Manufacturing (Chemicals)

The companies in the chemical industry produce industrial chemicals. In this era, chemical industries convert the raw materials such as oil, natural gas, air, water, metals and minerals into more than 70,000 different products.

In chemical industry, engineers use chemical processes such as chemical reactions and refining methods to manufacture varieties of solid, liquid and gaseous materials. Chemical products are mainly used to manufacture other items, but there are a few chemical products such as pesticides, solvents, lye, washing soda, Portland cement etc that are used by consumers.

The manufacturers of chemical industry manufacture different kinds of chemicals such as organic chemicals e.g. phenol, inorganic chemicals e.g. ammonia, ceramic products e.g. silica brick, elastomers also called rubber e.g. neoprene, petrochemicals e.g. ethylene, agrochemicals e.g. herbicides, polymers e.g. polyester, oleo chemicals e.g. soybean oil, explosives e.g. ammonium nitrate, fragrances and flavours e.g. vanillin. There will be a research and development laboratory in most of the chemical industries for developing and testing the products and processes.

Manufacturing (Chemicals) Industry Current Trends 

In Asia, India is one of the most growing contributors to the global chemical industry. India has emerged as one of the destinations for chemical companies worldwide. With the current size of approximately $108 billion, the Indian chemical industry accounts for ~3% of the global chemical industry. With current initiatives of industry & government, the Indian chemical industry could grow at 11% p.a. to reach size of $224 billion by 2017. In terms of volume, India is the third-largest producer of chemicals in Asia, after China and Japan.

Manufacturing (Chemicals) Major Industry Players 

Some of the key players in chemical industry are Tata chemicals, India Glycols, Phillips Carbon in India, BASF in Germany, Dow chemical in UK, DuPont in US, and Mitsubishi chemicals in Japan.