Chemical Industry has an everlasting effect on humankind. They are responsible for the life of people in critical danger, help in better agricultural yield, provide jobs to millions of people across the globe. Moreover, this industry has a very everlasting effect on the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the chemical industry accounts for more than 25 percent of the country’s G.D.P. In addition, it accounts for 15 percent of the global production of chemicals across the globe. It also provides direct jobs to 800,000 people in the USA and provides chemicals-related business opportunities to 6 million people residing in the country. So, in this article, we will be preenting top 10 Largest Chemical Companies in USA over here.
Top 10 Largest Chemical Companies
The chemical industry has many subsectors: Basic chemicals, specialty chemicals, consumer products, agricultural, and pharmaceuticals. Some of the largest companies in the United States producing these products are:
- Dow: One of the world’s largest companies Dow has products ranging from insulation materials to agriculture. It is a huge producer of polycarbonate products like Polystyrene and synthetic rubber. It produces fungicides, herbicides, genetically modified plant seeds, water purification systems and technologies, and several other types of products. The also produces hydrocarbons, plastics of simple grade. During the covid pandemic, the company also started the production of sanitizers.
- LyondellBasell: Once one of the world’s largest revenue collecting companies in the world today is going through losses. However, a positive curve has been seen in its shares. This company is a multinational oil corporation. It produces various products from oil refining. The company had gained a negative audience due to one of the worst oil leaks in the world in Alaska. If it reconsiders its project management and operation team it would help it in gaining confidence in the market and profits in the stock market.
- ExxonMobil: Once one of the world’s largest revenue collecting companies in the world today is going through losses. However, a positive curve has been seen in its shares. This company is a multinational oil corporation. It produces various products from oil refining. The company had gained a negative audience due to one of the worst oil leaks in the world in Alaska. If it reconsiders its project management and operation team it would help it in gaining confidence in the market and profits in the stock market.
- DuPont: It produces electronics, mobility materials, and other specialty products. Although the company has broken up into 3 subsidiaries its performance in the market has been quite appreciated. However, it needs to keep its assets and the global concerns into consideration and act accordingly. The company already had to pay more than half a billion dollars due to the legal actions taken by the people of West Virginia for harming nature and affecting thousands of families.
- Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.: The company is known for the production of liquified nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide. The liquified hydrogen is used as a fuel at refueling stations for space expeditions. The company has had a long 50 years of relation with NASA. Its fuel was used in NASA’s prestigious missions like Mercury and Apollo.
- Mosaic: The company is well known for its 25 percent stake in the company Ma’aden Wa’ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company joint venture in Saudi Arabia. It is also known for producing potash and phosphates. The phosphate is used for making fertilizers benefitting the country’s land and its people. However, the potash is exported to other countries thus contributing to the country’s G.D.P.
- Eastman Chemical Company: The company is well known for the production of its daily use products like adhesives which are used for joining glass pieces and home construction. It also produces copolyesters which are used in transportation and construction.
- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, LLC: It is a petrochemical company formed by the coalition of two companies Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. It is involved in the production of chemicals such as ethylene aromatic compounds etc.
- Westlake Chemical: It is the largest producer of Low-Density Polyethene also known as LSDP in abbreviated form. It is also the international producer of petrochemical polymers, fabricated building products.
- Ecolab: Water is one of the most essential things human beings need for their survival. Many people in our country are forced to drink water that is completely unfit for human use. Ecolab provides services for water treatment, purification, cleaning, and hygienic purposes. It also assists organizations and restaurants in what type of water is suitable for what purpose and consultation services to restaurants.
The Covid pandemic hit hard the entire world and shook the chemical industry too. However, there are various other reasons for the predicted downfall of this sector. Let us see those reasons and discuss them briefly, which resulted in losses and decreased sales to these top ten companies.
Covid Pandemic
The pandemic led people to think about sustainability leading to decreasing in carbon footprint. All of us use carbon products extensively in our lives, and these companies make huge revenue through the production of these products. The plumbing to the plates in our homes in which we enjoy our dinner have carbon in them. The rise of sustainability led to the increasing demand for products with less carbon footprint and decreased sales. Now the companies have to be creative and think of new technology to decrease the carbon footprint. Controlling pandemic is out of human reach but preventing it from spreading is in our hands. The chemical sector should focus more on sustainability, make eco-friendly products, and try to make people believe that they are trying their best and researching the new products. Still, for the customer, security comes supreme.
Petroleum Industry
Petrol or “black gold” is an asset to the country, but we have to pay the price for it. This non-renewable source of energy is causing harm to the environment. There are many environmental concerns while refining and carrying crude oil. The air gets polluted with harmful chemicals like benzene, toluene, and many more. The wastewater is not disposed of judiciously, leading to pollution, leading to global warming. The high standards set by the Government also led to losses. Nevertheless, the protocols set are valid, and the companies need to strictly abide by them to prevent natural calamities such as earthquakes caused by injecting wastewater deep inside the Earth.
Agricultural Products
The largest chemical company in the United States, Dow manufactures insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These products help increase the crop yield, but they pollute the soil and prolonged uses result in a nutrient drain from the soil, and then these chemicals reach the water bodies, leading to an imbalance in the water bodies such as lakes and ponds. In addition, it leads to increased rates of eutrophication and biomagnification. As a result, the water bodies have an excess of phosphorus, nitrogen making the water unfit for human use. The company also produces genetically modified seeds for increased production of crops and feed the growing population. These plants can affect the ecosystem, and they need to be proctored for at least 10 years to see their side effects on the environment. These things lead to questions from environmentalists to the companies and a decrease in their shares.
New Policies
The Covid pandemic made the government revise their policies and consider higher domestic inputs and investments, which has made the companies revise their future investment plans. However, the sudden economic changes have also made way to the long-term deceleration of the companies.
The Shift from Oil to Electric Automobiles
The tax cut on electric cars motivated people to shift from gas to electric automobiles. The environmentalists have been raising the issue of increasing global warming, and the Government felt resentment from the public, which led to this millennium change. The expensive electric automobiles are long-time price saving and more energy-efficient than primitive gas-operated cars.
In such a situation the companies should concentrate on their marketing department. Electric cars surely are cost-effective on a long-term basis, but even they require electricity as their fuel is provided by charging their batteries. The electricity used is made by hydroelectric powerplant or solars or coal or wind. All these processes are either expensive or disturbing nature, or diminishing the natural non-renewable sources of energy. Companies can highlight these points through advertisements. However, the real solution would be to invest in research and technology to develop efficiently machined to increase their efficiency and make them environment friendly.
Abundant Stocking might endanger US global exports.
The United States is the major buyer of crude oil from the Middle East. The country has a huge production of low-cost polyethylene and ethylene against other competitors. The low prices of oil have resulted in huge imports and abundant production of these compounds. This can result in low prices of the products. The competitors would be able to complete their needs as they even profit from decreased prices, and the country will either get overstock with the products or be forced to sell their products way cheaper. The industries produce the products from oil, and these companies would be affected by it.
Increasing remote work from home channels.
Before the Covid pandemic, nobody would have thought that people can work from home and there would be a virtual professional life and official meeting in PJs. But, all work cannot be done by being at our homes with the comfort of getting a regular paycheque. The chemical companies are involved in the industrial sector, and it requires constant monitoring and quality checks before it is packed and shipped to the market for sale. However, companies developed technologies to make the work happen from home, but we cannot trust machines. The Chernobyl Accident in Ukraine(then USSR), the Bhopal Gas tragedy in India prove that human monitoring is important in this sector. There is no scope for any mistake, and any made can be life-threatening.
The only solution to this problem, in my opinion, would be to practice the 6 feet distancing from one to another and opt for a 40 percent workforce on each workday or working at 50 percent employees and calling the rest on another day. Alternate schedule for all until and unless the Pandemic gets over.
Conclusion
The chemical companies in the United States need to rethink and plan for their future and opt for domestic investments. The companies need to be creative and search for new alternative ideas which promote sustainability and decreased danger to the environment. The government should give some rebates to the chemical companies to invest in the domestic market easily. There is time for the company to improvise on their mistakes, learn from them and think creatively to prevent them from going downhill in the business world.
Frequently Asked questions
- Is it sure that the chemical companies will go through losses in the long term?
No, the losses are just a prediction. If the companies don’t do anything about the present problems, they will have to face difficulties in the future. But, on the other hand, if the companies adjust accordingly to the changes, then they will profitable again.
- All the amendments made by the government is making are affecting the chemical companies. Doesn’t it show that the government is against chemical companies?
The amendments made by the Government are to control the increasing rates of global warming. The United States has the highest emission of carbon dioxide in the world and scores 6.7. Climate change made way for these amendments. Today, chemical companies need to think creatively for better problem solving and find new technologies to make eco-friendly products at lower prices to be made available to all. Thus, it is wrong to blame the Government for not taking care of the chemical companies.
- What can the companies do to prevent abundant stocking?
The ideal solution would be to decrease the import of oil from the Middle East. However, there are many hurdles to it. There are chances that Iran and Iraq will try to conquer the oil fields, and the army would need to intervene again. But companies can make their products provide to countries at a bit lower profits than their earlier times so that overstocking is prevented and they don’t have to lower their prices way too hard.
- Should the companies invest in new projects during the pandemic?
It would be highly advisable that the companies refrain from investing huge amounts of money into new areas. Right now, the companies need to make more from less. They need to look for new affordable technologies to increase their sales. Huge investments are risky because we don’t know whether the Covid pandemic end with the third wave or God forbade more chances for more. Because each time the wave came, the market went through downhill.
- When people are dying due to Covid, is it recommended to invest in chemical companies like Ecolab?
Water is an integral part of human life. It is required in distilled form as saline water for patients to regulate their body hydration. It is also needed for maintaining the hygienic conditions in the hospitals. During this time, services from companies like Ecolab are the savior for the patients. Thus, investing in similar companies would be highly profitable from a business perspective.
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