A look at the top revenue generators for 2017.
If Dow and DuPont complete their planned acquisition by the end of this year, the newly merged company will sit at the top of this list in 2018. But as it stands, Dow continues to hold the No. 1 slot in the U.S. for chemical companies.
LyondellBasell Industries, ranked No. 2 here and No. 8 worldwide, has typically been known as one of the more financially conservative mega-companies on the list. But it is currently investing in a number of expansion projects along the Gulf Coast worth billions. One of the projects is a polyethylene plant in La Porte that will be the first commercial facility to use LyondellBasell’s Hyperzone technology.
PPG Industries, meanwhile, has recently been taking steps to expand its foothold in the chemicals industry. Recently, the company announced that it is selling off the last parts of its glass business — which it had held for more than 100 years — to focus more on paints, coatings and specialty materials. PPG also submitted several takeover attempts to AkzoNobel earlier this year. All of the offers were firmly rejected and PPG has backed off — at least for now.
Ecolab has kept a fairly low profile but continues to maintain its place as a top chemical company thanks mostly to its sales through Nalco Chemical, which it acquired in 2011.
Eastman Chemical recently announced that it is planning the largest expansion of its films operations to date and will invest $11.7 million in a Martinsville, Va. facility.
Like several other chemical companies, Praxair is in the midst of a major merger with a rival industrial gas company: Linde. If approved by antitrust regulators, the $35 billion deal will create the world’s largest supplier of gases to factories and hospitals.
