== COMMODITY CHEMICALS == (statistics in parentheses are from previous years) historical price is a running average of spot checks B lbs '97 $/lb '95-8 Organics (285.9) Inorganics (464.1) Plastics 78.3 Sulfuric acid 95.6 .04 Nitrogen 82.6 Oxygen 64.7 Ethylene 51.1 .23 Lime 42.6 .03 Ammonia 38.4 .09 Propylene 27.5 .17 Phosphoric acid (P2O5) 26.8 .40 Ethylene dichloride 26.3 .17 Sulfur 26.2 .18 Chlorine 26.0 .12 Sodium carbonate 22.9 .33 Sodium hydroxide 22.7 1.42 Nitric acid 18.1 .17 Methyl t-butyl ether (17.7) Ammonium nitrate 16.5 .08 Benzene 16.5 .13 Urea 15.5 .11 Vinyl chloride (15.0) .18 LD polyethylene 14.6 .46 Thermoplastics PVC 14.1 .30 Thermoplastics Polypropylene 13.3 .38 Thermoplastics Ethylbenzene 12.7 (.27) HD polyethylene 12.5 .39 Thermoplastics Styrene 11.4 .29 Methanol (11.3) .06 Xylene (9.4) .11 Hydrochloric acid 8.4 .12 Ethylene oxide 8.2 .47 Formaldehyde (8.1) .34 Terephthalic acid (8.0) .29 p-Xylene 7.8 .23 Toluene (6.7) .11 Polystyrene 6.6 .41 Thermoplastics Cumene 6.1 .18 Ammonium sulfate 5.6 .02 Ethylene glycol (5.2) .24 Acetic acid (4.7) .36 Polyester 4.3 -- thermoplastics Phenol (4.2) .41 Polyester 4.1 .74 Fibers Butadiene 4.1 .19 Propylene oxide (4.0) .64 Phenol/tar acid 3.6 -- thermosets Acrylonitrile 3.3 .53 Carbon black (3.3) .29 Isobutylene (3.2) .31 Potash (K2O) 3.2 .48 Titanium dioxide 3.0 1.01 Vinyl acetate (2.9) .45 Acetone (2.8) .39 Nylon 2.8 -- fibers Butyraldehyde (2.7) .48 Polyolefin 2.5 -- fibers Aluminum sulfate 2.4 .12 Urea 2.3 -- thermosets Sodium silicate (2.2) .25 Cyclohexane (2.1) .18 Styrene-butadiene 2.1 -- rubbers Hydrogen 2.0 Adipic acid (1.8) .69 Nitrobenzene (1.7) .33 Polyester 1.6 .74 Thermosets Bisphenol A (1.6) .94 Isopropyl alcohol 1.5 .34 Calcium Chloride (1.4) .14 Sodium chlorate 1.3 .23 Sodium sulfate 1.3 .06 Aniline 1.3 .49 Polybutadiene 1.2 -- rubbers Nylon 1.2 -- thermoplastics o-Xylene 1.1 .14 2-Ethylhexanol 0.8 .56 Epoxy 0.7 -- thermosets Hydrogen peroxide (0.7) .70 EP 0.7 -- rubbers Bromine 0.6 .56 Acrylic 0.5 -- fibers Rayon & Acetate 0.5 -- fibers Phosphorus (0.5) 1.25 Melamine 0.3 -- thermosets Nitrile 0.2 -- rubbers Polychloroprene 0.2 -- rubbers Lithium 0.006 39.05 Sodium -- 1.55 == CHEMICAL COMPANIES == (statistics in parentheses are from previous years) $M 97 Sales 98 R&D BASF (Ger) 27,047 (1213) Merck 23,637 (1684) Dupont 21,295 1100 Bayer (Ger) 19,178 (915) Dow Chemical 19,056 789 Bristol-Meyers Squibb 16,701 (1385) Hoechst (Ger) 16,294 (527) SHELL (UK) 14,252 Exxon 14,024 (177) 3M (13,460) (1002) ICI (UK) 13,349 Pfizer 12,504 (1928) Abbott Labs 11,884 -- Akzo Nobel (Neth) 9,998 (323) Elf Aquitaine (Fr) 9,954 (291) Rhone-Poulenc (Fr) 9,869 -- Eli Lilly 8,518 (1382) Sumitomo Chem (J) 8,197 Warner-Lambert 8,180 -- Dainippi I&C (Jap) 7,421 Veba (Ger) (7,029) -- Clariant (Switz) 7,017 (241) Norsk Hydro (Nor) 6,874 Schering-Plough 6,778 (847) Huls (Ger) 6,751 (183) Mitsubishi Chem (J) 6,740 (62) General Electric 6,695 Pharmacia & Upjohn 6,586 Union Carbide 6,502 166 SABIC (Saudi) 6,415 (94) Toray Indust (Jap) 6,343 Henkel (Ger) 6,186 (151) DSM (Neth) 6,122 (226) BOC (UK) 6,018 (132) Amoco 5,941 Solvay (Belg) 5,906 (126) Novartis (Switz) 5,738 (506) (Ciba/Sandoz merger) ENI (Ital) 5,668 (97) Air Liquide (Fr) 5,458 Ciba Specialties (Switz) 5,390 (208) British Petr (UK) 5,115 Huntsman Corp 5,000 Celanese 4,950 Total (Fr) 4,889 BASF 4,860 Praxair 4,735 83 ('92 Carbide spin-off) Shell Oil 4,725 Eastman Chemical 4,678 190 (Kodak spin-off) ICI Americas 4,615 Asahi Chem (Jap) 4,591 Unilever (UK) (4,572) Occidental Petr. 4,349 Degussa (Ger) 4,274 -- Allied Signal 4,254 (349) Air Products 4,122 113 Zeneca (UK) 4,121 Formosa Plastics (T) 4,050 Ashland 4,047 Rohm and Haas 3,999 205 Arco Chemical 3,995 79 Showa Denko (Jap) 3,979 -- Solutia 3,969 56 ('97 Monsanto spinoff) Roche (Switz) 3,949 (233) Sekusi Chem (J) 3,863 Reliance Industries (Ind) 3,691 (10) Mitsui Petrochem (J) (3,673) Mitsui Toatsu (Jap) (3,663) Chevron 3,632 Phillips Petroleum 3,528 W.R. Grace 3,313 96 Mobil 3,251 Monsanto 3,126 (939) Millenium 3,048 IMC Global 2,989 Dow Corning 2,643 -- Akzo-Nobel 2,605 National Starch 2,455 Lyondell Petrochem. 2,346 Rhône-Poulenc (2,300) FMC 2,254 166 Solvay America 2,200 Witco 2,187 78 Amer. Home Prod. 2,119 (1558) (bought Cyanamide, '94) Elf Atochem 2,000 Hercules 1,866 56 Potash Corp. Sask. 1,826 Henkel America 1,800 Morton International 1,681 63 Lubrizol 1,674 90 PPG Industries 1,647 254 Ciba Specialty Chem 1,565 Zeneca Inc. 1,550 Crompton & Knowles 1,540 55 Engelhard 1,513 Nalco Chemical 1,434 42 CF Industries 1,432 Cabot 1,430 85 International Flavors 1,427 (94) Olin 1,340 30 Arcadian Partners (1,314) Great Lakes Chem. 1,311 H. B. Fuller 1,307 (28) BetzDearborn 1,295 42 Cytec 1,291 44 (Cyanamide spin-off) Borden Inc. 1,291 Farmland Industries 1,264 Geon 1,250 18 Wellman 1,083 Ethyl 1,064 72 Fina 1,059 DSM 1,000 Courtalds 1,005 Georgia Gulf 996 Freeport-McMoRan (920) Sterling Chemical 909 BF Goodrich 905 Sigma-Aldrich 902 Aristech 897 NL Industries 894 Degussa 871 BP America 842 Albemarle 830 (31) ('94 Ethyl spin-off) Terra Industries 802 Loctite (800) Kerr-McGee 760 Union Camp 758 Intl. Specialty Prod. 749 -- Borden Chemicals 737 Alum. Co. of Amer. 670 Vulcan Materials 628 GenCorp 615 Rexene (588) Stepan 582 Ferro 566 Sun Co. 565 Creanova 550 Hüls America (550) Laporte 531 Mississippi Chemical 521 Lonza 520 General Chemical 519 Bush Boake Allen 491 Albright & Wilson 487 ChemFirst 446 (8) Unocal 439 Baker-Hughes 417 Cambrex Corp. 380 Georgia-Pacific (356) Petrolite (342) (15) Mallinckrodt 335 Terra Nitrogen 335 McWhorter Tech 332 Calgon Carbon 328 Westvaco 326 Asarco 324 Minerals Tech 299 Kemira (293) Procter & Gamble -- 1282 --- Cl - Na / | /| Na - Cl | | Na | Cl === (Grain of Salt) ==== | / |/ Cl - Na The information above has been collected from various published sources with no cross checking of the numbers. To the best of my knowledge this information is accurate, but there may be transcription errors and I'm offering it for use more to provide a ballpark idea of the volume/size and price/research effort of the major chemicals and chemical companies, rather than as an authoritative reference. EC