Western Europe, chemical industry

Today, the chemical industry is one of the largest and most diversified in the world. The total value of chemical products sold in 2003 was about USD 1.24 trillion (excluding pharmaceutical and consumer product sales of approximately USD 660 billion). Western Europe accounted for 35 percent of this, the United States for 23 percent, and Japan for 11 percent (Fig. 1.1). Within the OECD member states, chemicals and petroleum products make a larger contribution to GDP than any other manufacturing industry. In Western Europe, chemicals account for approximately 1.3 percent of the total economy. 

Tetraacetylethylenediarnine (T AFP) perborate activator production has been estimated by industry sources to be 54,000 t to 63,600 t per year as of 1990. The production is located solely in Western Europe where the product is consumed. No estimates of the perborate activator nonanoyloxyben2ene sulfonate production volumes are available because it is captive chemical of the Procter Gamble Co. 

The pattern of commercial production of 1,3-butadiene parallels the overall development of the petrochemical industry. Since its discovery via pyrolysis of various organic materials, butadiene has been manufactured from acetylene as weU as ethanol, both via butanediols (1,3- and 1,4-) as intermediates (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). On a global basis, the importance of these processes has decreased substantially because of the increasing production of butadiene from petroleum sources. China and India stiU convert ethanol to butadiene using the two-step process while Poland and the former USSR use a one-step process (229,230). In the past butadiene also was produced by the dehydrogenation of / -butane and oxydehydrogenation of / -butenes. However, butadiene is now primarily produced as a by-product in the steam cracking of hydrocarbon streams to produce ethylene. Except under market dislocation situations, butadiene is almost exclusively manufactured by this process in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. 

Only 10 firms account for 75% of agrochemicals sales, while the 15 largest drug companies have a market share of only 33% (Stinson, 1995). About 85% of fine chemicals are manufactured by companies of the triad the United States (28%), Western Europe (39%), and Japan (17%). Italy, with 4.0 million litres reactor capacity and 71 manufacturers, topped the European fine chemicals industry (Layman, 1993). Recently India, China, and Eastern-Central European countries have gained a significant proportion of the market, as a result of the lower direct labour costs and the more relaxed environmental and safety standards. It is fair to state that the high quality of chemists in these countries has also contributed to this development. In 1993, the cost of producing fine chemicals in India was 12% below that in Europe (Layman, 1993). 

There are no occupational exposure limits for many hazardous substances which may require control of inhalation exposures. The necessary data and other resources required for setting such limits is restricted and unlikely to match the potential demand. A hazard categorisation scheme was, therefore, developed for application within the chemical industry. The scheme used readily-available information on toxicological endpoints to place hazardous substances into a limited range of hazard categories, expressed as Occupational Exposure Bands. These Bands could be used as a basis for risk assessment and the selection of appropriate control regimes. 10 refs. EUROPEAN COMMUNITY EUROPEAN UNION UK WESTERN EUROPE... 

The site is loeated in the north-western part of the Czeeh Republie in an area where heavy and chemical industries have operated over more than a eentury. The Slovay plant is probably the oldest chemieal manufacturing facility in Europe (founded in about 1868). Production has been more or less eontinuous ever sinee, and although it is presently being down-sized, the faeility is still in operation. A large variety of ehemicals, from ehlorinated solvents to sulphate- and nitrate-based ehemicals, has been produeed over the past 40 years. 

The chemical industry is a pillar of this booming economy. It employs 3.5 million people and contributed 2.5 percent to the total value-added in China in 2004 -roughly four times the figure in the USA and about twice as much as in Western Europe. 

The 7th international symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering represents another milestone in the advancement of the art and science of the chemical reactor. Forty-six contributed papers are presented here nineteen from Western Europe, five from Asia and Australia, one from Canada, and twenty-one from the United States. The Symposium continues to be dominated by university professors—only six papers have one or more coauthors from industry. If chemical reaction engineering is to serve industry, strong messages from industry are needed in the future. A bridge cannot give good service if there is a massive pier on one shore and a flimsy one on the other. 

The principal use for sodium sulfide in the United States is for dehairing leather before tanning, in Western Europe for leather tanning, and in Japan for production of chemicals and dyes. The major use for NaHS in the United States is the pulp and paper industry, followed by metals and minerals. In Japan, sodium hydrosulfide is mainly used in the production of chemicals and dyes, in wastewater treatment, and in leather tanning.11... 

The value of non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) chemical production is expected to almost triple by 2020, while in OECD countries it will increase by about only 60% [76]. Western Europe is predicted to experience a large reduction in growth rates when comparing 1990-2000 with predictions for 2000-2010 [76]. The shift towards service-based industries in Western countries at the expense of sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and durable goods, further implies a move away from chemicals [76]. 

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