TOP 100
Top 100 Chemical Producers Post Record Sales Combined sales of 100 largest firms totaled $171 billion in 1988, up almost 18% from previous year; sales declined for only five of the 100 William J. Storck, C&EN Northeast News Bureau
Another healthy year for the chem ical industry in 1988 is reflected in C&EN's annual compilation of financial results for the 100 larg est chemical producers in the U.S. The year created, by far, the big gest Top 100 chemical producers in terms of sales. However, as in the past, continuing restructuring in the industry has brought about change in the companies listed and in the rankings among the compa nies from the previous year's rank. And, over the past few years, this restructuring has caused major changes in the types of companies producing chemicals. The biggest change for the Top 100 is in the sales that the compa nies posted in 1988. Total sales for the 100 producers amounted to $171 billion, up almost 18% from that of the 100 companies listed in 1987. And the 1988 sales figure was up about 20% from what the compa nies listed in 1988 achieved in 1987. Sales growth for the firms listed in 1988 averaged 21% for the 50 larger companies, but just 14% for 48 of the smaller 50 companies for which comparable figures are available. Sales declined for only five of the 100 companies, the fewest in recent memory, and for one of these, International Minerals & Chemical, the decline occurred because IMC spun off its fertilizer operations into IMC Fertilizer. For two of the
companies—Borden Chemicals & Plastics and Sherex, 1987 sales fig ures were unavailable; therefore, growth could not be measured. Thus, 93 of the companies posted increases in sales in 1988 over 1987. The ranking of the Top 100 pro ducers is based on chemical sales information from annual reports and, in the case of companies not issuing annual reports, other pub
lished data or interviews with the firms. For the third year in a row, the top five chemical producers—Du Pont, Dow Chemical, Exxon, Union Carbide, and Monsanto—held their ranking, with Du Pont the top chem ical producer. Although technically classified as a diversified company because of its large sales volume in oil and other areas, Du Pont's an-
Chemical sales split between large and small firms has changed little since 1984...
Larger 50 86%
Larger 50 85%
15%
Smaller 50 "
f4%
Smaller 50
1984 sales = $127 billion
1988 sales = $171 billion
...but foreign-owned companies have doubled their share of chemical sales
*·..
V * ** ·Γ" '*"
ί>*·; . , \
diversified &\ fiï«èWâ*%**\
Foreign owned k 14%
fttsàtm:
Foreign owned 1984 sales = $127 billion
1988 sales = $171 billion
Note: Based on sales figures for Top 100 producers in 1988 compared with those listed in C&EN, May 6,1985, page 11.
May 1, 1989 C&EN
11
Top 100 Chemical sales, operating profits increased dramatically for most producers Chemical sales 1988 ($ millions)
Rank 1988 1987
1 2 3 4 5
1 Du Pont 2 Dow Chemical 3 Exxon 4 Union Carbide 5 Monsanto
$14,717 12,128 9,990 7,601 d 5,535
Chemical Change sales as from % of total 1987 sales
Industry classification
Chemical operating profits· ($ millions)
Change from 1987
12.8% 11.8 39.2 23.1 7.2
44.7% 72.7 11.4 91.3 66.7
Diversified Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic chemicals Basic Chemicals
$2612 3655 1863 1542 910
12.9% 89.4 71.4 76.8 18.8
563 1050 na 1022 851
26.8 163.8 na 45.2 96.5
61.3% 88.0 21.2 96.0 95.3
17.7% $10,290 30.1 10,792 18.6 6,731 20.3 6,897 16.4 4,144
38.3% 66.5 9.1 88.3 49.0
25.4 33.9 27.7 22.4 22Ή
102.4 191.6 na 28.1 19.4
10.5 22.5 na 23.5 19.9
na 5,258 na 2,920 2,802
na 25.3 na 9.9 7.7
na 20.0 ni 35.0 30.4
6 7 8 9 10
6 10 7 9 11
Hoechst Celanese Occidental Petroleum BASF Amoco Mobil
5,369 4,673 4,536 4,352 4,280
25.3 56.2 18.9 24.6 46.3
94.5 23.4 88.0 18.2 7.9
Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic Chemicals Petroleum Petroleum
11 12 13 14 15
8 14 16 13 15
Shell OH General Electric Chevron W. R.Grace Eastman Kodak
4,006 3,539 d 3,204 3,131 3,033
12.0 28.6 23.6 12.1 16.7
19.0 7.1 11.6 54.1 17.8
Petroleum Diversified Petroleum Specialty Chemicals Photo equipment
746 733 616 388 628
24.3 44.6 55.2 8.7 61.9
34.1 12.3 19.0 65.2 21.4
18.6 20.7 19.2 12.4 20.7
3,822 7,130 2,101 2,204 2,875
14.1 6.4 6.7 48.4 12.5
19.5 10.3 29.3 17. 21.8
16 12 Allied-Signal 17 19 Arco Chemical 18 17 Rohm & Haas 19 21 Phillips Petroleum 20 22 Air Products6
3,033 2,700 2,535 2,518 2,237
8.5 38.3 15.1 30.6 16.6
25.5 100.0 100.0 22.3 92.0
Diversified Basic chemicals Basic Chemicals Petroleum Basic chemicals
377 722 377 911 409
23.2 81.4 16.7 89.0 9.8
53.6 100.0 100.0 46.3 108.7
12.4 26.7 14.9 36.2 18.3
1,839 2,548 1,857 1,349 2,462
18.4 100.0 100.0 11.3 87.1
20^ 28^ 20.3 67.5| 16^
21 23 Quantum Chemical 22 18 American Cyanamid 23 20 Bayer USA 24 28 Ashland Oil· 25 25 B. F. Goodrich
2,219 2,167 2,140 2,090 2,074
18.3 10.5 9.7 27.2 19.1
76.0 47.2 45.4 25.5 85.8
Basic Chemicals Basic chemicals Diversified Chemicals Petroleum Basic Chemicals
711 214 118f 102 308
104.7 11.0 40.5 13.3 46.5
93.6 38.9 94.9 24.7 88.5
32.1 9.9 5.5 4.9 14.8
1,465 1,519 na 754 1,358
50.4 49.4 na 17.7 79.9
48.6 14.1nai 13.5 22.7
26 32 Atlantic Richfield 27 26 Hercules 28 29 Texaco 28 — Himont 30 31 Ethyl
1,903 1,750 1,711 1,711 1,674
38.0 3.8 7.8 46.8 19.1 ,
10.4 62.5 5.1 100.0 61.6
Petroleum Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic Chemicals Basic Chemicals
na 141 379 526 309
na 5.2 193.8 69.1 20.1
na 91.0 11.8 100.0 70.4
na 8.1 22.2 307 18.5
na na 1,376 62.2 1,029 3.9 1,044 100.0 1,141 22.7
na 10.2 36.8 50.3 27,1
31 43 32 33 33 30 34 37 35 34
1,507 1,477 1,435 1,415 1.40Q
59.8 13.3 -3.6 17.1 7.7
9.8 100.0 43.7 100.0 100.0
Petroleum Specialty Chemicals Machinery Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
na 151 f 224 200 na
na 11.5 -7.7 14.1 na
na 100.0 58.4 100.0 na
na 10.2 15.6 14.1 na
na na na na 1,234 54.1 1,110 100.0 na na
na na 18.1 18.Ô na
—
— - — ;
1,366 10.9 1,347 35.8 1,215d 23.7 1,204 12.4 1,200 17.4
59.2 100.0 12.4 11.9 100.0
Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Nonferrous metals Petroleum Basic chemicals
105 76 419 182 na
6.1 78.8 569.2 574.1 na
58.3 100.0 24.1 39.9 na
7.7 5.6 34.5 15.1 na
953 na 2,577 622 na
11AI na 16.3 29.3 net
1,130 1,113 1,098» 1,086 1,065
31.5 16.8 15.7 23.9 15.9
58.1 19.8 32.5 100.0 100.0
Agrochemicals Glass Products Specialty chemicals Agrochemicals Basic chemicals
198 255 na 219 196
85.9 82.1 na 364.1 63.2
39,3 27.6 na 100.0 100.0
17.5 22.9 na 20.1 18.4
894 24.0 1,048 20.3 na na 1,472 100.0 676 100.0
22.1 24.3 na 14.8 29.0
1,061 1,036 1,024 1,007 1,000**
49.9 10.2 21.0 17:2 17.6
100.0 92.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
312 306 135 261 na
92.0 119.5 31.5 24.8 na
457 100.0 730 75.3 738 100.0 841 100.0 na na
68.3 41.9 18.3 31.(5 na
BP America Dow Corning FMC National Starch Rhône-Poulenc
-
36 37 38 39 40
35 0lln 40Akzo 41 Aluminum Co. of America 38 Unocal 39 Huntsman Chemical
41 46 Freeport-McMoRan 42 42 PPG Industries 43 28 Ciba-Geigy 44 — IMC Fertilizer11 45 45Aristech .
46 47 48 49 50
12
Chemical | Chemical Identifiable assets Opera! operating Operating chemical as % of return profits as profit assets total chemi % of total margin" ($ millions) assets asset
58 Georgia Gulf 44Lubrlzol 48Pennwalt 47 NL Industries 59 Solvay America
May 1, 1989 C&EN
.
.
1
,
~
100.0 91.6 100.0 100.0 na
i
.
.
29.4 29.6 13.2 25.9 na
1
49.1 na 24.5 6.5 na
i
1
Chemical sales 1988 ($ millions)
Rank 88 1987
1 49 Nalco Chemical 2 51 CF Industries fc 36 International Minerals11 52 Cabot*
Ê 16 t7 fô [9 30
55 60 54 53 64 68
31 32 )3 * 35 r* rr 38 39 ψ
Morton Thiokol" Terra Chemicals International Flavors Eli Lilly Vista Chemicals6 Farmland Industries
Chemical Change sales as from % of total 1987 sales
$994 1 8 . 1 % 100.0% 958 18.3 100.0 932-23.2 100.0 904 13.0 53.9
Chemical Chemical Identifiable assets operating Operating chemical as % of profits as profit assets total % of total margin" ($ millions) assets
Industry classification
Chemical operating profits* ($ millions)
Change from 1987
Operating return on chemical assets6
Specialty chemicals Agrochemicals Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals
$159 110 117 163
21.2% 2461.4 12.9 33.4
,100.0% 100.0 100.0 121.4
16.0%$ 839 100.0% 11.5 991 100.0 12.5 1,050 100.0 18.0 665 43.1
18.9% 11.1 11.1 24.5
874 849 840 798 781 767
17.4 25.0 12.6 6.6 28.3 46.2
37.7 100.0 100.0 19.6 100.0 27.3
Diversified Agrochemicals Specialty chemicals Drugs Basic chemicals Agricultural supplies
149 na 209 126 195 75
14.7 na 14.0 48.9 63.3 5838.7
52.2 na 100.0 11.3 100.0 66.7
17.0 na 24.9 15.8 24.9 9.8
795 na 882 787 521 324
41.4 na 100.0 15.0 100.0 44.5
18.7 na 23.7 16.1 37.4 23.1
63WKco 67 Uniroyal Chemical 57 Engelhard — Sterling Chemical 66 H. B. Fuller1
7589 734 727 699 685
21.5 24.3 2.0 69.2 14.7
47.8 100.0 30.9 100.0 100.0
Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Specialty metals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
62 86 107 312 46
2.2 17.2 22.7 246.4 -2.8
43.0 100.0 85.5 100.0 100.0
8.2 11.7 14.8 44.7 6.8
361 1,016 880 294 421
32.4 100.0 62.3 100.0 100.0
17.2 8.5 12.2 106.1 11.0
61 65 72 — 76
682 650 558 553 545
1.7 8.3 16.6 na 26.3
27.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 56.7
Petroleum Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
281 na 143 121 150
38.2 na 68.7 -41.8 15.4
113.7 na 100.0 100.0 83.2
41.1 na 25.7 21.9 27.5
360 15.5 na na 664 100.0 605 100.0 na na
77.9 na 21.6 20.0 na
ρ 73Kerr-McGee '2 69 Pfizer Γ3 75 Tyler U 76 Merck ^5 79 Sun Co.
518 512 485 466 461
11.6 -0.2 11.3 8.1 24.4
19.3 9.5 75.3 7.8 4.7
Petroleum Drugs Diversified Drugs Petroleum
102 49 37 62 na
43.7 -29.7 1.3 6.6 na
43.8 4.4 85.0 3.3 na
19.7 9.5 7.6 13.2 na
671 489 202 426 na
22.3 6.4 65.7 7.0 na
15.2 10.0 18.3 14.4 na
^6 Π '8 '9 JO
na na 18 26 66
na na -34.8 -28.1 45.1
na na 17.7 28.3 100.0
na na 4.1 6.1 15.8
na na na na 242 45.8 298 47.6 347 100.0
na na 7.5 8.7 19.0
American Petrofina Henkel Great Lakes Chemical Borden Chemicals GAF
— 78 80 88 83
Hoffmann-La Roche Betz Laboratories Ferro Dexter Loctite
450 448 443 424 417
4.2 16.0 22.3 9.7 23.4
23.7 100.0 43.9 51.3 100.0
Drugs Specialty chemicals Specialty materials Rubber products Specialty chemicals
Π \2 J3 Γ4 *5
82 85 86 87 90
Union Camp Lonza Vulcan Materials Stepan Sigma-Aldrich
398 395 383 333 302
14.3 26.6 28.5 15.3 22.1
15.0 100.0 36.3 100.0 80.5
Diversified Specialty chemicals Nonmetallic minerals Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
30 na 66 21 77
42.8 na 102.3 6.9 20.7
6.0 na 31.9 100.0 86.9
7.5 na 17.3 6.2 25.5
294 9.5 na na na na 186 100.0 314 87.4
10.2 na na 11.1 24.5
\β M \8 19 K)
89PetroliteJ 84Chemed 94 Georgia-Pacific 95 First Mississippi 92 Crompton & Knowles
274 10.4 270 - 1 9 . 6 241 27.5 237 31.2 232 21.8
91.0 54.0 2.5 74.6 80.2
Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals Wood products Agrochemicals Specialty chemicals
21 33 na 23 26
-1.2 -19.0 na 190.0 33.5
127.5 66.6 na 101.4 71.3
7.7 12.4 na 9.8 11.4
186 133 na 104 159
76.7 48.3 na 34.6 77.1
11.4 25.1 na 22.3 16.7
H >£ >3 I4 >5
— Calgon Carbon — Sherex 96 Mississippi Chemical 97 Quaker Chemical 99LeaRonal k
226 200 186 167 157
32.5 na 6.6 12.9 23.0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Farm cooperative Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
51 na 18 17 14
30.6 na def 3.5 12.4
100.0 na 100.0 100.0 100.0
22.6 na 9.8 10.4 9.0
196 100.0 na na 322 100.0 121 100.0 88 100.0
26.1 na 5.7 14.3 15.9
126 124 123 120 100
12.3 6.7 —7.6 11.5 5.4
100.0 28.5 3.4 100.0 100.0
Specialty chemicals Natural gas Farm cooperative Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
27 4 na 13 17
11.5 200.8 na -4.3 -11.7
100.0 6.9 na 100.0 100.0
21.8 3.6 na 10.5 16.6
125 168 na na 68
21.9 2.6 na na 24.6
->•6 >7 •8 »* >0
_.
— 100 98 — —
Lawter International UGI Agway Cambrex Products Research
,
100.0 27.2 na na 100.0
>perating profit is sales less administrative expenses and costs of sales, b Operating profit from chemicals as a percentage of sales, c Chemical operating profit as a percentage of identifiable jmical assets, d Chemical sales include significant amounts of nonchemical products, e Fiscal year ends Sept. 30. f Chemical net income, g Does not include all chemical sales, h Fiscal year is June. 30.1 Fiscal year ends Nov. 30. J Fiscal year ends Oct. 31. k For fiscal year ended Feb. 29, 1988. na = not available.
May 1, 1989 C&EN
13
Top 100 C&EN's five-way ranking of the Top 100 chemical producers Chemical operating profits Rank
Chemical sales Rank $ Millions
Return on chemical assets Rank
1987
1988
1988
1987
1988
1988
1987
1988
1988
1987
1988
1988
1987
Agway $ 123 Air Products 2,237 Akzo 1,347 Allied-Signal 3,033 Aluminum Co. off America 1,215
98 20 37 15 38
98 22 40 12 41
na $409 76 377 419
— 19 58 22 18
— 16 — 20 56
na 18.3% 5.6 12.4 34.5
— 35 80 55 4
— 12 — 55 71
na $2,462 na 1,839 2,577
— 14 — 18 12
— 14 — 15 12
na 16.6% na 20.5 16.3
— 52 — 37 53
— 37 — 43 71
American Cyanamid American Petroffina Amoco Arco Chemical Aristech
2,167 682 4,352 2,700 1,065
22 66 9 17 45
19 61 9 19 45
214 281 1022 722 196
34 29 6 12 38
27 26 6 11 39
9.9 41.1 23.5 26.7 18.4
65 2 17 11 34
58 2 10 9 44
1,519 360 2,920 2,548 676
19 57 9 13 45
22 61 8 29 —
14.1 77.9 35.0 28.3 29.0
60 2 10 17 16
53 1 8 14 —
Ashland Oil Atlantic Richfield BASF BP America Bayer USA
2,090 1,903 4,536 1,507 2,140
24 26 8 31 23
27 32 7 43 20
102 na na na na
54 — — — —
46 — — 65 —
4.9 na na na na
81 — — — —
73 — — 76 —
754 na na na na
42 — — — —
46 — — — —
13.5 na na na na
61 — — — —
44 — — — —-
448 553 958 904 226
77 69 52 54 91
78 — 51 52 —
na 121 110 163 51
— 49 51 41 64
53 — 78 38 —
na 21.9 11.5 18.0 22.6
— 22 59 36 19
20 — 79 25 —
na 605 991 665 196
— 50 33 47 67
60 — 33 48 —
na 20.0 11.1 24.5 26.1
— 39 64 24 20
12 — 73 17 —
120 270 3,204 1,098 232
99 87 13 43 90
— 84 16 28 92
13 33 616 na 26
81 68 15 — 71
— 61 13 — 73
10.5 12.4 19.2 na 11.4
61 57 30 — 60
— 47 25 — 56
na 133 2,101 na 159
— 72 16 — 71
— 69 18 — 73
na 25.1 29.3 na 16.7
— 22 14 — 51
— 14 15 — 21
424 12,128 1,477 14,717 3,033
79 2 32 1 15
88 2 33 1 15
26 3655 na 2612 628
72 1 — 2 14
67 2 — 1 14
6.1 30.1 na 17.7 20.7
79 7 — 37 25
57 17 — 19 29
298 10,792 na 10,290 2,875
62 1 — 2 10
67 1 — 2 9
8.7 33.9 na 25.4 21.8
73 11 — 21 35
37 19 — 11 40
Eli Lilly Engelhard Ethyl Exxon FMC
798 727 1,674 9,990 1,435
58 63 30 3 33
53 57 31 3 30
126 107 309 1863 224
48 52 26 3 32
48 47 21 3 22
15.8 14.8 18.5 18.6 15.6
44 50 33 31 46
52 47 16 28 23
787 880 1,141 6,731 1,234
41 37 26 5 25
36 40 30 3 23
16.1 12.2 27.1 27.7 18.1
54 62 19 18 47
60 57 10 33 30
Farmland Industries Ferro First Mississippi Freeport-McMoRan H. B. Fuller
767 443 237 1,130 685
60 78 89 41 65
68 80 95 46 66
75 18 23 198 46
59 76 73 37 66
79 68 77 42 59
9.8 4.1 9.8 17.5 6.8
68 82 67 38 77
80 69 75 46 66
324 242 104 894 421
59 65 75 35 55
57 66 74 38 56
23.1 7.5 22.3 22.1 11.0
28 75 31 32 67
74 44 67 44 48
GAF General Electric Georgia Gulf Georgia-Pacific B. F.Goodrich
545 3,539 1,061 241 2,074
70 12 46 88 25
76 14 58 94 25
150 733 312 na 308
43 11 24 — 27
35 8 30 — 23
27.5 20.7 29.4 na 14.8
10 24 9 — 49
3 15 8 — 50
na 7,130 457 na 1,358
— 3 53 — 23
53 6 58 — 25
na 10.3 68.3 na 22.7
— 69 3 — 29
5 56 3 — 35
W.R.Grace Great Lakes Chemical Henkel Hercules Himont
3,131 558 650 1,750 1,711
14 68 67 27 28
13 72 65 26 —
388 143 na 141 524
20 45 — 46 17
17 48 — 33 —
12.4 25.7 na 8.1 30.7
56 13 — 72 6
45 17 — 68 —
2,204 664 na 1,376 1,044
15 48 — 22 30
16 47 — 24 —
17.6 21.6 na 10.2 36.8
49 36 — 70 8
28 47 — 66 —
Cambrex Chemed Chevron Ciba-Geigy Crompton & Knowles Dexter Dow Chemical Dow Corning Du Pont Eastman Kodak
14
Identifiable chemical assets Rank
1988
Betz Laboratories Borden Chemicals CF Industries Cabot Calgon Carbon
May 1, 1989 C&EN
1988
Chemical operating prof H margin Rank
$ Millions
Hoechst Celanese Hoffmann-La Roche Huntsman Chemical IMC Fertilizer International Flavors
Chemical sales Rank 1988 1988 1987
Chemical operating profits Rank 1988 1988 1987
Chemical operating profit margin Rank 1988 1988 1987
Identifiable chemical assets Rank 1988 1988 1987
Return on chemical assets Rank 1988 1988 1987
$5,369 450 1,200 1,086 840
6 76 40 44 57
6 — 39 — 54
$ 563 na na 219 209
16 — — 33 35
— — — — 28
10.5% na na 20.1 24.9
62 — — 27 15
— — — — 6
na na na $1,472 882
— — — 20 36
— — — — 41
na na na 14.8% 23.7
— — — 57 27
— — — — 7
932 518 126 157 417
53 71 96 95 80
36 73 — 99 83
117 102 27 14 66
50 54 70 80 60
43 50 — 76 60
12.5 19.7 21.8 9.0 15.8
54 29 23 70 45
62 25 — 58 41
1,050 671 125 88 347
28 46 73 76 58
17 49 — 75 59
11.1 15.2 21.9 15.9 19.0
64 56 34 55 42
69 57 — 34 41
395 1,036 466 186 4,280
82 47 74 93 10
85 44 76 96 11
na 306 62 18 851
— 28 62 76 9
— 31 58 81 10
na 29.6 13.2 9.8 19.9
— 8 53 66 28
— 30 41 — 30
na 730 426 322 2,802
— 44 54 60 11
— 42 52 64 13
na 41.9 14.4 5.7 30.4
— 6 58 76 13
-— 18 55 — 24
5,535 874 1,007 994 1,415
5 55 49 51 34
5 55 47 49 37
910 149 261 159 200
8 44 30 42 36
5 35 24 34 29
16.4 17.0 25.9 16.0 14.1
42 40 12 43 51
30 21 7 24 35
4,144 795 841 839 1,110
7 40 38 39 27
5 39 35 34 31
22.0 18.7 31.0 18.9 18.0
33 44 12 43 48
23 25 6 32 25
Occidental Petroleum Olin PPG Industries Pennwalt Petrolite
4,673 1,366 1,113 1,024 274
7 36 42 48 86
10 35 42 48 89
1050 105 255 135 21
5 53 31 47 74
11 45 31 44 71
22.5 7.7 22.9 13.2 7.7
20 74 18 52 73
43 66 33 49 61
5,258 953 1,048 738 186
6 34 29 43 68
11 32 29 37 68
20.0 11.0 24.3 18.3 11.4
39 67 26 45 63
37 64 54 49 59
Pfizer Phillips Petroleum Products Research Quaker Chemical Quantum Chemical
512 2,518 100 167 2,219
72 19 100 94 21
69 21 — 97 23
49 911 17 17 711
65 7 78 78 13
51 9 — 74 18
9.5 36.2 16.6 10.4 32.1
69 3 41 63 5
39 5 — 51 14
489 1,349 68 121 1,465
52 24 77 74 21
51 27 — 72 21
10.0 67.5 24.6 14.3 48.6
72 4 23 59 5
49 4 — 51 13
Rhône-Poulenc Rohm & Haas Shell Oil Sherex Sigma-Aldrich
1,400 2,535 4,006 200 302
35 18 11 92 85
34 17 8 — 90
na 377 746 na 77
— 22 10 — 57
— 19 7 — 55
na 14.9 18.6 na 25.5
— 48 32 — 14
— 33 22 — 4
na 1,857 3,822 na 314
— 17 8 — 61
— 20 7 — 63
na 20.3 19.5 na 24.5
— 38 41 —. 24
— 20 36 — 9
Solvay America Stepan Sterling Chemical Sun Co. Terra Chemicals
1,000 333 699 461 849
50 84 64 75 56
59 87 — 79 60
na 21 312 na na
— 74 24 — —
— 40 — — —
na 6.2 44.7 na na
— 78 1 — —
— 1 — — —
na 186 294 na na
— 68 63 — —
— 70 — — —
na 11.1 106.1 na na
— 64 1 — —
—2 — — —
Texaco Tyler UGI Union Camp Union Carbide
1,711 485 124 398 7,601
28 73 97 81 4
29 75 100 82 4
379 37 4 30 1542
21 67 82 69 4
37 63 79 71 4
22.2 7.6 3.6 7.5 20.3
21 75 83 76 26
65 64 78 72 37
1,029 202 168 294 6,897
31 66 70 63 4
26 65 76 62 4
36.8 18.3 2.6 10.2 22.4
8 45 77 70 30
63 31 72 68 52
Uniroyal Chemical Unocal Vista Chemical Vulcan Materials Witco
734 1,204 781 383 758
62 39 59 83 61
— 38 64 86 63
86 182 195 66 62
56 40 39 60 62
— 70 40 64 57
11.7 15.1 24.9 17.3 8.2
58 47 16 39 71
— 77 11 54 60
1,016 622 521 na 361
32 49 51 — 56
— 43 50 — 55
8.5 29.3 37.4 na • 17.2
74 14 7 — 50
— 70 12 — 28
International Minerals Kerr-McGee Lawter International LeaRonal Loctite Lonza Lubrizol Merck Mississippi Chemical Mobil Monsanto ^Morton Thiokol NL Industries Nalco Chemical National Starch
Note: Companies giving only net profits are not ranked. There are 83 firms ranked for operating profits and operating profit margin and 77 firms ranked for chemical assets and return on assets, na = not available.
May 1,1989 C&EN
15
Top 100
Companies new to Top 100 in 1988 . . . Sates rank 1988
Himont IMC Fertilizer Sterling Chemical Borden Chemicals Hoffmann-La Roche Calgon Carbon Sherex Lawter International Cambrex Products Research
28 44 64 69 76 91 92 96 99 100
. . . and those no longer on list
Sales rank 1987
Borden Relchhold Polysar Koppers Liquid Air CBI Industries Henley Manufacturing Cain Chemical Kaisertech Essex Chemical
24 50 56 62 70 71 73 81 91 92
nual chemical sales totaled about $14.7 billion in 1988, about $2.6 billion more than sales at Dow Chemical, ranked second. The sixth-ranked company in 1987, Hoechst Celanese, also appears in the same place in 1988, but after that there is a good deal of shifting. Seventh-ranked Occidental Petroleum moved up from 10th in 1987, causing BASF to drop to eighth. Ninth-ranked Amoco held the same place in both years, but 10th-ranked Mobil moved up from 11th in 1987's ranking. Eighth in 1987, Shell Oil fell all the way to 11th in 1988. Of the companies that appeared on both the 1987 and 1988 lists, 49 moved up in the rankings, 27 declined in their rankings, and 14 held the same position. The biggest increases in rank were registered by BP America, which moved from 43rd in 1987 to 31th in 1988, and Georgia Gulf, which rose to 46th from 58th—both 12 places. BP America's rise is the result of the full consolidation this year of Standard Oil's business into BP. Georgia Gulf's rise stemmed primarily from improved business. 16
May 1, 1989 C&EN
The two largest declines were recorded by Ciba-Geigy—15 places to 43rd from 28th—and by International Minerals—17 places to 53rd from 36th. The drop for Ciba-Geigy comes from a restructuring within the company and a revamping of its reporting methods. In 1988 not all of its chemicals sales are included, since its sales of pesticides are lumped with those of pharmaceuticals. For IMC, as mentioned earlier, the drop in ranking resulted from the spinoff of IMC Fertilizer, which is new to the list in 1988 and ranked 44th. A similar situation occurred with Borden Chemicals & Plastics, also new on the list and ranked 69th. This firm was spun off from Borden, which disappears from the 1988 rankings. Eight other firms are new to the 1988 rankings. Hoffmann-La Roche and Sherex, two foreign-owned firms that could have been included in the past, finally disclosed chemical sales for 1988. Himont can now be included because its results are no longer incorporated into Hercules (Himont's inclusion in previous listings would have resulted in double counting). And Sterling Chemical now makes its results public. The remaining four firms— Calgon Carbon, Lawter International, Cambrex Corp., and Products Research & Chemical—move onto the list because other companies have dropped off. The restructuring of the chemical industry is readily apparent when 1988 results are compared with those of just a few years ago. In 1984, the first year with a comparable breakout, foreign-owned firms made up just 7% of total chemical sales of the Top 100 companies. By 1988, however this figure had grown to 13%. Firms classified as chemical companies—those with chemical sales making up more than 50% of total sales—also increased their percentage of the total, to 42% in 1988 from 39% of companies listed in 1984. Since petroleum and natural gas producing companies kept their percentage stable at about 24%, these increases came at the expense of firms classified as diversified and other, whose percentage fell to about 20% of the total for those compa-
nies listed in 1988 as opposed to 30% for the firms listed in 1984. C&EN's rankings of the Top 100 includes measures other than sales. Companies are also ranked by chemical operating profits, chemical assets, and operating returns on sales and assets. Growth in operating profits in 1988 for those firms reporting these figures averaged 54%. Among the larger 50 firms, growth in operating profits averaged 56%, far outperforming the 35% growth for the smaller 50 reporting these results. The larger firms also outperformed the smaller in profitability. Operating profit margins among the larger 50 for which this can be calculated averaged 19% in 1988, up from 15% in the previous year. For these firms, the average operating profit margin was 17%, up from 14%. This gives an average for the group of 19%, up from 15%. The same trend holds for return on chemical assets. Here the larger 50 firms averaged 25% in 1988, up from 19% in 1987. The smaller 50 companies averaged 19%, an increase from 15%. The average for the companies reporting both operating profits and chemical assets was 24%, up from 18%. Although Du Pont is the sales leader among the Top 100, Dow Chemical is on top in both chemical operating profits and identifiable assets in 1988. Dow's $3.7 billion in chemical operating profits was more than $1 billion higher than Du Pont's operating profits and its identifiable chemical assets of $10.8 billion were about $500 million more than those of Du Pont. Following Du Pont in operating profits were Exxon, Union Carbide, and Occidental Petroleum. And following it in chemical assets were General Electric, Carbide, and Exxon. The leader in operating profit margin was Sterling Chemical at 45%. Sterling was followed by American Petrofina (41%), Phillips Petroleum (36%), Alcoa (35%), and Quantum Chemical (32%). Sterling also was tops in operating return on assets with a phenomenal 106%, followed by American Petrofina (78%), Georgia Gulf and Phillips (68%), and Quantum (49%). D
