business
TOP 100: FEW CHANGES AT THE TOP When rankings changed for 1997, it was mostly because of acquisitions and divestitures William J. Storck C&EN Northeast News Bureau
T
here was generally only modest change in the rankings of the 100 largest U.S. chemical producers in 1997. Of course, there were changes, but barring significant acquisitions or divestitures, the placement of most of the firms was relatively stable. Lackluster pricing and modest demand growth combined to shackle sales growth during the year. Combined chemical sales for the Top 100 increased just 1.9% from 1996 to $237.2 billion. They were up a slightly healthier 2.9% over the companies that were included in the ranking for 1996, there being a somewhat different list of companies in the two years' rankings. With sales growth like that, it is no wonder that there was little movement in the rankings for 1997. Out of the Top 100 chemical producers, 13 increased their position by two places over the previous year, 10 by one rank, eight remained the same, 13 declined by one place, and eight fell two places. Thus, more than half of the companies remained within two places of where they had been the year before. DuPont was the number one chemical producer in 1997, with $21.3 billion in chemical sales. Indeed, C&EN erred in ranking it number two in last year's list, having omitted about $2 billion in the company's agricultural chemical sales. This would have put DuPont on top for the 1996 ranking as well. Thus, DuPont has led the group in every year but one since C&EN began ranking the top U.S. chemical producers in 1969. Among the top five producers from 1996, there again was stability, with one major exception. Dow Chemical remained at number two, where it should have been last year. Exxon was again number three. But Celanese—formerly Hoechst Celanese—fell three places to eighth place. Monsanto, which had been number
four on last year's list, dropped from that position to 24th as it spun off its basic chemicals operation into Solutia and began to concentrate on life sciences. The new additions to the top five in 1997's listing are General Electric at number four, up from sixth place in 1996, and Union Carbide at number five, up from number seven. The biggest jump from last year's ranking list was the fertilizer producer Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, which moved 22 places to 38th from 60th with chemical sales of $1.83 billion. The reason for the big growth was the acquisition by Potash Corp. of Arcadian Partners. It must be noted that in determining a company's rank and sales growth, 1997 sales are compared with those reported in 1996, rather than with restated 1996 sales in the 1997 annual reports. Thus, growth calculated by C&EN may be different from that reported in current-year annual reports. This was followed by the 13-place jump of Henkel to 39th, where U.S. chemical sales totaled $1.80 billion. This jump was helped by the consolidation of U.S. adhesive maker Loctite into the company.
Top half of list holds at 84% of total. . . Ranked 51- 100 16%
Ranked 1-50 84%
Sterling Chemicals, with chemical sales of $909 million, moved up eight places to 65th on the list as it increased product capacity and made a couple of acquisitions, including Cytec's acrylic fibers business. Petroleum producer Sun Co. increased its standing by six places to 83rd, but it is unclear whether this is real growth in its chemical business or a better interpretation of its chemical sales. Sun's annual report does not provide chemical sales data, so to derive that data, C&EN relied on a formula, taking into account average barrels of chemicals sold per day and average price. This year, however, a Sun spokesman provided a chemical sales figure. Apart from Monsanto, the biggest decline in rank was by Great Lakes Chemical, which fell 19 places to 52nd. Great Lakes has been in the process of spinning off its Octel fuel additives business and is carrying it as a discontinued operation. Thus, its sales are not reported. Other companies with significant declines in rank include Olin, down 10 places to 51st, and BP America, down a like 10 places to 71st. There is one instance of double-counting on the list. National Starch & Chemical, ranked number 30, released sales figures for the entire year. And ICI Americas, ranked 13th, which acquired National Starch midyear, included the National Starch sales figures during the July to December period. Thus, National Starch's stated sales figure may be some $1.2 billion higher than it actually should be. A number of companies are new to the list this year. Solutia, at 27th, is the highest placed. But two other new companies also placed within the top half of the list. These are American Home Products, which holds the old American Cy-
. . . as chemical companies have 46% of sales Chemical3, b 46%
Foreign-owned chemical producers 15%
Petroleum &gas a
19% Diversified & other3 20% 1997 chemical sales = $237.2 billion Note: Based on chemical sales figures for Top 100 producers, a U.S. companies, b Companies with 50% or more of their sales derived from chemicals.
MAY 4, 1998 C&EN 21
business Chemical sales grow modestly at most Top 100 companies Chemical 47.2% 0.4 95.2 6.7 8.9 3.2 7.4 6.5 100.0
Industry classification
Diversified Basic chemicals Petroleum Diversified Basic chemicals
Chemical operating Change from profits13 $ millions) 1996
Chemical Chemical Identifiable assets Operating operating profits as Operating chemical as % of return of % of total chemical assets total profit profits assetsd margin 0 ($ millions) assets
$3,554.0 -6.4% 66.4% 16.7% $19,036.0 52.0% 18.7% 17,951.0 74.7 16.9 111.2 15.9 3,031.0 -9.8 na na na na na na na na na na 0.7 12.5 22.0 1,476.0 6,964.0 100.0 15.0 100.0 16.1 1,045.0 13.5
6 8 Amoco 7 11 Huntsman Chemical 8 5 Celanese 9 10 BASF 10 13 Praxair
5,941.0 5,000.0 4,950.0 4,860.0 4,735.0
4.3 11.1 3.4 3.3 6.4
16.4 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Petroleum Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
732.0 -20.8 na na 471.0 -2.7 na na 848.0 15.8
16.2 na 100.0 na 100.0
12.3 na 9.5 na 17.9
6,351.0 20.8 na na 2,743.0 100.0 na na 7,810.0 100.0
11.5 na 17.2 na 10.9
11 12 13 14 15
14 9 16 12 15
Shell Oil Eastman Chemical ICI Americas Occidental Petroleum AlliedSignaP
4,725.0 9.8 4,678.0 -2.2 4,615.0 15.4 4,349.0 -3.0 4,254.0 6.0
16.7 100.0 100.0 54.3 29.4
Petroleum Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Petroleum Diversified
696.0 568.0 na 497.0 542.0
134.3 -14.3 na -27.2 -4.4
22.1 100.0 na 94.1 33.1
14.7 12.1 na 1-1.4 12.7
5,342.0 18.0 5,778.0 100.0 na na 5,486.0 35.9 4,100.0 29.9
13.0 9.8 na 9.1 13.2
16 17 18 19 20
20 19 17 18 22
Air Productsf Ashland Oilf Rohm and Haas Arco Chemical Chevron
4,122.0 4,047.0 3,999.0 3,995.0 3,632.0
12.3 9.5 0.4 1.0 6.1
88.9 28.5 100.0 100.0 8.9
Basic chemicals Petroleum Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Petroleum
719.4 18.9 160.0 -5.3 617.0 -1.6 256.0 -52.6 362.0 21.1
99.2 29.4 100.0 100.0 6.1
17.5 4.0 15.4 6.4 10.0
5,993.1 89.6 1,558.0 20.0 3,900.0 100.0 4,116.0 100.0 3,518.0 9.9
12.0 10.3 15.8 6.2 10.3
21 22 23 24 25
23 21 25 4 24
Phillips Petroleum W.R. Grace Mobil Monsanto Millennium
3,528.0 10.8 3,312.8 -4.1 3,251.0 7.5 3,126.0 -57.0 3,048.0 0.3
23.2 100.0 4.9 41.6 100.0
Petroleum Specialty chemicals Petroleum Life sciences Basic chemicals
371.0 646.4 493.0 762.0 449.0
7.8 5.1 44.2 9.3 58.7
18.1 100.0 7.0 60.3 100.0
10.5 19.5 15.2 24.4 14.7
2,638.0 19.5 na na 3,111.0 7.1 4,520.0 42.0 4,326.0 100.0
14.1 na 15.8 16.9 10.4
26 27 28 29 30
26 IMC Global9 — Solutia 27 Dow Corning 30 Akzo Nobel 28 National Starch
2,988.6 0.3 2,969.0 -0.3 2,643.5 4.4 2,605.0 9.8 2,455.4 0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Agrochemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
486.7 -0.3 290.0 28.9 380.7 -3.9 na na 2.9 371.3
100.0 100.0 100.0 na 102.9
16.3 9.8 14.4 na 15.1
4,673.9 100.0 2,768.0 100.0 na na na na na na
10.4 10.5 na na na
31 32 33 34 35
29 32 25 36
—
Lyondell Petrochemical FMC Solvay America Witco American Home Products
2,346.0 -2.7 2,254.2 -1.7 2,200.0 10.0 2,187.4 -3.4 2,119.4 6.6
100.0 52.9 100.0 100.0 14.9
Basic chemicals Machinery Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Pharmaceuticals
534.0 58.5 248.0 -27.3 na na 235.8 37.6 429.9 27.3
100.0 63.9 na 100.0 15.3
22.8 11.0 na 10.8 20.3
1,559.0 100.0 2,436.0 59.2 na na 2,297.7 100.0 4,763.9 22.9
34.3 10.2 na 10.3 9.0
36 37 38 39 40
37 34 60 52 39
Elf Atochem Hercules Potash Corp. of Sask. Henkel Morton International9
2,000.0 11.1 1,866.0 -9.4 1,826.3 81.4 1,800.0 41.9 1,680.9 4.3
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 71.8
Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
na na 228.0 -48.3 257.0 38.0 na na 268.6 21.0
na 100.0 100.0 na 66.1
na 12.2 14.1 na 16.0
na na 2,411.0 100.0 3,019.8 100.0 na na 1,540.0 54.9
na 9.5 8.5 na 17.4
41 42 43 44 45
40 Lubrizol 38 PPG Industries — Ciba Specialty Chemicals 46 Zeneca 42 Crompton & Knowles
1,673.8 1,647.0 1,565.0 1,550.0 1,539.5
4.8 2.2 na 10.7 1.3
100.0 22.3 100.0 45.6 83.2
Specialty chemicals Glass products Specialty chemicals Life sciences Specialty chemicals
232.3 -84.1 371.0 -1.3 na na na na 238.5 10.3
100.0 27.8 na na 93.8
13.9 22.5 na na 15.5
1,462.3 100.0 1,166.0 17.0 na na na na 1,345.0 86.8
15.9 31.8 na na 17.7
46 47 48 49 50
47 50 43 45 44
1,513.1 1,433.7 1,431.6 1,430.3 1,426.8
10.7 10.0 -2.5 -0.3 -0.6
41.7 100.0 100.0 87.7 100.0
Diversified Specialty chemicals Agrochemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
258.7 11.8 242.7 12.0 155.6 -42.9 198.5 -23.8 338.3 14.1
79.9 100.0 100.0 96.8 100.0
17.1 16.9 10.9 13.9 23.7
1,539.3 59.5 1,440.9 100.0 1,480.9 100.0 1,442.3 79.1 1,422.3 100.0
16.8 16.8 10.5 13.8 23.8
Engelhard Nalco Chemical CF Industries Cabot International Flavors
MAY 4, 1998 C&EN
Chemical Change sales 1997 from ($ millions) 1995
Rank 199719963
Chemical sales as % of total sales
Industry classification
Chemical operating Change profits'3 from ($ millions) 1996
Chemical Chemical Identifiable assets Operating operating profits as Operating chemical as % of return of chemical total assets % of total profit assetsd profits margin0 ($ millions) assets
51 52 53 54 55
41 33 51 58 54
Olin $1,340.0 -15.5% 55.6°/c> Basic chemicals $174.0 -15.9°/ > Great Lakes Chemical 1,311.2 -40.7 100.0 Specialty chemicals 191.6 -57.0 H. B. Fuller*1 2.4 1,306.8 87.3 8.0 100.0 Specialty chemicals BetzDearborn 1,294.8 24.9 51.1 100.0 Specialty chemicals 189.9 Borden Inc. 1,290.8 9.9 37.1 Food products 109.8 -14.1
75.7% 100.0 100.0 100.0 25.9
13.0% $1,066.0 54.8°/> 2,270.4 100.0 14.6 917.6 100.0 6.7 1,433.6 100.0 14.7 904.6 29.7 8.5
56 57 58 59 60
53 48 56 57 55
Cytec Industries Farmland Industries' Geon Wellman Ethyl
1,290.6 2.5 1,263.6 -5.4 1,250.0 9.2 1,083.2 -1.4 1,063.6 -7.5
100.0 13.8 100.0 100.0 100.0
Basic chemicals Agricultural supplies Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
161.4 18.6 159.0 -11.2 52.0 73.9 69.3 1.8 139.9 -17.6
100.0 65.4 100.0 100.0 100.0
12.5 12.6 4.2 6.4 13.2
61 62 63 64 65
59 64 63 67 73
Fina Courtaulds* DSM Georgia-Gulf Sterling Chemicals
1,058.8 1,004.6 1,000.0 965.7 908.8
2.6 8.1 4.7 7.8 1.5.0
23.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Petroleum Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals
127.5 -45.8 na na na na 7.7 146.8 57.4 -19.3
58.1 na na 100.0 100.0
66 67 68 69 70
62 70 66 69 71
BF Goodrich Sigma-Aldrich Aristech NL Industries Degussaf
904.7 901.7 897.4 894.1 871.0
-8.2 8.3 -1.0 5.0 8.1
26.8 80.0 100.0 100.0 36.7
Diversified Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals
128.5 -1.4 214.3 11.0 51.7 -52.0 161.2 125.1 na na
71 72 73 74 75
61 68 74 78 77
BP America Albemarle Terra Industries Kerr-McGee Union Camp
842.0 -15.8 829.9 -2.9 802.0 1.9 760.0 9.8 8.2 758.4
100.0 100.0 31.5 44.4 16.9
Petroleum Specialty chemicals Agricultural supplies Petroleum Paper products
76 77 78 79 80
75 76 79 81 84
Intl. Specialty Products Borden Chemicals Aluminum Co. of Americai Vulcan Materials GenCorp6
749.2 4.6 737.1 3.9 670.0 -3.1 3.4 627.6 615.0 7.3
81 82 83 84 85
86 83 89 — 80
Stepan Ferro Sun Co. Creanova Laporte
86 87 88 89 90
91 90 87 90 —
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
16.3% 8.4 9.5 13.2 12.1
100.0 20.6 100.0 100.0 100.0
10.0 34.2 6.0 5.3 13.1
12.0 na na 15.2 6.3
786.1 26.1 na na na na 612.7 100.0 879.0 100.0
16.2 na na 24.0 6.5
35.5 84.8 100.0 100.0 na
14.2 23.8 5.8 18.0 na
877.3 25.1 1,044.8 84.0 1,097.5 100.0 1,221.4 100.0 na na
14.6 20.5 4.7 13.2 na
na na 120.7 29.2 214.0 -21.8 84.0 -1.2 74.2 11.2
na 100.0 90.9 27.2 28.8
na 14.5 26.7 11.1 9.8
na na 888.2 100.0 1,511.5 64.0 875.0 28.3 620.9 11.8
na 13.6 14.2 9.6 12.0
100.0 100.0 5.0 59.7 39.2
5.4 Specialty chemicals 143.3 Basic chemicals 30.5 7.0 na na Nonferrous metals Nonmetallic minerals 75.8 -20.0 Diversified 68.0 -5.6
100.0 100.0 na 24.8 44.7
19.1 4.1 na 12.1 11.1
1,395.6 100.0 500.2 100.0 na na 459.1 31.7 264.0 18.4
10.3 6.1 na 16.5 25.8
581.9 8.4 565.9 -1.5 565.0 21.2 na 550.0 531.4 -20.2
100.0 41.0 5.4 100.0 100.0
Specialty chemicals Specialty materials Petroleum Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
48.0 19.3 na na na
100.0 36.7 na na na
10.3 7.8 na na na
374.9 100.0 245.7 31.3 na na na na na na
16.0 17.9 na na na
Mississippi Chemical9 Lonza General Chemical Bush Boake Allen Albright & Wilson
520.6 21.4 520.0 2.0 519.1 -18.2 9.2 490.6 487.0 8.0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Agrochemicals Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals
91.2 7.5 na na 110.8 -10.4 52.7 -79.8 na na
100.0 na 100.0 100.0 na
17.5 na 21.3 10.7 na
858.5 100.0 na na 487.8 100.0 424.1 100.0 na na
10.6 na 22.7 12.4 na
88 — 94 93 97
Unocal Baker Hughes Cambrex Corp. Terra Nitrogen Mallinckrodt9
439.0 -17.2 417.2 68.5 380.1 5.8 335.3 -7.6 0.9 335.0
7.2 11.3 100.0 100.0 18.0
Petroleum Oil-field services Specialty chemicals Agrochemicals Health care
83.0 -45.4 41.9 79.8 50.7 9.5 103.7 -39.9 33.1 18.6
10.8 19.7 100.0 100.0 9.8
18.9 10.0 13.3 30.9 9.9
4.2 316.0 1,009.5 21.2 552.4 100.0 253.8 100.0 316.3 10.6
26.3 4.2 9.2 40.9 10.5
99 — — 98 —
McWhorter Technologies'* Calgon Carbon Westvaco Asarco Minerals Technologies
331.5 327.5 326.3 324.0 299.9
4.9 12.9 8.6 1.6 14.0
100.0 100.0 10.9 11.9 49.8
Specialty chemicals Basic chemicals Paper products Petroleum Minerals
100.0 100.0 25.6 10.2 na
8.2 18.4 19.4 9.0 na
259.2 100.0 423.5 100.0 6.7 327.5 6.7 263.0 na na
10.5 14.3 19.3 11.0 na
59.8 43.9 na na na
27.1 60.4 63.2 29.0 na
8.8 14.4 15.1 52.6 na
1,614.1 465.0 872.9 1,319.2 1,067.3
a Revised, b Operating profit is sales less administrative expenses and cost of sales, c Chemical operating profit as a percentage of chemical sales d Chemical operating profit as a percentage of identifiable chemical assets, e Chemical sales include significant amounts of nonchemical products, f Fiscal year ended Sept. 30. g Fiscal year ended June 30. h Fiscal year ended Nov. 30. i Fiscal year ended Aug. 31. j Fiscal year ended March 30. k Fiscal year ended Oct. 31. na = not available.
MAY 4, 1998 C&EN 2 3
We'll pull every string possible to bring you quality service. We've been in the chemical business long enough to know we've mastered the basics we k n o w how to m a k e a n d sell q u a l i t y chemicals at competitive prices. In this technological day and age, however, that's not nearly enough. You want more. You want - no, you demand o n - t i m e delivery, a c c u r a t e p a p e r w o r k , customized data and prompt problem-solving. More than anything else, you demand quality services that will help reduce your costs. That's why we're making the switch, from manual-based to technology-based processes. And that's why we are introducing a whole series of service innovations. • Electronically Generated Certificates of Analysis • Vendor Managed Inventory • Electronic Data Interchange m Electronic Fund Transfer Payments m Motor Freight Notification System These innovations are being rolled out in stages. When they're completed, the quality of our services will be second to none. Until we reach that point, we'll still be pulling every electronic string possible to meet your needs. Count on it. Visit us on the internet at http:www.oxychem.com
OxyChem The chemical operations of ' Occidental Petroleum Corporation
business Ranking the Top 100 by chemical sales, operating profits, and profitability Chemical operating profits
Chemical sales Rank $ Millions
26
Chemical operating profit margin
Rank
Rank
1997
1997
1996
1997
Air Products Akzo Nobel Albemarle Albright & Wilson Aluminum Co. of America
$ 4,122.0 2,605.0 829.9 487.0 670.0
16 29 72 90 78
20 30 68
$ 719.4 na 120.7 na na
8
12
—
—
54
60
— —
— —
AlliedSignal American Home Products Amoco Arco Chemical Aristech
4,254.0 2,119.4 5,941.0 3,995.0 897.4
15 35 6 19 68
15
542.0 429.9 732.0 256.0 51.7
13 20 7 31 72
13
Asarco Ashland Oil Baker Hughes BASF BetzDearborn
324.0 4,047.0 417.2 4,860.0 1,294.8
99 17 92 9 54
Borden Chemicals Borden Inc. BP America Bush Boake Allen Cabot
737.1 1,290.8 842.0 490.6 1,430.3
Calgon Carbon Cambrex Corp. Celanese CF Industries Chevron Ciba Specialty Chemicals Courtaulds Creanova Crompton & Knowles Cytec Industries
— 79
— 8 18 66 98 19
1997
1996
— 5 14
—
—
51
19
— —
— —
12.7 20.3 12.3 6.4 5.8
39
4,100.0 4,763.9 6,351.0 4,116.0 1,097.5
15 10 5 14 44
19
263.0 1,558.0 1,009.5 na 1,433.6
72 29 48
73 31
500.2 904.6 na 424.1 1,442.3
—
—
65 35
65 36
423.5 552.4 2,743.0 1,480.9 3,518.0
66 60 21 33 17
na na na 1,345.0 1,614.1
— — —
— — —
40 27
34 41
—
—
2
1 14
45 10 48 73 76
55
— — — 26 37
— 78 80
— 60 19
18.4 13.3 9.5 10.9 10.0
15 42 67 57 62
na na na 15.5 12.5
— — —
— — —
27 47
38 57
77 56 70 40
327.5 380.1 4,950.0 1,431.6 3,632.0
97 93 8 48 20
95 5 43 22
60.4 50.7 471.0 155.6 362.0
67 73 18 48 25
33 27
1,565.0 1,004.6 550.0 1,539.5 1,290.6
43 62 84 45 56
— — —
— — —
42 53
na na na 238.5 161.4
34 44
40 52
Degussa Dow Chemical Dow Corning DSM DuPont
871.0 19,056.0 2,643.5 1,000.0 21,295.0
70 2 28 63 1
71 2 27 63 1
na 3,031.0 380.7 na 3,554.0
2 21
2 20
—
—
1
1
Eastman Chemical Elf Atochem Engelhard Ethyl Exxon
4,678.0 2,000.0 1,513.1 1,063.6 12,195.0
12 36 46 60 3
9 37 47 55 3
568.0 na 258.7 139.9 na
12
10
—
—
29 51
36 48 3
—
10
—
30.5 109.8 na 52.7 198.5
—
6
—
59 40
76 54 61 90 45
—
$ 5,993.1 na 888.2 na na
—
4.1 8.5 na 10.7 13.9
77 55 71 89 49
64
23
78 55 58 72 34
42
— — . —
73
—
Rank
1996
17.5% 18 na — 36 14.5 na — na —
56
10 58
—
Rank 1997
1997
1997
68 79 62
78 46 75
Return on chemical assets
1996
1997
9.0 4.0 10.0 na 14.7
82 49
29.0 160.0 41.9 na 189.9
—
Identifiable chemical assets
na 15.9 14.4 na 16.7 12.1 na 17.1 13.2 na
—
— —
32
52
78 69
81 55
— 48
— 16 65
—
—
26 37
20 28
—
—
22
16
50
41
—
—
20 43
21 34 36
—
na 17,951.0 na na 19,036.0 5,778.0 na 1,539.3 1,067.3 na
— 9 16
—
—
— —
37
37
61 50
61 55
— —
— 66
— 32 21
—
1
2
13.2 9.0 11.5 6.2 4.7
35 66 44 70 74
17
11.0 10.3 4.2 na 13.2
45 54 75
6.1 12.1 na 12.4 13.8
71 41
74 19
14.3 9.2 17.2 10.5 10.3
30 64 16 48 54
na na na 17.7 10.0
— — —
— — —
14 59
33 53
na 16.9 na na 18.7
—
33 46 3
34.2 17.9 16.2 10.2 9.5 25.8 22.7 na 6.0 24.0
47 74 53 32 59
45 76 35 25 64
12.6 7.8 12.0 11.0 6.7
46 71 52 56 72
44 74 8 33 76
465.0 245.7 786.1 2,436.0 917.6
63 75 57 23 49
GenCorp General Chemical General Electric Geon Georgia-Gulf
615.0 519.1 6,695.0 1,250.0 965.7
80 88 4 58 64
84 87 6 56 67
68.0 110.8 1,476.0 52.0 146.8
65 55 3 71 49
65 57 4 77 51
11.1 21.3 22.0 4.2 15.2
54 9 8 77 29
49 7 9 82 30
264.0 487.8 na 872.9 612.7
71 62
74 64 4 54 59
— 55 59
— 69 46
64
31 45
159.0 43.9 127.5 248.0 87.3
— 35 43
35
9.8 na 16.8 13.1 na
48 83 59 32 51
— —
— —
—
57 82 61 32 53
— 24
—
13
1,263.6 565.9 1,058.8 2,254.2 1,306.8
1996
54
7
63 70 56 24 51
1997
12.0% 42 na — 13.6 34 na — na —
—
Farmland Industries Ferro Fina FMC H. B. Fuller
MAY 4, 1998 C&EN
1997
—
—
40 33
48 19
— 48
— 18 58
—
—
17
21 67
— —
—
12
13
60
41
—
—
19 38
—
28 29 29
3 13 23 58 62
3 44 4 40 62
6 9
8 7 27 76 11
— 72 7
Chemical operating profits
Chemical sales Rank $ Millions
1997
1997
Chemical operating profit margin
Rank
Rank
1996
1997
1997
1996
52 10 41
54 19 17
—
—
37
18
—
—
17 26 50
16 29 53
1997
BF Goodrich W.R. Grace Great Lakes Chemical Henkel Hercules
$ 904.7 3,312.8 1,311.2 1,800.0 1,866.0
66 22 52 39 37
62 21 33 52 34
$ 128.5 646.4 191.6 na 228.0
Huntsman Chemical ICI Americas IMC Global International Flavors Intl. Specialty Products
5,000.0 4,615.0 2,988.6 1,426.8 749.2
7 13 26 50 76
11 16 26 44 75
na na 486.7 338.3 143.3
Kerr-McGee Laporte Lonza Lubrizol Lyondell Petrochemical
760.0 531.4 520.0 1,673.8 2,346.0
74 85 87 41 31
78 80 90 40 29
84.0 na na 232.3 534.0
60
62
— —
— —
36 14
41 26
Mallinckrodt McWhorter Technologies Millennium Minerals Technologies Mississippi Chemical
335.0 331.5 3,048.0 299.9 520.6
95 96 25 100 86
97 99 24
76 79 19
79 80 31
—
—
91
33.1 27.1 449.0 na 91.2
58
63
9.9 8.2 14.7 na 17.5
Mobil Monsanto Morton International Nalco Chemical National Starch
3,251.0 3,126.0 1,680.9 1,433.7 2,455.4
23 24 40 47 30
25 4 39 50 28
493.0 762.0 268.6 242.7 371.3
16 6 28 33 22
24 8 38 39 22
15.2 24.4 16.0 16.9 15.1
NL Industries Occidental Petroleum Olin Phillips Petroleum Potash Corp. of Sask.
894.1 4,349.0 1,340.0 3,528.0 1,826.3
69 14 51 21 38
69 12 41 23 60
161.2 497.0 174.0 371.0 257.0
45 15 43 23 30
66 9 42 23 44
PPG Industries Praxair Rohm and Haas Shell Oil Sigma-Aldrich
1,647.0 4,735.0 3,999.0 4,725.0 901.7
42 10 18 11 67
38 13 17 14 70
371.0 848.0 617.0 696.0 214.3
23 5 11 9 38
Solutia Solvay America Stepan Sterling Chemicals Sun Co.
2,969.0 2,200.0 581.9 908.8 565.0
27 33 81 65 83
—
290.0 na 59.8 57.4 na
27
25 86 73 89
Terra Industries Terra Nitrogen Union Camp Union Carbide Unocal
802.0 335.3 758.4 6,502.0 439.0
73 94 75 5 91
74 93 77 7 88
Vulcan Materials Wellman Westvaco Witco Zeneca
627.6 1,083.2 326.3 2,187.4 1,550.0
79 59 98 34 44
81 57
—
— 36 46
Identifiable chemical assets
14.2% 19.5 14.6 na 12.2
Return on chemical assets
Rank
Rank
1997
1996
1997
1997
1996
38 11 35
45 51 13
53
50 17 23
—
—
49
11
$ 877.3 na 2,270.4 na 2,411.0
—
— —
23 5 13
25 12 15
54
50
— —
— —
40 6
45 40
64 70 32
67 69 63
—
—
18
— 26
1997
1997
1996
14.6% 29 na — 8.4 68 na — 62 9.5
35 44 23
— —
— —
52 8 54
39 10 57
61
60
— —
— —
25 2
33 15
48 48 52
66 25 75
—
—
47
9
—
—
—
24
36
— —
— —
11 38 39
20 44 40
54
49
— —
— —
34 28
38 29
69 73 13
69 76 11
—
—
14
316.3 259.2 4,326.0 na 858.5
56
68
10.5 10.5 10.4 na 10.6
29 3 25 21 31
54 61 42 22 35
3,111.0 4,520.0 1,540.0 1,440.9 na
18 12 30 36
15.8 16.9 17.4 16.8 na
26 18 15 19
—
22 6 35 39 26
—
48 65 29 29 25
18.0 11.4 13.0 10.5 14.1
16 53 44 60 39
-67 30 47 57 18
1,221.4 5,486.0 1,066.0 2,638.0 3,019.8
42 8 46 22 19
47 12 48 25 28
13.2 9.1 16.3 14.1 8.5
35 65 22 32 67
70 41 17 38 51
21 7 11 28 43
22.5 17.9 15.4 14.7 23.8
7 17 28 32 4
5 23 27 73 6
1,166.0 7,810.0 3,900.0 5,342.0 1,044.8
43 3 16 9 47
45 7 18 15 52
31.8 10.9 15.8 13.0 20.5
4 46 26 39 10
5 59 21 72 12
— —
— —
— —
—
— —
61 75
70 74
67 52
67 57
24 69
55 68
—
—
—
—
—
—
10.5 na 16.0 6.5 na
48
—
74 71
2,768.0 na 374.9 879.0 na
20
—
68 69
9.8 na 10.3 6.3 na
65
—
—
—
214.0 103.7 74.2 1,045.0 83.0
39 57 63 4 61
32 46 69 6 50
26.7 30.9 9.8 16.1 18.9
2 1 65 24 14
2 1 62 32 3
1,511.5 253.8 620.9 6,964.0 316.0
32 74 58 4 70
42 71 60 8 72
14.2 40.9 12.0 15.0 26.3
31 1 42 28 5
14 1 47 37 2
75.8 69.3 63.2 235.8 na
62 64 66 35
59 67
50 73 12 58
28 77
64 41 68 25
16 73
—
—
—
—
—
16.5 5.3 19.3 10.3 na
21 73 11 54
—
459.1 1,319.2 327.5 2,297.7 na
62 43
47
12.1 6.4 19.4 10.8 na
—
—
—
na na 16.3 23.7 19.1 11.1 na na 13.9 22.8
— 64
na na 4,673.9 1,422.3 1,395.6 875.0 na na 1,462.3 1,559.0
— 27
na na 10.4 23.8 10.3 9.6 na na 15.9 34.3
6
— 63
Note: There are 79 companies ranked for operating profits and operating profit margins and 75 ranked for chemical assets and return on chemical assets, na = not available.
MAY 4, 1998 C&EN 2 7
business^
High Society
Difluoroaromatics and many more fluorinated aromatic compounds are available for your development projects and bulk productions. Rely on our expertise.
BliedSignal Specialty Chemicals P.O. Box 1053 Morristown, N.J. 07962 1-973-455-6414 1-973-455-5000 (Fax) Manufactured by Riedel-de Haen GmbH • Seelze /Germany 28 MAY 4, 1998 C&EN
CIRCLE 21 ON READER SERVICE CARD
anamid agrochemicals business, at 35th, and Ciba Specialty Chemicals, which was spun off from Novartis, at 43rd. The remaining six new companies fall toward the bottom of the rankings. Creanova, a Hiils subsidiary that has replaced—and is slightly smaller than—Hiils America is 84th; the U.S. operations of Albright & Wilson is 90th; oil-field supplier Baker Hughes, which acquired Petrolite, is 92nd; Calgon Carbon is 97th; Westvaco, which finally is disclosing its chemical sales, is 98th; and Minerals Technologies is 100th. Nine companies also disappeared from the previous listing. The biggest of these was Rhone-Poulenc, which got caught up as it restructured and changed the name of its chemicals operations to Rhodia. A Rhodia spokeswoman says because the company was reorganizing itself at the end of the year, it did not report U.S. sales for either Rhone-Poulenc or Rhodia. Rhone-Poulenc had ranked 31st in the 1996 survey. Also disappearing from the current list are Freeport-McMoRan, previously 65th, which sold its fertilizer operations; Georgia-Pacific, previously ranked 95th, also selling its chemical operations; Hiils America, previously ranked 85th, succeeded by Creanova; Kemira, 1996's 100th, did not make the list this year; and Loctite and Petrolite both were acquired. And finally, Rexene, last year's 82nd ranked company, was acquired by Huntsman Chemical. At least two companies will disappear when this list is compiled next year. National Starch will be fully integrated into ICI and, thus, will no longer be on the list. And Lyondell Petrochemical, which is currently ranked 31st, has moved its chemical operations into a joint venture—Equistar—along with Millennium's and Occidental's petrochemical operations. Thus, Lyondell will not be on the list, and Millennium and Occidental will be smaller. Which brings up a point for the future of the Top 100 chemical producers list. In the past, C&EN has surveyed U.S. companies and the U.S. operations of foreign companies. However, it seems that it may be time to include, where data are available, joint ventures. For instance, the Equistar venture projects annual sales of about $6 billion, which would rank it in the top 10 U.S. chemical producers. There are also other joint ventures of significant size that are not reported anywhere. Next year, C&EN will attempt to find sales figures for these ventures and include them in the Top 100.^
