The U.S. chemical industry

Several aspects of the U.S. chemical scene have been commented on in the earlier section of this chapter concerned with international comparisons with the U.K. chemical industry (section 4.3.2). These were items such as sales, growth rates and trade with the U.K. The remainder of this chapter will therefore be devoted to a brief consideration of some of the larger U.S. chemical companies. Bear in mind that, as with any very large chemical company, they are all multinationals, and their activities cover practically all the important sectors of chemicals manufacture. Comments on their interests are therefore confined to just a few areas that the company is particularly strong in, or noted for. Another point to remember is that, partly due to the physical size of the country, important manufacturing locations are numerous and, unlike the U.K., it is not reasonable to try and list them. 

Du Pont. This has been the largest American chemical company for a number of years, and is noted for its high level of expenditure on research and development. It is the world s largest producer of man-made fibres. Its Teflon (polytetralluoroethylene) is well known to the general public as the coating for non-stick cooking utensils. Since its takeover of the giant Conoco oil company in 1981, which has doubled total sales, the whole nature of the company has altered. 

Union Carbide. As its name suggests, this company started by making calcium carbide. It ranks third in the U.S.A. for chemical sales, but is a diverse company with only about 40% of its revenue coming from chemical sales. Areas of particular interest are agricultural chemicals, industrial gases, and plastics. Although it has many overseas subsidiaries, it sold most of its European interests to BP in 1978. 

This is part of the giant Exxon Corporation, which is perhaps still better known by its former name of Standard Oil of New Jersey in the U.S. A. 

In the U.K. the company is well known for its petrol sales under the Esso name. As one might expect, therefore, its interests are primarily in petrochemicals and derived products. The majority of its sales are outside the U.S.A. 

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Market research in the U.S. chemical industry began to be formalized as early as 1940. In 1945, the Chemical Market Research Association (CMRA) was formed with 75 members. In mid-1965, it was renamed and became the Chemical Marketing Research Association to reflect the broadened function of its members. In 1990, the CMRA was again renamed and is now the Chemical Management and Resources Association and has about 1000 members. 

Fuels. Two-thirds of the fuel used by the United States chemical industry in 1988 was natural gas [8006-14-2] which is clean and easy to combust (see Gas, natural). Although relatively inexpensive at the wellhead, natural gas is cosdy to transport. Hence the chemical industry is concentrated in regions where natural gas is produced, keeping the average price paid by the U.S. chemical industry for natural gas in 1988 to only 80% of the average U.S. industrial price (1). Similarly the movement of chemical commodity production to the Middle East is driven by the desire to obtain low cost natural gas. 

The U.S. chemical industry achieved an annual reduction of 4.2% in energy input per unit of output for the period 1975—1985 (2). This higher reduction resulted from cost optimization, the tradeoff of increased capital for reduced energy use, that was driven by energy prices (4). In contrast, from 1985 to 1990, the energy input per unit of output has been almost flat (2) as a consequence of falling prices. The average price the U.S. chemical industry paid for natural gas fell by one-third between 1985 and 1988 (1,5). 

Although the U.S. chemical industry is committed to converting from American Engineering Standard units to the metric standards, or SI units, the actual progress in... 

FIGURE 1.1 While the overall U.S. trade balance has plummeted to a deficit of more than 150 billion, the U.S. chemical industry has maintained a positive balance of trade. Courtesy, Department of Commerce. 

Costs associated with increased government regulation are also difficult to quantify. Public concern in response to chemical release accidents affects regulators and community policy groups. It is evident that the U.S. chemical industry is already spending large amounts of money to avoid accidents and to deal with their consequences when they occur these costs are borne in part by the consumers. Continued expenditures are likely as industry strives to achieve an "acceptable" level of public safety throughout all chemical industry operations. 

Technology Vision 2020 The U.S. Chemical Industry, The American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, The Chemical Manufacturers Association, The Council for Chemical Research, and the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, Washington, D.C., 1996. 

Site Security Guidelines for the U.S. Chemical Industry, American Chemistry Council, October 2001. 

The U.S. chemical industry employs more than one million people and produces more than seventy thousand products. 

Eveleth, W. T, ed. (1990). Kline guide to the U.S. chemical industry. Fifth Edition. Fairfield, N.J. Kline and Company, Inc. 

Benzene from coal coking started to become less important in the 1950s as the benzene market mushroomed considerably faster than the steel market, and the marginal supply of benzene came from petroleum refining. Coal-based benzene for the U.S. chemical industry dropped from nearly 100% in 1955 to 50% in the 1960s and less than 5% after the 1980s. Coal-based economies like South Africa and New Zealand sail rely considerably more on coal-derived benzene. 

To meet its goals, the U.S. chemical industry should accomplish the following ... 

Chemical science is the most fundamental driver of advances within the chemical industry. Maintaining and improving the competitiveness of the U.S. chemical industry requires advances in three areas of chemical science chemical synthesis, bioprocesses and biotechnology, and materials technology. 

See N.A. Ashford, D. Hattis, G.R. Heaton, A. Jaffe, S. Owen, and W.C. Priest, Environmental/Safety Regulation and Technological Change in the U.S. Chemical Industry, Report to the National Science Foundation by the Center for Policy Alternatives, MIT, March 1979. 

Ozokwelu, D. Porcelli, J. Akinjiola, P. Chemical Bandwidth study, Exergy Analysis A Powerful Tool for Identifying Process Inefficiencies in the U.S. Chemical Industry, 2006. 

German technology was a war prize. The war had also stimulated the U.S. chemical industry explosives to be sure, but most notably dyestuffs by Dow and Du Pont and nitrogen fixation and nitric acid manufacture by government-financed plants at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Gasoline demand for... 

The difficulties resulting from world overcapacities were enhanced in the United States by the behavior of financial circles and the reaction to this behavior of the U.S. chemical industry leaders. America s chemical giants had reached their advanced stage of development because of the long patience of their shareholders and the acumen of their leaders... 

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