chemical Richfield, which moved up two &gas 39% cnemicai 19% Petroleum notches to eight, and Standard Oil 46% &gas (Ind.), now Amoco Corp., fell from 24% Λ eighth place, replacing Arco as 10 Diversified on the list. & other Diversified & other 33% There are a number of firsts as 30% sociated with this year's listing. Although C&EN has been ranking the Top 100 for several years, this 1984 sales = $127 billion 1984 operating profits = $11 billion is the first time that the listing has been put together in one issue. William J. Storck C&EN New York
\ %i
May 6, 1985 C&EN
15
News Focus
Operating results improved for most chemical producers in 1984
Rank 1984 1983
16
Company
Chemical Change sales 1984 from ($ millions) 1983
$12,005 9,591 6,870 5,951 d 4,158
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
7 6 10 9 8
Shell Oil Celanese Atlantic Richfield W. R. Grace Amoco Corp.
3,383 3,328 3,144 2,848 2,834
11 12 13 14 15
12 13 11 14
—
Mobil Eastman Kodak Allied Phillips Petroleum General Electric
16 17 18 19 20
16 18 15 20 25
21 22 23 24 25
3.4% 8.1 7.5 7.6 6.3
Chemical sales as
%
of total sales
Industry classification
Chemical operating Change profits from 1984 a 1983 [$ millions)
$1107 741 677 669 480
-3.2% 29.3 80.1 35.7 74.5
IdentiChemical fiable Chemical operating Operchemical assets as Operating profits as return on assets % of % of total ating chemical 1984 total operating profit b profits margin ($ millions) assets assets 0
25.4% 9.2% 7.7 87.4 9.9 6.5 11.2 98.8 115 49.3
$7538 7645 5246 5054 4683
34.3% 66.9 8.3 79.3 46.4
14.7% 9.7 12.9 13.2 10.2
32.3% 77.7 6.7 82.6 41.1
Diversified Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
4.8 2.1 23.3 3.2 -2.5
15.6 98.0 10.3 41.0 10.0
Petroleum Basic chemicals Petroleum Specialty chemicals Petroleum
273 272 148 336 349
110.0 27.1 131.3 3.7 101.7
8.5 100.0 3.9 57.7 8.2
8,1 8.2 4.7 11.8 12.3
3624 3104 2616 1779 2249
15.3 100.0 11.8 36.3 9.6
7.5 8.8 5.7 18.9 15.5
2,607 2,464 2,433 2,351 2,117
11.8 7.8 4.1 4.3 7.8
3.9 21.1 21.8 14.5 6.8
Petroleum Photo equipment Diversified Petroleum Electrical products
56 281 231 221 470
def 31.3 3.1 166.3 42.9
1.1 18.2 17.2 8.9 12.1
2.1 11.4 9.5 9.4 22.2
2258 2054 1345 1498 2362
5.7 19.1 16.4 8.8 9.6
2.5 13.7 17.2 14.8 19.9
Rohm & Haas American Cyanamid Hercules Air Products6 Ciba-Geigy
1,962 1,898 1,823 1,604 1,560
8.5 10.4 -9.2 13.7 21.0
88.5 44.6 78.1 81.3 54.6
Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
333 135 129 292 na
11.7 27.0 6.6 49.2 na
103.4 38.4 61.4 107.1 na
17.0 7.1 7.1 18.2 na
1293 1273 1335 1731 na
95.2 53.7 78.9 74.3 na
25.8 10.6 9.7 16.9 na
29 21 27 22 26
Texaco Stauffer Chemical6 Ashland Oil Mobay American Hoechst
1,538 1,504 1,501 1,500 1,468d
35.3 12.2 24.3 15.4 20.1
2.4 89.1 13.5 86.7 69.4
Petroleum Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
def 39 def 129 55 5400.0 135f 103,9 na na
1.0 100.0 21.8 100.0 na
2.5 8.6 3.7 9.0 na
1008 1601 503 na na
3.0 100.0 14.6 na na
3.9 8.1 10.9 na na
26 27 28 28 30
24 30 32 19 31
Borden B. F. Goodrich U. S. Steel Ethyl Unocal Corp.
1,448 1,424 1,365 1,365d 1,249
11.8 25.7 21.0 -7.7 10.3
28.4 34.6 5.9 88.2 9.8
Dairy products Rubber products Steel Basic chemicals Petroleum
170 114 57 190 87f
23.5 157.8 def 21.6 18.1
41.2 68.6 3.6 85.2 12.5
11.7 8.0 4.2 13.9 7.0
1340 1366 613 790 747
48.6 56.5 3.5 80.8 7.3
12.7 8.4 9.3 24.0 11.7
31 32 33 34 35
23 FMC 35 BASF Wyandotte 33 Olin 34 Standard Oil of Calif. 42 National Distillers
1,236 1,185 1,174 1,100 1,081
-4.7 14.6 5.6 3.9 37.6
38.8 87.3 53.8 3.8 35.0
Machinery Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Petroleum Alcoholic beverages
187 34 61 11f 102
10.6 72.2 -10.6 def 49.9
47.5 100.0 35.1 0.7 56.0
15.1 2.9 5.2 1.0 9.4
985 na 1021 847 763
53.4 na 62.9 4.2 40.4
19.0 na 5.9 1.3 13.3
36 37 38 39 40
38 PPG Industries 28 Occidental Petroleum 36 International Minerals11 40 Borg-Warner 39 CF Industries
993 12.6 9859--13.4 977 - 1 . 9 944 14.3 908d 5.3
20.8 7.0 63.5 21.1 94.9
Glass products Petroleum Agrichemicals Auto equipment Agrichemicals
122 69 146 121 54
63.1 def -6.6 10.1 58.4
20.9 4.2 63.0 31.3 100.0
12.3 7.0 14.9 12.8 6.0
1150 991 1323 376 1014
35.8 8.1 67.3 20.3 100.0
10.6 6.9 11.0 32.3 5.4
41 42 43 44 45
57 Koppers 43 Dow Corning 41 Lubrizol 45 Williams Cos. 37 Diamond Shamrock
885 8.2 855 12.0 832 5.3 831 12.3 820 --12.9
45.0 89.3 94.9 21.8
18 - 1 5 . 4 91 f 33.0 3.7 102 68 9628.6 116 869.2
22.9 100.0 100.0 17.7
2.0 10.6 12.3 8.2
468 na 702 932
43.3 na 100.0 20.6
3.8 na 14.6 7.3
21.0
Diversified Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Agrichemicals Petroleum
22.9
14.2
764
14.2
15.2
46 47 48 49 50
44 Reichhold Chemicals 58 Farmland Industries 46 Eli Lilly 48 Badische 56 Standard Oil (Ohio)
801 783 757 709 707
93.3 10.3 23.4 94.7 4.6
Basic chemicals Agricultural supplies Drugs Basic chemicals Petroleum
44 32 108 33 44
100.0 27.6 13.2 100.0 1.5
5.4 4.1 14.2 4.6 6,2
361 447 773 518 664
100.0 37.0 21.2 100.0 3.8
12.1 7.1 13.9 6.3 6.6
Du Pont Dow Chemical Exxon Monsanto Union Carbide
May 6, 1985 C&EN
7.2 44.5 4.1 5.6 24.9
26.1 def 10.0 11.2 def
Rank 1984 1983
Company
Chemical Chemical sales as sales Change % 1984 from of total ($ millions) 1983 sales
Industry classification
Chemical Identl· Chemical operating fiable Chemical operating profits as Oper- chemical assets as Operating profits Change % of total ating assets % of return on 1984* from operating profit 1984 total chemical 5 ($ millions) 1983 profits margin ($ millions) assets assets0
51 52 53 54 55
52 Uniroyal 49 Nalco Chemical 51 Pennwalt 65 Morion Thiokol" 50 Merck
672 664 656 654 642
13.3 0.7 8.3 45.9 6.0
27.9 99.3 57.8 22.4 17.0
Rubber products Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Diversified Drugs
110 115 52 81 78
69.0 -2.0 19.8 72.0 49.3
47.5 100.0 66.4 35.2 9.7
16.4 17.3 7.9 12.4 12.2
443 479 506 497 596
39.0 100.0 69.9 43.0 16.8
24.9 24.0 10.2 16.3 13.1
56 57 58 59 60
55 59 82 63 67
Witco Chemical National Starch Engelhard Cabot0 Kerr-McGee
623 561 560 542 520
9.0 10.5 -1.1 17.8 18.5
38.2 60.3 22.6 26.3 12.4
Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Specialty metals Specialty metals Petroleum
65 na 66 67 -25
20.7 na -7.9 53.9 def
41.7 na 58.7 31.6 def
10.5 na 11.8 12.4 def
271 na 442 281 580
35.8 na 51.2 16.1 16.0
24.1 na 14.9 24.0 def
61 62 63 64 65
66 62 60 68 69
Freeport-McMoRan International Flavors NL Industries Polysar H. B. Fuller1
493 477 473 464 447
11.9 3.4 0.6 6.5 4.9
52.3 96.7 34.5 93.9 95.3
Agrichemicals Specialty chemicals Petroleum services Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
110 116 95 na 32
47.8 4.6 50.8 na -3.4
87.3 100.0 91.1 na 100.0
22.2 24.3 20.1 na 7.2
220 368 283 na 226
11.5 100.0 21.6 na 100.0
49.8 31.5 33.5 na 14.2
66 67 68 69 70
47 Georgia-Pacific 70 Henkel 72 Liquid Air 61 Sun Co. 73 InterNorth
446 •-34.7 7.5 430 9.3 426 422 - 9 . 6 5.7 396
9.6 93.0 77.7 3.0 5.0
-134 Wood products na Specialty chemicals 52 Basic chemicals PetrMeum na 47 Natural gas
def na 6.6 na 76.8
def na 96.3 na 8.1
def na 12.2 na 11.9
158 na na na 636
3.3 na na na 10.8
def na na na 7.4
71 72 72 74 75
71 81 90 89 74
Pfizer Rhône-Poulenc Terra Chemicals SCMh GAF
377 370 370 361 d 357
-4.4 27.6 30.7 43.9 10.5
10.2 78.4 76.5 12.5 44.2
Drugs Specialty chemicals Agrichemicals Paint Specialty chemicals
5 na na 37 79
-10.0 na na 144.3 22.3
0.5 na na 32.4 87.2
1.2 na na 10.2 22.1
382 na na 317 204
9.4 na na 27.3 45.1
1.2 na na 11.6 38.8
76 77 78 79 80
78 Soltex 84 Mississippi Chemical11 77 Tyler 79 Big Three Industries 80 Upjohn
350 349 346 339 325
16.7 32.8 13.6 15.6 11.7
85.7 75.3 32.8 37.8 13.4
Basic chemicals Farm cooperative Diversified chemical Petroleum services Drugs
na 4 7 76 -9
na -2.9 -67.3 6.8 def
na 100.0 22.9 62.0 def
na 1.2 2.1 22.3 def
na 352 160 576 191
na 100.0 33.2 49.9 8.5
na 1.2 4.5 13.1 def
81 81 83 84 85
88 Chemed 75 American Petrof ina 86 Vulcan Materials 83 PetroliteJ 93 Great Lakes Chemicals
318 318 302 284 278
26.2 2.5 18.1 6.6 23.1
72.7 14.6 26.0 90.7 81.2
Specialty chemicals Petroleum Nonmetallic minerals Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
42 20 47 41 57
20.2 293.1 224.0 23.5 44.2
90.4 38.1 35.8 105.2 100.0
13.1 6.4 15.6 14.2 20.3
151 308 na 160 284
85.5 18.8 na 72.4 100.0
27.7 6.6 na 25.2 19.9
Aluminum Co. of America 273 13.5 Ferro 273d 13.4 Beker Industries 264 4.5 Emhart 261 1.0 Kaiser Aluminum 249 --57.3
4.2 36.2 95.7 14.4 18.2
Nonferrous metals Specialty materials Agrichemicals Machinery Nonferrous metals
na 16 16 23 39
na -9.8 1521.4 -4.6 58.6
na 31.7 100.0 10.9 67.0
na 5.8 6.1 8.7 15.6
na 140 341 111 281
na 42.5 100.0 11.5 8.0
na 11.2 4.8 20.5 13.8
12.0 13.4 2.5 4.2 2.1
89.3 88.2 14.7 95.9 4.0
Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Diversified Basic chemicals Farm cooperative
43 6 27 27 na
48.0 -45.0 13.2 59.3 na
100.0 100.0 11.9 100.0 na
17.8 2.6 12.3 15.4 na
227 134 163 111 na
100.0 100.0 10.7 100.0 na
18.9 4.6 16.2 24.4 na
165 52.5 145 6.1 115 - 1 . 8 114 10.4 113 -24.0
40.1 7.5 50.9 3.3 22.2
Agrichemical Diversified Specialty chemicals Diversified Natural gas
28 9 14 17 1
37.3 21.6 5.9 37.7 def
64.8 3.4 64.3 4.5 1.2
17.2 6.0 11.8 14.8 0.7
82 118 68 156 125
25.9 8.1 56.3 6.4 22.1
34.6 7.4 20.1 10.7 0.6
86 91 86 92 88 87 89 85 90 53 91 92 93 94 95
94 96
— 97 98
Loctite Stepan Chemical Northwest Industries Essex Chemical Agway
96 — First Mississippi 97 100 Sterling Drug 98 — Crompton & Knowles 99 — Avon Products 100 99 UGI Corp.
242 235 216 176 166
a Operating profit defined as sales less administrative expense and cost of sales, b Operating profit from chemicals as a percentage of total operating profits, c Operating profit as a percentage of identifiable chemical assets, d Chemical sales include significant amounts of nonchemical products, e Fiscal year ended Sept. 30. f Chemical net profits, g Does not include all chemical profits. h Fiscal year ends June 30. i Fiscal year ends Nov. 30. ] Fiscal year ends Oct. 31. na = not available, def = deficit.
May 6, 1985 C&EN
17
News Focus C&EN's Top 100 chemical producers are ranked five ways Chemical sales Rank 1984 1983 1984
$ Millions
95 19 13 86 17
98 20 11 91 18
na $ 292 231 na 135
American Hoechst American Petrofina Amoco Corp. Ashland Oil Atlantic Richfield
1,468 318 2,834 1,501 3,144
25 81 10 23 8
26 76 8 27 10
na 20 349 55 148
71 7 49 19
Avon Badische BASF Wyandotte Beker Industries Big Three Industries
114 709 1,185 264 339
99 49 32 88 79
49 35 88 80
17 33 34 16 76
Borden Borg-Warner Cabot Celanese CF industries
1,448 944 542 3,328 908
26 39 59 7 40
24 40 64 6 39
Chemed Ciba-Geigy Crompton & Knowles Diamond Shamrock Dow Chemical
318 1,560 115 820 9,591
81 20 98 45 2
89 25
855 12,005 2,464 757 261
Engelhard Essex Chemical Ethyl Exxon Farmland Industries
—
10 14
11 8
—
—
21
22
Chemical operating profit margin Rank 1984 1983 1984
na 18.2% 9.5 na 7.1
—
—
8 45
11 30
—
—
58
50
Identifiable chemical assets Rank 1984 1983 1984
Return on chemical assets Rank 1984 1983 1984
na 16.9% 17.2 na 10.6
—
—
24 23
30 17
___
—
49
44
—
—
77 9 57 8
na 6.6 15.5 10.9 5.7
65 27 47 69
64 47 71 66
10.7 6.3 na 4.8 13.1
48 67
—
71 39
56 65 70 28
42 5 13 56 70
33 3 18 46 63
na $1731 1345 na 1273
—
—
14 18
13 18
—
—
23
19
na 308 2249 503 2616
—
—
60 11 46 8
—
—
69 12 72 35
na 6.4 12.3 3.7 4.7
61 28 73 69
71 52 76 69
73 64 63 74 39
14.8 4.6 2.9 6.1 22.3
19 70 74 63 2
—
53 61 72 29
62 70 75 1
156 518 na 341 576
75 44 58 43
47 38 65 45
170 121 67 272 54
18 25 42 13 50
16 21 42 9 49
11.7 12.8 12.4 8.2 6.0
38 25 26 51 64
25 16 31 47 64
1340 376 281 3104 1014
19 54 63 7 26
17 62 69 7 29
12.7 32.3 24.0 8.8 5.4
58
46
12
82
__
—
35 20 56
__ —
— —
73 48
151 na 68 764 7645
76
— —
13.1 na 11.8 14.2 7.7
24
__
37 2
42 na 14 116 741
27.7 na 20.1 15.2 9.7
42 1 12 48 89
44 1 13 47 86
na 1107 281 108 23
—
—
—
—
—
48 40 20 49
2 12 33 81
2 11 36 85
na 14.7 13.7 13.9 20.5
—
9.2 11.4 14.2 8.7
na 7538 2054 773 111
—
1 9 24 57
36 29 33 13 35
—
1 11 32 70
31 36 34 16
20 34 29 10
560 176 1,365 6,870 783
58 94 28 3 47
57 97 19 3 59
66 27 190 677 32
43 68 16 3 65
28 62 14 4 83
11.8 15.4 13.9 9.9 4.1
35 16 23 44 72
18 28 25 55
442 111 790 5246 447
52 81 32 3 50
50 84 33 3 55
14.9 24.4 24.0 12.9 7.1
29 11 13 41 63
20 23 15 47
Ferro First Mississippi FMC Freeport-McMoRan H. B. Fuller
273 165 1,236 493 447
86 96 31 61 64
92
16 28 187 110 32
74 67 17 30 65
62
5.8 17.2 15.1 22.2 7.2
66 11 17 3 57
77 83 29 68 67
87
17 6 41
140 82 985 220 226
11.2 34.6 19.0 49.8 14.2
45 3 20 1 33
GAF General Electric Georgia-Pacific B. F. Goodrich W. R. Grace
357 2,117 446 1,424 2,848
75 15 66 27 9
75
37 6 85 29 8
22.1 22.2 def 8.0 11.8
5 3
—
204 2362 158 1366 1779
69 9 74 17 13
38.8 19.9 def 8.4 18.9
2 18
48 30 9
79 470 -134 114 336
Great Lakes Chemical Henkel Hercules International Flavors International Minerals
278 430 1,823 477 977
84 67 18 62 38
93 71 15 63 36
57 na 129 116 146
284 na 1335 368 1323
61
71
—
—
20 55 21
21 56 16
Dow Corning Du Pont Eastman Kodak Eli Lilly Emhart
18
—
166 1,604 2,433 273 1,898
Agway Air Products Allied Aluminum Co. off America American Cyanamid
$
Chemical operating profits Rank 1984 1984 1983
May 6, 1985 C&EN
—
— 23 67 70
—
—
76 26 2
66 2
— 13 27 51 33
— 35 42 5
46
45
—
—
22 26 20
18 20 14
20.3 na 7.1 24.3 14.9
— 54 35
— 42
—
3 33 66 22
6
5
—
—
58 1 18
52 2 9
—
84 34 1
25 1
— 25 70 72 74
— 28 20 14
19.9 na 9.7 31.5 11.0
—
7
5
—
— —
17 28 53
— 57 21
69 49
— 8
— 19 2 22 1
— 54 61 12
18
15
—
—
53 6 46
36 6 31
$ Million·
Chomlcal sal— Rank 1984 1983" 1984
Chamical opérai Ing profits Rank 1984 1984 1983
Chemical operating profit margin Rank 1984 1983 1984
Identifiable chemical assets Rank 1984 1984 1983
60 35
51 59
—
—
75
—
60 32
18.9 14.6 13.1 1.2 na
21 32 39 77
27 24 41 67
—
—
10 5 46 48 40
2.5 13.2 16.3 24.0 13.3
76 38 25 13 37
—
—
—
—
—
62 71 28 25
66
na 33.5 16.2 6.9 5.9
4 26 64 68
— —
506 160 382 1498 na
45 72 53 16
54 80 59 15
51 9 78 30
38 9 67 55
—
—
10.2 25.2 1.2 14.8 na
—
—
1150 361 na 1293 317
24 56
23 61
49 43
52 38
—
—
—
22 59
27 68
10.6 12.1 na 25.8 11.6
"~~
58 49 43 51 52
7.4 13.8 def 3.8 na
—
73 40 44 64 22
2258 5054 497 479 763
10 4 47 48 35
na 283 163 991 1021
39 63 42 49
396 249 520 885 426
70 90 60 41 68
74 54 68 41 73
47 39 -25 18 52
53 60 84 72 51
56 57 81 60 40
11.9 15.6 def 2.0 12.2
—
—
79 32
68 19
636 281 580 468 na
Loctite Lubrlzol Merck Mississippi Chemical Mobay
242 832 642 349 1,500
91 43 55 77 24
94 42 51 85 22
43 102 78 4 na
57 33 38 81
54 23 39 71
17.8 12.3 12.2 1.2
9 28 32 80
—
—
—
227 702 596 352 na
66 37 41 57
—
13 19 38 72 59
Mobil Monsanto Morton Thlokol Nalco Chemical National Distillers
2,607 5,951 654 664 1,081
11 4 54 52 35
12 4 66 50 43
56 669 81 115 102
48 4 36 28 33
79 3 41 19 30
2.1 11.2 12.4 17.3 9.4
77 41 26 10 46
37 27 4 38
National Starch NL Industries Northwest Industries Occidental Petroleum Olin
561 473 216 985 1.174
57 63 93 37 33
60 61
na 20.1 12.3 7.0 5.2
—
—
7 28 60 68
15
28 33
na 95 27 69 61
— —
Pennwalt Petroltte Pfizer Phillips Petroleum Polysar
656 284 377 2,351 464
53 84 71 14 64
52 84 72 14 69
52 41 5 221 na
7.9 14.2 1.2 9.4 na
55 20 80 46
44 21 73 67
—
—
PPG Industries Reichhold Chemicals Rhône-Poulenc Rohm & Haas SCM
993 801 370 1,962 361
36 46 72 16 74
38 45 82 16 90
122 44 na 333 37
12.3 5.4 0.0 17.0 10.2
28 67
40 61
—
—
12 43
7 52
Shell Oil Soltex Standard Oil (Ohio) Standard Oil of Calif. Stauffer Chemical
3,383 350 707 1,100 1,504
6 76 50 34 22
7 79 57 34 21
273 na 44 na 129
53
64
— 62
— —
Stepan Chemical Sterling Drug Sun Co. Terra Chemicals Texaco
235 145 422 370 1,538
92 97 69 72 21
96 100 62 83 28
6 9 na na 39
Tyler UGI Corp. Union Carbide Uniroyal Unocal Corp.
346 113 4,158 672 1,249
78 100 5 51 30
78 99 5 53 30
Upjohn U.S. Steel Vulcan Materials Williams Cos. Wrtco Chemical
325 1,365 302 831 623
80 28 83 44 56
81 32 87 46 56
InterNorth Kaiser Aluminum Kerr-McGee Koppers Liquid Air
—
35 68 40 45
37
— 77 30
51 59 80 15
44 51 69 25
—
—
24 55
26 46
—
—
9 62
6 64
34 14
44 63
51
12
17
—
—
55
76
8.1 na 6.2
22
78
8.6
50
—
79 77
67 68
75 64
57 58
— —
— —
— —
60
84
2.6 6.0 na na 2.5
— — —
7 1 480 110 na
78 82 5 30
59 75 7 33
2.1 0.7 11.5 16.4
η 82 39 13
—
—
—
—
46 23 48
-9 57
83 46 53 41 44
80 81 64 72 38
def 4.2
71
— —
15.6
14
8.2 10.5
51 42
47
68 65
76
42
—
56 76 31
Return on chemical assets Rank 1984 1983 1984
3624 na 664 847 1601
—
— 32 31
6
6
—
—
38 31 15
42 37 12
78 80
81 86
— —
—
7.5 na 6.6 na 8.1
8 44
11
50
4 56
59
62
— 58
— — — —
72 60
45 53
— —
— — —
65
—
27
78 34
4.6 7.4 na na 3.9
160 125 4683 443 747
73 79 5 51 36
79 83 4 52 39
4.5 0.6 10.2 24.9 na
73 79 51 10
191 613 na 932 271
70 40
76 24
—
—
—
30 65
35 67
def 9.3 na 7.3 24.1
134 118 na na 1008
34 40 7 37
74
—
26
— 58 25
—
—
— —
62 12
72 13
55
Note: Companies with negative profitability and those giving only net profits are not included in these rankings. There are 85 companies ranked for operating profit and operating profit margin; 84 companies ranked by assets; and 79 ranked by return on assets. Companies not included in 1983's listing are not ranked for that year, na = not available, def = deficit.
May 6, 1985 C&EN 19
News Focus
Larger producers outperform smaller For the second year in a row, the 50 larger chemical producers as a group outperformed the smaller firms in a number of areas. Riding the wave of economic recovery in 1984, the 50 top producers, largely makers of cyclical large-volume commodity chemicals, saw sales, earnings, and profitability all rise, and in most cases rise faster than those for the 50 smaller producers. Sales growth for the 50 larger companies averaged 7.7% in 1984 over 1983, whereas that for the smaller producers averaged 6.6%. The difference in earnings growth was even more pronounced. Operating profits from chemicals for the 50 larger com-
panies grew 46% in 1984 compared with just 16% for the group of smaller producers. The difference between the two groups is somewhat surprising. Although the larger firms are dominated by commodity chemicals, which by their nature are highly dependent on the business cycle, by sometime last year, the smaller producers should have begun to catch up. Add to this the problems that commodity producers have been having with competition from imports, capacity utilization, and pricing, and the difference between the two groups becomes even more important. The asset base for both groups fell
Chemical sales, change from 1983 Chemical operating profits, change from 1983 Chemical assets, change from 1983 Chemical operating profit margin, 1984 Return on identifiable chemical assets, 1984
Top 50
Second 50
Total 100
7.7% 45.9 -3.1 9.0 12.1
6.6% 16.1 -10.0 8.6 14.3
7.6% 40.8 -4.0 9.0 12.3
Number of companies on list
Chemical companies Petroleum and natural gas producers Diversified and other Foreign3
23 13 14 5
a Also included in above categories.
For the first time, except where there were massive reorganizations, companies in the 1984 ranking are compared with their rankings a year ago, instead of rankings based on restated results in the current annual report. Thus, a rise or fall in rank may well reflect acquired or divested chemical businesses as well as increasing or decreasing sales from operations. For the second year, C&EN ranks the Top 100 chemical producing firms not only by chemical sales, but by chemical operating profits, operating profit margins, chemical assets, and return on chemical assets. There are some firsts for companies this year as well. General Electric, long known as a large chemical producer, ranked 15, is new to the list this year. This is the first year that GE has reported chemical sales in such a way that it could be ranked. Also new to the list are Avon, ranked 99, and Crompton & Knowles, 98. Two companies, Northwest Industries, ranked 93, and First Mississippi, 96, have reappeared on the list after an absence. In the case of Northwest Industries, the re-emergence is due to revamped reporting methods that break out chemical sales. First Mississippi returns to the list as the result of much higher sales brought about by improved agricultural markets. 20
May 6, 1985 CAEN
23 5 22 6
46 18 36 11
during 1984. Identifiable chemical assets for the 50 larger firms declined an average of 3.1%; for the smaller producers it dropped 10%. The rise in operating profits for the larger firms was enough to push the average operating profit margin for the 50 larger firms above that for the smaller firms. Chemical operating profit margins (chemical operating profits as a percentage of chemical sales) for those of the 50 larger firms reporting this figure averaged 9.0% compared with an average of 8.6% for the smaller producers. The 50 smaller chemical companies, however, maintained their lead in return on assets. Those that reported operating profits from both chemicals and chemical assets averaged a return of 14% on identifiable chemical assets, compared with an average of 12% for the 50 largest producers. For the Top 100 companies, chemical sales increased 7.6% over the year before, and chemical operating profits were up 4 1 % . The average operating profit margin from chemicals was 9.0%, whereas the average return on identifiable chemical assets was 12%. Identifiable chemical assets for the total group fell 4.0% from 1983.
Five companies—Gulf Oil, Esmark, Beatrice Cos., Houston Natural Gas, and Martin Marietta—that were on the 1983 list were dropped in 1984, mostly for reasons other than declining sales. The reasons include acquisition by other firms already on the list, divestiture of chemical operations, and changes in reporting methods that do not allow discernment of chemical operating results. Again, there are a number of large chemical producers not on the Top 100 list because they do not disclose chemical sales. These include such producers as Procter & Gamble and ICI Americas. There are companies on the Top 100 list that have chemical sales including large amounts of nonchemical products. Examples are Monsanto, Borden, Ethyl Corp., and American Hoechst. Acquisitions and leveraged buyouts of chemical operations also are playing a big part in changing the makeup of the Top 100 list. Over the past few years, a number of private firms have been formed that probably would be on the list if they were to disclose their sales. These include such firms as Vista Corp. and LCP Industries, both formed from parts of other chemical operations. D
