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The global chemical industry is divided into 4 main categories: (i) Basic Chemicals, (ii) Life

Science Chemicals, (iii) Specialty Chemicals, (iv) Consumer Products.

BASIC CHEMICALS :

This category is also known as commodity chemicals. Commodity chemicals are a group of

chemicals that are made on a very large scale to satisfy global market. Commodity Chemicals are

differentiated by primarily their bulk of their manufacture. This category is further divided into 4

types :

1) Polymers: includes basic chemicals like Polyethylene, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC),

Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), ethylene, polyester, nylon, acrylics etcetera.

2) Bulk Petrochemicals: Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum.

Like commodity chemicals, petrochemicals are made on a very large scale.

Petrochemical manufacturing units differ from commodity chemical plants in that

they often produce a number of related products. Compare this with specialty

chemical and fine chemical manufacture where products are made in discrete batch

processes. It includes chemicals like toluene, ethylene oxide , methanol, benzene,

vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), xylenes, styrene and butadiene.

3) Basic Industrial: Chemicals included in this subcategory are surfactants, dyes,

pigments, resins, carbon black, explosives synthetic rubber and rubber products

4) Inorganic chemicals include, salt, chlorine, caustic soda, soda ash, acids (such asnitric, phosphoric and sulfuric), titanium dioxide and hydrogen peroxide. It also

includes fertilizers, phosphates, potash and ammonia chemicals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(chemistry)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_chemicalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_chemical_industryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_chemical_industryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_chemicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_chemicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_chemical_industryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_chemical_industryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_chemicalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(chemistry)

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LIFE SCIENCE CHEMICALS

Include differentiated chemical and biological substances, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, animal

health products, vitamins and crop protection chemicals.

SPECIALTY CHEMICALS

Products include electronic chemicals, industrial gases, adhesives and sealants, as well as

coatings, industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals, and catalysts. Most specialty chemicals

are organic chemicals that are used in a wide range of every day products used by consumers and

industry. It is a consumer driven sector and as such the specialty chemical industry has to be

innovative, entrepreneurial and consumer-driven

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Include direct product sales of chemicals such as soaps, detergents, and cosmetics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_chemicalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_chemicals

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Global Trend Analysis of Chemical Industry

The total worth of the global chemical industry is estimated at US$ 2.5 trillion and is one of the

fastest growing sectors of the manufacturing industry. The escalating crude oil prices and

increasing international environmental protection standards have posed greater challenges;

however remarkably, the chemicals industry has still grown at a rate higher than the overall-

manufacturing segment.

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Although for a long time, Europe lead in terms of production of chemicals, its place has now

largely been taken by Asia, notably South Korea and Japan.

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