The document summarizes the performance of chemical companies in North America, Europe, and Asia in 2013 based on an analysis by ICIS Chemical Business. In North America, the top 10 chemical companies benefited from continued economic recovery in the US and low shale gas prices. Companies like PPG Industries and Ecolab saw double-digit sales and earnings growth through acquisitions. Looking ahead, companies are pursuing both growth through M&A and portfolio optimization through divestitures. In Europe, economic challenges slowed sales for most top companies. Major players are focusing on commodity consolidation to improve competitiveness against low-cost US shale gas. INEOS and others are planning US ethane import terminals to access cheaper feedstocks.

1. 15-21 September 2014 | ICIS Chemical Business | 27www.icis.com
SPECIAL REPORT TOP 100 ANALYSIS
MarieEmmermann/Skizzomat
WILL BEACHAM LONDON
Economic challenges continued to impact chemical
companies in all regions in 2013. This year, the US shale
gas boom takes centre stage as construction gets started
ICIS Top 100
regions
R
egional leaders faced tough trading
conditions in 2013 as the global
economy continued to sputter.
Stronger economic performance in
the US was offset by contraction in Europe and
slower growth in Asia.
Since then, European chemical companies
have become sharply focused on improving
their competitive position, especially in com-
modities where consolidation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the US race for shale gas con-
tinues, with a building programme that will
see new capacity on stream in 2017-2018. ■
ICB_150914_027.indd 27 2014-09-12 10:54

2. www.icis.com28 | ICIS Chemical Business | 15-21 September 2014
SPECIAL REPORT TOP 100 ANALYSIS
2013 WAS a solid year for both
sales and profit gains for the top
10 chemical companies based in
North America as the US economy
continued its recovery, although
at a slow and steady pace.
Producers with petrochemical as-
sets in the US also benefited from
the shale gas boom as natural
gas liquids (NGL) feedstock costs
remained low.
On the top line,PPG Industries
and Ecolab showed notable rev-
enue gains of nearly 12% each,
aided by mergers and acquisitions
(M&A). The bottom line was even
better as earnings surged 38% for
both PPG and Ecolab.
Coatings giant PPG Industries
received a boost from the acquisi-
tion of AkzoNobel’s North American
architectural coatings business but
also saw higher organic sales
growth in 2013,propelling it from
the #6 slot in 2012,to #5 for 2013
with $15.1bn in sales. Expect even
higher sales and earnings growth
from PPG in 2014 and beyond. In
June 2014,it agreed to buy Mexico-
based coatings company Comex for
$2.3bn. Comex has annual sales
of around $1bn.
Ecolab,which specialises in in-
stitutional cleaning,water treat-
ment and oilfield chemicals,
booked $13.3bn in sales in 2013,
also moving up a notch to the #6
position on the leaderboard.
Ecolab acquired US-based oil-
field chemicals company Champion
Technologies for $2.3bn in April
2013,tacking on around $1.3bn in
annual sales.
Coatings company Sherwin-
Williams made its way into the Top
10 with a 6.8% sales gain to
$10.2bn for 2013, also aided by
acquisitions, while earnings rose
by 19%.
Looking ahead,there are two
diverging trends. On the growth
side,three of the top 10 –
ExxonMobil Chemical,Dow
Chemical and Chevron Phillips
Chemical and are building major
petrochemical and derivatives pro-
jects,primarily on the US Gulf
Coast to take advantage of shale
gas economics. That will add to
revenues,but mostly starting in
2017-2018.
Also on the growth side, compa-
nies such as PPG Industries,
Sherwin-Williams and Ecolab are
still seeking growth through M&A,
boding well for future moves up the
rankings. Huntsman will get a big
boost if it is able to complete its
planned $1.1bn acquisition of
Rockwood Holdings’ titanium diox-
ide (TiO2) and performance addi-
tives business. The acquisition
has been awaiting European
Commission approval.
On the other side of the equa-
tion,companies such as DuPont
and Dow Chemical are seeking to
trim their portfolios – Dow through
sales of non-core assets and the
separation of its chlorine and de-
rivatives business,and DuPont
through the separation of its perfor-
mance chemicals segment,which
consists mostly of TiO2. These
moves could impact sales signifi-
cantly in the years to come. ■
NORTH AMERICA JOSEPH CHANG NEW YORK
NORTH AMERICA TOP 10 LIFTED BY ECONOMY, SHALE GAS, M&A
NORTH AMERICA TOP 10 LEADERS, $M
Rank Company Sales Operating profit Net profit
2013
% change
(reporting currency) 2013 2012 2013 2012
1 ExxonMobil 59,273 -2.6 5,180 4,885 3,828 3,898
2 Dow Chemical 57,080 0.5 6,804 1,665 4,447 842
3 DuPont 35,734 2.6 3,489 3,088 4,862 2,780
4 Agrium 15,727 -1.9 1,630 2,216 1,063 1,498
5 PPG Industries 15,108 11.8 1,489 1,057 1,156 836
6 Ecolab 13,253 11.9 1,561 1,289 968 704
7 Chevron Phillips Chemical 13,147 -0.7 - - 2,743 2,403
8 Praxair 11,925 6.2 2,625 2,437 1,755 1,692
9 Huntsman 10,847 -1.1 510 845 128 363
10 Sherwin-Williams 10,186 6.8 1,086 907 753 631
NOTE: Please refer to main Top 100 listing (published 8 September) for footnotes.
Companies such
as PPG Industries,
Sherwin-Williams
and Ecolab are still
seeking growth
through M&A, boding
well for future moves
up the rankings
ICB_150914_028.indd 28 11/09/2014 17:54

3. www.icis.com 15-21 September 2014 | ICIS Chemical Business | 29
EUROPE WILL BEACHAM LONDON
COMMODITY CONSOLIDATION BECOMES A KEY THEME FOR EUROPE
EUROPE TOP 10 LEADERS, $M
Sales Operating profit and EBIT Net profit
Rank Company 2013
% change
(reporting currency) 2013 2012 2013 2012
1 BASF 101,906 2.6 10,019 8,889 6670 6354
2 LyondellBasell Industries 44,062 -2.8 5,102 4,676 3857 2848
3 Shell 42,279 -7.6 - - 1843 1374
4 Bayer 29,251 0.5 2,306 2,272 - -
5 INEOS 27,864 -10.8 - - - -
6 Total 25,743 1.4 - - - -
7 Linde Group 22,944 5.2 2,991 2,709 1814 1624
8 Air Liquide 20,974 -0.7 3,591 3,330 2347 2185
9 AkzoNobel 20,099 -5.2 1,320 1,197 911 676
10 Johnson Matthey 18,598 4.0 747 581 565 412
NOTE: Please refer to main Top 100 listing (published 8 September) for footnotes
SPECIAL REPORT TOP 100 ANALYSIS
THE TOP 10 European leaders ta-
ble is only slightly reshuffled from
the previous year. Unsurprisingly
BASF retains its top position with
more than double the sales of its
nearest rival, LyondellBasell, which
swapped places with Shell to
reach second place. Bayer
swapped with INEOS to reach
fourth place.
The year 2013 was a tough one
for the global economy, which grew
at only 2.3% compared with 2.5%
the previous year while Europe
continued to be plagued by GDP
contraction in many countries. The
EU region only achieved 0.1%
growth during the year, though this
was a slight improvement on the
previous year’s contraction of
0.3%. This impacted chemical
companies headquartered in
Europe, many of which suffered
declines in sales revenues.
However the slight improvement in
demand in Europe did allow all the
companies in the top 10 to report
improved operating earnings and
net profits compared to 2012’s
depressed levels.
During 2014 several of the top
players have become very fo-
cussed on major strategic moves
to either exit or beef up and im-
prove the competitive position in
some of their commodities.
In June INEOS announced it is
to acquire an additional 50% stake
in styrenics producer Styrolution
from joint venture partner BASF for
€1.1bn. The deal – which is ex-
pected to close in the fourth quar-
ter of 2014 – will give INEOS full
control of this global styrenics
leader. For BASF this is another
step away from commodities as it
tries to focus on value-added ad-
vanced materials.
INEOS also signed a deal with
Belgium’s Solvay to put their
European chlor vinyls activities into
a JV – to be known as INOVYN.
The deal was given clearance by
the European Commission in May
2014 though the remedy package
has yet to be divested. INEOS has
to sell assets in Tessenderlo
(Belgium), Mazingarbe (France),
Beek (The Netherlands),
Wilhelmshaven (Germany) and
Runcorn (UK).
These moves are signs of the
European chemical sector’s in-
creasing preoccupation with the
threat to its competitive position
posed by the US shale gas revolu-
tion. This has cut energy and feed-
stock prices hugely in the US
whilst Europeans struggle with
high energy costs and taxation as
well as a reliance on naphtha-
based feedstocks.
Just in the last few weeks other
companies have joined INEOS in
seeking to import US ethane as a
way of grabbing some of the US
advantage. INEOS – as ever the
trailblazer – was first to announce
the construction of ethane import
terminals at Rafnes in Norway and
Grangemouth in Scotland. These
facilities are now approved and
under construction. Next Borealis
– the other company with
European gas crackers – an-
nounced a similar construction
project plus a cracker upgrade
scheme for its Stenungsund,
Norway, facility.
In August SABIC revealed plans
to modify its cracker in Teesside in
the UK so it can use ethane. The
company plans to complete the
project in 2016. India’s Reliance
also announced a scheme to im-
port 1.5m tonnes/year of US
ethane for ethylene cracking in
India.
Dutch-headquartered
LyondellBasell is grabbing the US
shale advantage too. In August it
announced plans to develop a
world-scale propylene oxide (PO)
and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA)
plant on the US Gulf coast. Slated
to be operation by 2019, the unit
will have an estimated capacity of
over 400,000 tonnes/year of PO
and over 900,000 tonnes/year of
TBA and its derivatives.
This is on top of three US ethylene
expansions it has announced which
will add over 800,000 tonnes/year
of production capacity. ■
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4. www.icis.com30 | ICIS Chemical Business | 15-21 September 2014
SPECIAL REPORT ICIS TOP 100 ANALYSIS
ASIAN CHEMICAL companies man-
aged to hold their positions in the
ICIS global top 10,with a few excep-
tions,despite facing a difficult year.
With sales of $72.2bn,Sinopec,
China’s state-owned refining and
petrochemicals major,held on to
the #2 position on the global list.
But the major faced difficult condi-
tions in its home market with in-
tense competition from low-cost
imports and entry of new local com-
petitors. Operating profit for the
chemicals segment declined to
yuan (CNY) 868m from
CNY1,172m in 2012. To overcome
this threat Sinopec has focused on
optimising its feedstock and prod-
uct mix to increase the share of
value-added products.
Ethylene production increased
5.58% to 9.98m tonnes last year
while synthetic resins output was
up 2.87% at 13.726m tonnes. For
2014,the company aims to pro-
duce 10.58m tonnes of ethylene. It
also expects to complete a coal-to-
chemicals project at Ningdong.
Mitsubishi,the second-largest
chemicals company in Asia,saw
strong sales growth in the petro-
chemicals and chemicals derivative
segment in fiscal 2013-14 with the
company managing to push through
price hikes. Even in the purified
terephthalic acid (PTA) business
where the Asian market is reeling
under overcapacity,Mitsubishi was
able to boost numbers due to
strong sales in India and deprecia-
tion of the yen.
But Mitsubishi continues to re-
structure its chemicals business. It
is currently implementing an agree-
ment signed with Asahi Kasei to
unify cracker operations at the
Mizushima site in Japan in order to
optimize product configuration,in-
crease efficiency,strengthen com-
petitiveness and boost profitability.
Other Japanese chemical com-
panies too enjoyed healthy growth
in sales and profits last year.
Sumitomo Chemical, ranked at
#4 on the Asia list, posted 15%
growth in sales supported by high-
er product prices and depreciation
of the yen.
Mitsui Chemicals posted 11.4%
growth in sales in 2013-14 despite
volatile market conditions in phe-
nol,PTA and toluene diisocynate
(TDI) businesses which were hit by
weak demand in China and over-
supply. Mitsui has embarked on an
aggressive restructuring pro-
gramme for these businesses that
includes closure of a 90,000
tonnes/year bisphenol-A (BPA)
plant in Chiba,Japan,in March
2014 and suspension of 70,000
tonnes/year of BPA production in
Singapore.
It also plans to close a 250,000
tonnes/year phenol plant and a
60,000 tonnes/year linear low den-
sity polyethylene (LLDPE) unit,both
at Chiba,in September and
December respectively.
Among the other Asian chemical
companies,Thai major PTT Global
Chemicals (PTTGC) faced many
internal and external challenges
last year,which resulted in a 2%
drop in sales in 2013.
PTTGC’s 300,000 tonne/year
LDPE plant in Map Ta Phut was shut
for more than three months to ad-
dress a technical problem at the
unit. Meanwhile,an outage at the
gas separation plant (GSP) No 5 of
PTT,the parent firm of PTTGC,be-
cause of a lightning strike in August,
prompted PTTGC to run some of its
plants at reduced capacity.
In addition,2013 was also the
first full year that a new price for-
mula for feedstock gas to its olefins
and derivative business was ap-
plied. According to the company,
the new formula aims at providing a
fairer profit sharing between PTTGC
and its parent.
Indian refining and petrochemi-
cal major Reliance Industries
climbed to #23 on the global list
thanks to 10.5% growth in sales
during 2013-14. Surging export
sales,a strong performance in re-
fining and higher petrochemicals
margins also drove up profits.
Petrochemicals sales rose 9.5%
year over year to $16.1bn,with
growth led by an 8.6% increase in
prices while volumes grew 0.9%.
Earnings in the petrochemicals
­business was supported by strong
margins in polymers and polyester,
which partly offset the weak margin
seen in fibre intermediates such
as PTA.
Most Asian chemical companies
saw an improvement in their busi-
ness environment in 2013 and ex-
pect this to continue in 2014. While
signs of improvement in margins
and profitability are evident,the
risks cannot be ignored. These in-
clude high feedstock costs and an
uncertain Chinese economy. ■
ASIA MALINI HARIHARAN MUMBAI
ASIAN TOP 10 CHEMICAL COMPANIES OVERCOME CHALLENGING YEAR
ASIA TOP 10 LEADERS, $M
Sales Operating profit Net profit
Rank Company 2013
% change
(reporting currency) 2013 2012 2013 2012
1 Sinopec 72,281 6.2 143 189 - -
2 Mitsubishi Chemical 33,961 13.3 1,072 958 313 197
3 LG Chem 21,920 -0.5 1,651 1,793 1,203 1,414
4 Sumitomo Chemical 21,779 14.9 980 478 359 -542
5 Toray 17,838 15.4 1,022 886 579 515
6 PTT Global Chemical Public Co. Ltd. 16,787 -2.4 1,064 1,172 1,017 1,111
7 Reliance Industries 16,074 10.5 1,399 1,319 - -
8 Lotte Chemical Corp 15,570 3.4 462 349 271 297
9 Mitsui Chemicals 15,200 11.4 242 46 -244 -86
10 Formosa Chemicals & Fibre (Taiwan) 14,331 9.4 635 109 832 252
NOTE: Please refer to main Top 100 listing (published 8 September) for footnotes
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5. www.icis.com 15-21 September 2014 | ICIS Chemical Business | 31
SAUDI ARABIA’S SABIC continues
to be by far the largest chemical
player in the Middle East and Africa
region,with sales nearly five times
that of nearest challenger,South
Africa’s Sasol.
SABIC’s turnover for 2013 of
Saudi riyal (SR) 189bn ($50.4bn)
was,however flat,showing no
change on the 2012 figure due to
the challenging market conditions
especially in developed economies.
Nevertheless,it retained its overall
global position of fifth place,after
BASF,Sinopec,ExxonMobil
Chemical and Dow Chemical.
SABIC’s earnings improved slight-
ly in 2013,with net income advanc-
ing 2% to SR25.3bn. SABIC
described the year as one of “solid
performance... despite continued
challenges in the global economy.”
It has,it added,“beaten the market
average on improved efficiency and
strong performance in key sectors.”
Looking forward, vice chairman
and CEO Mohamed Al-Mady noted
that: “The global chemical sector
has turned the corner, with sales
volumes starting to stabilise and
even pick up. We believe the sec-
tor will see better growth, with
demand outpacing capacity for
the next three years or so.”
Fellow Saudi Arabian producer
Tasnee,in sixth spot with sales of
$4.9bn,also struggled to grow rev-
enue,with sales up just 1.6% in
local currency terms.
The big change in the Middle
East and Africa ranking this year
has been the disappearance of
Iran’s state-owned NPC. With sales
of $9bn in 2012 this ranked third
last year in the regional table and
50th in global terms. Privatisation
of the oil and chemicals sector in
the country has created three new
players that rank in the table this
year: Persian Gulf Petrochemical
Industry,Parsian Oil & Gas
Development and TAPPICO,in third,
fifth and seventh place,pushing out
Kuwait’s PIC and South Africa’s
AECI from the bottom of the table.
Abbas Sha’ri Moghadam,Iran’s
deputy petroleum minister and presi-
dent of NPC,said at the recent 11th
International Iran Petrochemical
Forum in Tehran that NPC,which
operates under Iranian Petroleum
Ministry,has undergone a vast trans-
formation. As a holding company,it
used to have more than 50 produc-
tion and service companies,but it
has now privatised most of these.
The only state-run units at NPC
are now R&D,the Mahshahr Special
Economic Zone and the $4bn
Damavand petrochemical project.
NPC will continue to functioning
as a company with governance and
development tasks,he added. The
firm is to provide the required infra-
structure and incentives for invest-
ment in petrochemicals.
In Israel,ICL and Makhteshim-
Agan,now known as Adama
Agricultural Solutions,had diverse
fortunes,with ICL seeing sales
down 3.1% in local currency terms
to $6.3bn,and Adama enjoying an
increase of 8.5%,to $3.1bn.
Adama reported a year of solid
growth in sales and earnings de-
spite an unfavourable currency envi-
ronment especially in its Asia-Pacific
region and Brazil. It achieved growth
across all regions; higher sales vol-
umes and an improved product mix
that led to improvement in financial
performance. The results in Latin
America benefited from positive
market conditions in the region.
At ICL,lower selling prices were
noted as primarily being behind the
sales slide. The company is looking
to save several hundred million
dollars by 2016. The initiative is
critical,it says,“under the current
climate of weak markets,increased
competition in the markets and an
unstable business environment”.
InSouthAfrica,Sasolsawsales
rise11%in2013,butearningswere
downsubstantiallydueinlargepartto
issuesinthepolymersbusiness.The
companyhasnowwithdrawnfullyfrom
itsjointventureoperationsinIran,
AryaSasolPolymer,whichresultedin
animpairmentchargeagainstoperat-
ingprofitofrand3.6bn($340m).■
SPECIAL REPORT ICIS TOP 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA JOHN BAKER LONDON
THREE IRAN COMPANIES MAKE TOP 10 LISTING DEBUT
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA TOP 10 LEADERS, $M
Sales Operating profit and EBIT Net profit
Rank Company 2013
% change
(reporting currency) 2013 2012 2013 2012
1 SABIC 50,403 0.0 11,355 10,938 6,740 6,606
2 Sasol*
10,658 11 194 795 - -
3 Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry 8,117 - 1,442 735 722 225
4 ICL 6,272 -3.1 1,101 1,554 820 1,302
5 Parsian Oil & Gas Development 5,098 - 1,812 1,844 1,737 1,586
6 Tasnee 4,853 1.6 823 1,098 314 470
7 TAPPICO 3,796 - 1,703 1,180 1,668 1,018
8 Makhteshim-Agan Industries 3,076 8.5 309 282 127 123
9 Industries Qatar 3,066 6.7 - - - -
10 Petro Rabigh 2,062 -18 - - - -
* Financial year ended 30 June 2013. NOTE: Please refer to main Top 100 listing (published 8 September) for footnotes
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6. www.icis.com 15-21 September 2014 | ICIS Chemical Business | 33
LATIN AMERICA JOSEPH CHANG NEW YORK
LATIN AMERICA CHEMICAL LEADERS POISED FOR CHANGES
LATIN AMERICA TOP 5 LEADERS, $M
Sales Operating profit Net profit
Rank Company 2013
% Change
(reporting currency) 2013 2012 2013 2012
1 Braskem 17,345 13.3 1,160 777 215 -360
2 Alpek 6,875 -6.3 223 577 69 338
3 Mexichem 5,177 8.6 562 642 83 962
4 Pemex 3,081 14.0 -1,164 -806 -1,140 -869
5 SQM 2,203 -9.3 652 901 475 657
NOTE: Please refer to main Top 100 listing (published 8 September) for footnotes
SPECIAL REPORT ICIS TOP 100 ANALYSIS
THERE WAS no change among the
Latin America-based chemical lead-
ers in 2013,as the top five compa-
nies maintained their positions.
However,climbing fast in the rank-
ings is polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pro-
ducer Mexichem,which continues
to build its empire through mergers
and acquisitions (M&A).
The #3 player, Mexichem, which
reports its financials in US dollars,
saw 2013 sales gain 8.6% to
$5.2bn. The top line benefited
from its May 2013 acquisition of
US-based PolyOne’s vinyl assets
for $250m, adding $147m in an-
nual sales, along with its June
2012 buyout of Netherlands-
based polymer pipe manufacturer
Wavin for €531m.
Mexichem is poised to advance
further with two major deals
signed in August. The company is
buying US-based polyethylene (PE)
pipe and conduit producer Dura-
Line for $630m, adding around
$650m in annual sales in a deal
expected to close in the third quar-
ter of 2014.
Mexichem also plans to acquire
Germany-based specialty PVC pro-
ducer Vestolit in a €219m deal.
That deal,which would add sales of
around €477m,is expected to
close in the fourth quarter of 2014.
If the two deals go through,
Mexichem could boost annual
sales by over $1.2bn in 2015.
Brazil’s Braskem,the leading
Latin America player,saw sales in
local currency rise 13.3%. Yet in US
dollar terms,sales actually fell
1.7% to $17.3bn on the severe
decline in the Brazilian real.
In the years ahead,Braskem’s
sales should increase on the con-
struction of its Ethylene XXI project
in Mexico being built by Braskem
Idesa – a 75:25 joint venture be-
tween Braskem and Mexico’s
Grupo Idesa.
The Ethylene XXI project,slated
to start up by July 2015,will consist
of an ethane cracker with 1.05m
tonnes/year of ethylene capacity,
along with derivative PE plants with
equivalent capacity.
Mexichem is also working on two
major projects. The first involves
upgrading the vinyl chloride mono-
mer (VCM) plant at its majority
owned joint venture with Pemex in
stages ending in 2015.
The other is a 50:50 joint ven-
ture cracker in Ingleside,Texas,US
with partner Occidental Chemical.
That project,scheduled to be com-
pleted in the first quarter of 2017,
will add 544,000 tonnes/year of
ethylene capacity,which will ulti-
mately be used to produce VCM at
an existing facility on site. The VCM
would be shipped to Mexichem’s
PVC plants in Mexico.
Mexico’s energy reform signed
into law in August 2014 allowing for
private and foreign investment in
the energy,refining and petrochemi-
cal sectors also bodes well for
growth. State-owned energy com-
pany Pemex could see its petro-
chemical sales rise significantly in
the years ahead. ■
In the years ahead,
Braskem’s sales
should increase on
the construction of
its Ethylene XXI
project in Mexico
Mexico’s energy
reform allows for
private and foreign
investment in the
energy, refining and
petrochemical
sectors
ICB_150914_033.indd 33 11/09/2014 18:17