Top 50 U.S. Chemical Producers

Owing to flat sales growth and a paucity of merger and acquisition activity, C&EN's 2003 survey of the top U.S. chemical companies was little different from the one published in 2002. This year, the 2004 survey reflects increased sales, largely due to a recovery in demand and high petroleum and natural gas prices. However, because company revenues increased more or less in tandem, the ranking, again, changed little. In fact, 11 of the 50 companies surveyed hold the same position as they did in C&EN's 2003 survey.

For the third straight year, Dow Chemical sits atop the C&EN ranking, with $32.6 billion in sales. Dow is followed closely by the company that held the top spot on the list for years--DuPont, with $30.2 billion in sales. It is likely DuPont will remain number two when the survey is published next year, even with the loss of about $6 billion in revenues due to the just completed sale of its Invista fibers unit to Koch Industries.

Then again, DuPont could fall behind ExxonMobil, which comes in third this year with $20.2 billion in sales. Because of high prices for hydrocarbons, ExxonMobil's sales are up by 23%. Another major petrochemical maker, Chevron Phillips, shows the same effect. Its sales are up 28% to $7.0 billion, catapulting it to fifth place from eighth the previous year.

Note: Top 50 U.S. Chemical Producers Report is available in Adobe PDF format.