ICIS TOP 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES - Amazon Web Services

1 SPECIAL REPORT. TOP 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES . PART ONE RANKINGS. ICIS. TOP 100. CHEMICAL . COMPANIES . Lin Ning/RBI. Germany's BASF regained the top spot in the ICIS Top INTRODUCTION 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES ranking of the world's leading AND ANALYSIS. 27 The latest ICIS Top 100 listing and producers based on 2019 sales. China's Sinopec came analysis of CHEMICAL company financial performance looks at how COMPANIES in second, followed by US-based Dow. Sales for the Top fared in an increasingly difficult 2019. Commodity chemicals took the brunt of 100 fell on a global manufacturing slowdown and the downturn on oil and overcapacity.

2 Overcapacity in key commodity chemicals markets. In TOP 100 RANKING. the listing we exclude industrial gases, fertilizers and, 31 The global listing of the leading producers of chemicals ranked by sales where possible, non- CHEMICAL portions of COMPANIES . in 2019. 26 | ICIS CHEMICAL Business | 4-10 September 2020 SPECIAL REPORT. TOP 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES . Top 100 sales hit pre-coronavirus COMPANIES reported sales and profit declines in 2019 even before the coronavirus crisis. Commodity chemicals took the brunt of the downturn on oil and overcapacity Nigel Davis London ICIS Global IPEX vs Brent crude oil The latest ICIS Top 100 listing and analysis of IPEX $/bbl CHEMICAL company financial performance 300 100.

3 IPEX. looks at how COMPANIES fared in an increas- Brent crude oil ($/bbl). ingly difficult 2019. Before the coronavirus took hold and start- 250 75. ed to spread, the data show COMPANIES under pressure in a weak global economic environ- ment. As chemicals demand grew less 200 50. strongly, or stagnated, sales volumes were under pressure. Margins were depressed later in the year, particularly as lower oil prices and 150 25. overcapacity in some markets fed through into a weaker price environment. The Top 100 listing encompasses the entire 100 0. chemicals sector, from commodity petro- 2017 2018 2019 2020.

4 Chemicals to much more specialised CHEMICAL products and materials. As such, it gives a wide immense downward pressure on petrochemi- Sales values declined for many year on ranging view of performance across the sector. cals prices. year, as the Top 100 table and graphics It focuses on the leading COMPANIES , the ICIS continues to chart the impact of coro- show with some major price and volume biggest in terms of sales in calendar 2019 or navirus lockdowns on regional and global driven sales falls for the more commodity- the most recent financial year. ICIS strives to markets for a wide range of products.

5 We oriented players. report on the chemicals businesses of the have discussed the radically shifting drivers of In general, the more specialised and con- major players only, but that is not always pos- the chemicals business in a series of free we- sumer-oriented CHEMICAL producers, includ- sible. The footnotes to the ICIS Top 100 table binars through 2020, the recordings of which ing the major coatings players, were among explain the differences. Not all players release are available on the group of COMPANIES producing top line data on their CHEMICAL operations specifically. Our price and news reporting, and our growth for the year.

6 Analysis, including scenarios for end-use sec- The Top 100 COMPANIES generated reve- BASF regains top spot tor demand continues to illustrate the impact nues of more than $1tr in 2019 down on In 2019, BASF regained its top position in the of the coronavirus on markets across the in- 2018 on a comparable, as reported, basis. ICIS Top 100 listing, reporting the greatest sales dustry (see links at end). The accumulated data show that 34 of the value converted in our table into US dollars Industry data show that global chemicals COMPANIES in this listing reported a fall in sales using a 31 December 2019 exchange rate.

7 Shipments valued in US dollars were down 4% of more than 10%. The exchange rates used for all players are in 2019. Shipments are equivalent to turnover, These are largely commodity chemicals for 31 December 2019, irrespective of financial or value of output. The global figure masks dis- COMPANIES exposed to volatile markets which year end. tinct regional differences. North America ship- were hit hard in 2019 by the declining indus- Noteworthy in the table data is the top line ments were up 2% but Asia Pacific shipments trial economic environment and sometimes pressure faced by most producers year on (by far the largest in absolute terms) down 6% overcapacity-driven price falls.

8 Year. The quarterly picture for many, particu- due in large part to the growth slowdown in In contrast, some producers of more spe- larly for those operating in upstream petro- China. Chemicals shipments in Europe were cialised chemicals, such as flavours and fra- chemicals, began to reflect a capacity and down 7%, according to the data collated by the grances and, as mentioned earlier, some economy driven cyclical downturn which, American Chemistry Council (ACC). coatings producers, generated stronger sales later in 2019, was expected by some to con- revenues. Their end-use markets proved to be tinue until the second quarter of 2020.

9 Sales under pressure much more stable and actually, robust. That outlook was changed entirely, of For most COMPANIES included in the ICIS Top Data are collected for the Top 100 compa- course, by the coronavirus pandemic and, 100 listing, 2019 was a difficult year with per- nies from annual reports and other official early in 2020, by the oil price crash which put formance under pressure. sources with comparisons made in local cur- . 4-10 September 2020 | CIS CHEMICAL Business | 27. SPECIAL REPORT Sign up to receive free ICIS. updates by email, tailored to the TOP 100 CHEMICAL COMPANIES markets you are interested in.

10 Visit rencies. Absolute values for sales, profits, Capital spending changes 2019 top 20 COMPANIES by sales etc are shown in the table in US dollars. Profitability challenged Clearly, margins were under pressure in 2019. As the industry generally turned down, sales volumes were hard won and prices came under increasing crude oil and demand driv- en downward pressure. Upstream petrochemicals and materials producers particularly find it difficult to hold on to prices and margin in a downward mov- ing market much more so than when the in- dustrial market environment is looking up. Following a number of years of strong re- Largest % change in 2019 operating profit turns, profits in the industry fell in 2019.