World Distributors

SPECIAL In association with
BRENNTAG CEO EUROPE ETHYLENE
ISSUE Kohlpaintner fears

Europe will lose out to
US, Asia, Middle East 34
Cracker operating rates
cut as region grapples
with cost hikes 130
6-12 May 2022
MAKING SENSE OF CHEMICAL PRICES
ICIS TOP 100

CHEMICAL
DISTRIBUTORS
Quarterly View: Inside
GCC Chemical Markets
In the latest Q1 2022 edition ICIS market experts
focus on analysing the impact of the Russia-Ukraine
conflict and the repercussions and future opportunities
affecting the oil, gas, fertiliser and chemical markets
within the Middle East region.
Q1 20 22
Quarterly view:
Inside GCC
Chemical Markets
The impact of the Russia-Ukraine

conflict on oil, gas, fertilizer and
chemical markets
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Volume 301 Number 17 6-12 May 2022
SPECIAL In association with

BRENNTAG CEO EUROPE ETHYLENE
ISSUE Kohlpaintner fears

Europe will lose out to
US, Asia, Middle East 34
Cracker operating rates
cut as region grapples
with cost hikes 130
6-12 May 2022
MAKING SENSE OF CHEMICAL PRICES
ICIS TOP 100

CHEMICAL
DISTRIBUTORS Shutterstock
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Cover story
Presenting the ICIS Top 100
Chemical Distributors, the
most comprehensive
global listing of these key
players in the supply chain.
For full story see P27
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Europe’s competitive position is undermined by soaring

Safic-Alcan aims for global expansion to energy and feedstock costs P34 We should stop thinking
become a more sustainable company P48 in terms of crisis, urges CEO Christopher Erbsloeh P46
NEWS Pricing snapshot Plants & projects

12 ICIS news evening snapshots, 24 New projects and permanent plant
Briefing reported Wednesday 4 May 2022 shutdowns, 25 April-1 May 2022
5 US natgas futures soar above $8/MMBtu
Prices & markets Chemical profile
6 German chems support Russian oil ban
14 LyondellBasell mulls site options for 130 Invasion of Ukraine by Russia has
Focus chemical recycling contributed to make European
7 LyondellBasell’s interim CEO is bullish 15 Europe polyethylene, polypropylene ethylene outlook uncertain and volatile
on polyethylene May outlook calmer 131 US polyvinyl chloride demand outlook
16 US oxo-alcohol up on feedstocks. is expected to remain fairly steady in
TRENDS Podcast and video: Europe chemicals 2022 at 2021’s robust levels
Market intelligence could face rationing
8 Chemical producers are giving a fairly
17 US chemical companies brace REGULARS
upbeat, but vigilant outlook themselves for Superfund taxes 4 Commentary
9 China benzene imports are likely to fall 19 Europe amines under pressure. 128 What’s on
in Q2 2022 LatAm ethanol supply should rise 129 Conferences & events
21 US R-HDPE market to remain tight.
Pricing briefs
10 European acrylate esters tighten on
Duy Tan Plastic enters R-PET, R-PE
SPECIAL REPORTS
Russia Global plant status update 27 ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distributors
11 Asia MEG jumps on surging crude, 22 Major plant disruptions, shutdowns & We reveal the leaders of this important
restocking restarts reported 28 April-3 May 2022 element in the chemicals supply chain
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analysis for more than 120 global commodities
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www.icis.com 6-12 May 2022 | ICIS Chemical Business
01/05/2019 18:06| 3
COMMENTARY
Spotlight on Top 100

Joseph Chang New York
If supply chain disruptions are indeed the ‘new normal’, chemical distributors become
even more important players in providing reliable supply of materials
Shutterstock
Amid widespread and persistent global supply chain and providing reliable supply of materials.
disruptions spanning from lingering effects of the Covid The Russia/Ukraine war poses particular challenges
pandemic to the Russia/Ukraine war resulting in logis- for the competitiveness of the European chemicals in-
tics jams, shortages of labour and key raw materials, dustry as crude oil-based feedstocks become more ex-
along with extreme energy price volatility, the spotlight pensive and spiking natural gas prices add further costs
is shining ever brighter on chemical distributors as resil- to utilities and fuel to fire up crackers.
ient and reliable partners. With the US petrochemicals feedstock advantage
We are delighted to present the 13th annual ICIS Top based on cheaper natural gas liquids (NGLs) still intact
100 Chemical Distributors, the most comprehensive despite a rise in US prices as well, a new wave of chemi-
global listing of these critical companies in the supply cals and polymers exports could follow the massive in-
chain, in this special issue of ICIS Chemical Business in crease in volumes of US liquefied natural gas (LNG)
association with the European Association of Chemical going into Europe.
Distributors (Fecc).
The ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distributors listing is com- Public valuations drive M&A push
piled with the support of the Fecc, the US-based National The value of chemical distribution and sustainability of
Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD), Associquim the business model is being amplified by the financial
(Brazilian Association of Chemical and Petrochemical Dis- markets with large publicly traded distributors posting
tributors), Responsible Distribution Canada (RDC) and strong gains in stock prices in step with solid earnings
UK-based Chemical Business Association (CBA). performance. This is driving a flurry of mergers and ac-
While branded the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distribu- quisitions (M&A) activity in a drive for global scale, with
tors, the listing includes information on more than 300 private equity firms also piling in.
companies worldwide. We also break out company Netherlands-based chemical distributor IMCD has
sales in the key geographies of North America, Europe, been particularly acquisitive, with much of the recent
Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. activity in Latin America as it seeks to build out its global
presence in a wide range of markets from specialties to
Seismic shifts to come industrial chemicals.
Interviews with senior executives of leading chemical Caldic, also based in the Netherlands, is looking for
distributors provide insights into the many challenges in further transformational deals following its acquisition
the market along with what could be some seismic by private equity firm Advent International and merger
shifts to come, including in trade flows. with Latin American distributor GTM.
If supply chain disruptions are indeed the “new nor- Sustainability is also a key theme, and chemical dis-
mal”, chemical distributors become even more impor- tributors are not only targeting aggressive reductions in
tant players in navigating through logistics challenges their own emissions but also helping suppliers formu-
late more sustainable products, such as those based on
natural ingredients.
If you are not listed and would like would like to Formulations expertise also provides a greater advan-
participate in next year’s ICIS Top 100 Chemical tage in times of raw materials shortages, as distributors
Have you seen the ICB web- Distributors listing, contact [email protected], can deploy technical capabilities to formulate products
site? Get the latest stories at [email protected] & [email protected] with materials that are more available in the market. ■
icis.com/subscriber/icb Additional reporting by Will Beacham
4 | ICIS Chemical Business | 6-12 May 2022 www.icis.com

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
NEWS
Briefing Chemours sees refrigerant

AMERICAS
Shutterstock
demand recovery
US natgas futures soar Demand for refrigerants is recov-
above $8/MMBtu ering from offices, hotels, restau-
The rally on the US Henry Hub fu- rants and other buildings as peo-
tures front-month contract accel- ple return to work and resume
erated further on 4 May, as the travel, the CEO of US-based Che-
June 2022 contract pushed up to mours said during an earnings
$$8.42/MMBtu, up nearly 6% conference call. Chemours makes
from the previous session. The hydrofluorocarbons and the less
Henry Hub benchmark was up greenhouse-gas intensive hydro-
13% from the start of the week, as fluoroolefins (HFOs), both of
tight supply and concerns for which are used as refrigerants as
winter storage drove bullish senti- well as blowing agents in polyure-
ment. In the US, there is near-term thanes foams and propellants.
demand for increased power
generation due to widespread US Fed raises interest rate
above-normal temperatures by half point
across the southeast region, par- The Federal Reserve raised the
ticularly in Texas. Concerns on benchmark federal funds rate by
how US storage levels can rebuild Pic of the week a half a point on Wednesday to
ahead of next winter’s demand
also spurred prices higher.
Fed chief sparks US equities rally 0.75-1%, the largest increase
since May 2000, amid efforts to
US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s comments on the get inflation under control. The
Cheniere increases 2022 central bank not being overly aggressive on interest rates increase was largely expected by
LNG production forecast triggered a massive relief rally in US equities on 4 May. markets, which were likely re-
US-based Cheniere increased its lieved that the central bank did
production outlook for the year, not increase rates by 0.75 point,
counting on an additional eight ExxonMobil implements ues to see strong demand against said Kevin Swift, ICIS senior econ-
liquefied natural gas (LNG) car- allocation on PP tightening supply. LyondellBasell omist for global chemicals. In ad-
goes from its two plants, the pro- ExxonMobil will implement sales placed an 85% order control on dition to raising rates, the Federal
ducer said in its Q1 earnings call. allocations on certain grades of deliveries of the intermediate Reserve also plans to start reduc-
The additional volumes come polypropylene (PP) resins, accord- chemical as the producer is now ing its holdings of Treasury and
from maintenance optimisation ing to a customer letter. The letter undergoing a planned mainte- mortgage backed securities.
and the ramp-up of Sabine Pass did not specify which grades nance at its Channelview, Texas,
Train 6, and will let Cheniere “un- would be impacted by the alloca- production complex. The tight Chevron to join offshore
lock incremental volumes of LNG tion. The letter added that the supply and high domestic prices CCS project in Texas
for a market that so clearly needs company is assessing the full im- have opened arbitrage for im- US energy and chemicals major
it”, said CEO Jack Fusco. The car- pact of their ability to supply PP ports, especially from Asia. Metha- Chevron is poised to join a
goes will be sold by Cheniere’s and will make determinations on nol and propylene feedstock planned carbon capture and stor-
marketing wing, Cheniere Mar- the timing and quantities of prod- costs have fallen in recent weeks, age (CCS) project offshore Beau-
keting International (CMI). uct that it will be able to supply. easing costs for US producers that mont and Port Arthur, Texas, offi-
use those production methods. cials said. The Bayou Bend CCS
Olin Plaquemine Stellantis in $2.8bn project, currently a JV between
shutdown to last months Canada EV investment Colorado House passes Talos and Carbonvert, could po-
Olin’s chlor-alkali facility in Automaker Stellantis will invest EPR legislation tentially sequester 225-275m
Plaquemine, Louisiana will be C$3.6bn ($2.8bn) to retool two The Colorado House of Represent- tonnes of CO2 from industrial
shut down for months. Company plants in Canada’s Ontario prov- atives passed House Bill 22-1355 on sources in the area. The availabili-
executives confirmed that the ince to make electric and hybrid 2 May, an extended producer re- ty of CCS is an important factor in
previously reported fire at the fa- vehicles. With the investment, sponsibility bill addressing con- decisions about where to expand
cility has caused a complete Stellantis’ plant in Windsor, close sumer packaging, including print- or build chemical and other in-
shutdown and repairs will take to Detroit, Michigan, will be able to ed paper, cardboard, metal, glass dustrial plants.
months. The site has chlorine ca- support the production of a new and plastic packaging. It is now
pacity of 771,000 tonnes/year, multi-energy vehicle architecture headed to the Senate, where it will AmSty declares FM on
caustic soda capacity of that will provide battery electric receive a hearing on 4 May, after styrene, ethylbenzene
864,000 tonnes/year and ethyl- capability for multiple models. which a vote may take place. AmSty has declared force ma-
ene dichloride (EDC) capacity of Should the bill be signed into law, jeure on styrene and ethylben-
530,000 tonnes/year, according US BDO supply tightens Colorado would become the third zene after an unplanned 27 April
to the ICIS Supply and Demand on order control state to pass EPR legislation, follow- outage at its St James, Louisiana,
Database. US 1, 4-butanediol (BDO) contin- ing Maine and Oregon last year. plant, according to a customer ❯❯
www.icis.com 6-12 May 2022 | ICIS Chemical Business | 5

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
NEWS
❯❯ letter. The plant experienced pliers recorded even worse senti- Norwegian chemical shipping To read the full story,
visit icis.com/news
an unexpected operating emer- ment, with the relevant indicator and tank terminals company said.
gency which will result in re- falling from -39.8 points to -44.3 Harald Fotland succeeds Kristian
duced styrene production for an points in the same period. Morch, who announced in March
ASIA
extended period of time, accord- he was stepping down. Prior to
ing to the letter. Russia ruble scheme could his new role, Fotland was Odfjell’s S Korea March plasticizers
break sanctions chief operating officer (COO) exports decline
AmSty implements Ruble payments to Gazprombank since 2018. South Korea’s March plasticizers
allocation on US PS for Russian gas may open the exports were at their lowest since
Americas Styrenics is implement- door to manipulation and breach EU, eurozone chemical January, ICIS Supply and De-
ing an allocation on its polysty- of sanctions if adopted by Euro- producer prices rise 4.3% mand Database showed. The
rene products, effective immedi- pean companies, the bank’s for- Chemical producer prices in the country exported 8,956 tonnes of
ately, with restricted availability mer vice president said. Speak- EU and the eurozone rose in by plasticizers in March, down by
expected to extend through ing to ICIS, Igor Volobuyev, who 4.3% in March month on month, 12.4% from February and lower by
June, according to a customer fled Russia at the start of the war statistics body Eurostat said on 3 almost 37.1% compared with a
letter. The letter said the compa- in Ukraine, said there was a possi- May. Germany, the biggest pro- year ago, the data showed. The
ny experienced an unexpected bility that euro or US dollar pay- ducer of chemicals in the US was its key sales outlet in
operating emergency at its St ments to Gazprombank could be 19-country currency union post- March, soaking up nearly 28% of
James, Louisiana, styrene mono- transferred to the Central Bank of ed a smaller increase in chemical its total exports.
mer unit on 27 April, resulting in Russia, which is currently under producer prices at nearly 2.5%.
reduced production for an ex- western sanctions. However, chemical producer China March EPDM
tended period of time. prices in France rose more than exports rise 16%
Covestro Q1 earnings up, 6%. Chemical producer prices in China exported 1,848 tonnes of
Solvay takes 100% of 2022 outlook slashed Poland, which is outside of the ethylene propylene diene-mono-
Wyoming soda ash plant Covestro’s Q1 earnings and sales eurozone but in the 27-country mer (EPDM) in March, over 16%
Solvay has become sole owner of rose healthily year on year but the EU, also rose sharply. higher than February, data from
its Wyoming soda ash plant by German chemicals major has re- the ICIS Supply & Demand Data-
buying a 20% stake from Japa- duced its full-year outlook on the Eurozone manufacturing base showed. Compared with the
nese glass producer AGC, the back of lower global GDP growth PMI dragged down same time last year, exports fell by
Belgian producer announced. expected and China’s stringent Manufacturing in the eurozone as 43%. Exports have slowed due to
The sale of the minority stake in lockdown measures. Covestro is measured by the S&P Global Eu- shipment difficulties arising from
the production site in Green lowering its earnings before inter- rozone Manufacturing purchas- protracted congestion at China
River, Wyoming, US was set at the est, tax, depreciation and amorti- ing managers’ index (PMI) eased ports, market sources said.
cash purchase price of $120m. sation (EBITDA) outlook for 2022 to 55.5 in April from 56.2 in
by €500m. For Q2, the company March, a 15-month low on the China March PC imports
expects EBITDA to come in be- back of bottlenecks in the supply highest since Dec 2021
EUROPE
tween €430-530m, a sharp slow- chain and higher input costs, an- China imported 134,628 tonnes
German chems support down from Q1’s €806m. alysts at S&P Global said. Howev- of polycarbonates (PC) in March,
EU’s Russian oil ban er, future expectations recovered the highest since December
Trade group VCI said Germany’s Odfjell appoints Harald slightly in April, after slumping to 2021, according to ICIS Supply &
chemical industry supports the Fotland as new CEO their lowest since May 2020 in Demand Database. The March
EU’s proposed embargo on oil Odfjell has appointed Harald Fot- March after the war in Ukraine imports were 21.6% higher as
from Russia. However, VCI warned land as CEO, effective 6 May, the broke out. compared to February but the
that a move away from Russian oil number was nearly 13.8% lower
will not be “a walk in the park” for than that of March 2021, the data
the industry. VCI is concerned that showed. Taiwan was China’s key
the move will involve even higher supplier, followed by South
oil and raw material costs, in par- Korea, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
ticular higher naphtha costs, thus
further impacting the competi- China March NBR exports
tiveness of Germany-based and imports rise
chemical production. China took in almost 13,000
tonnes of acrylonitrile butadiene
German carmakers (NB) co-polymers, including acry-
gloomy despite price hikes lonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), in
Julien Warnand/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
German car producers were March, nearly 35% more than in

more pessimistic about business February, according to the ICIS
expectations in April, despite hit- Supply & Demand Database.
ting record-high price plans, ac- China also exported 2,024 tonnes
cording to the latest data from in March, an increase of 10.1%
the Ifo Institute on 4 May. Manu- from the previous month. Both ex-
facturers’ expectations fell from European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen set out ports and imports of NBR in March
-30.4 points in April, dropping plans to phase out imports of Russian crude oil and refined were substantially lower than that
from -21.8 points in March. Sup- products by the end of the year of the same period last year.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
NEWS FOCUS
LyondellBasell bullish on PE
Polyolefins Joseph Chang New York
Interim CEO Lane sees prices moving higher in the Americas and an eventual snapback in China demand
OLEFINS & POLYOLEFINS – AMERICAS
INTEGRATED MARGINS COMPRESSED DUE TO HIGHER FEEDSTOCK COSTS
LyondellBasell expects strong de- Olefins and polyolefins Americas mentals are very good there and
mand and higher pricing for poly- that’s even in the absence of a
EBITDA
ethylene (PE) to continue through USD, millions
strong automotive market. We
Q2 in the Americas while an even- expect to see spreads increasing
tual snapback could take place in $1,576 $1,568 coming into Q2 – we’ve already
OLEFINS
China when the economy comes announced a spread increase for
Margins declined driven by higher feedstock costs
out of the Covid lockdowns. $1,262 May,” said Lane.
and lower co-product pricing
“We are still very bullish on the “The market continues to be
Planned cracker maintenance completed in 1Q
demand outlook, especially in the $867 $911 very tight, inventories have been
Americas… We had a record sales coming down and I do think that
POLYOLEFINS
month in March for PE in the there’s room to go up in PP, so
Margins decreased with declines in average
Americas and we see April actual- we’re feelingprices
polyolefins very and
good about
higher our costs
monomer
ly looking to improve on that,” said position,” he added.
Continued solid demand despite logistics and raw
Ken Lane, interim CEO of Lyondell- material constraints
Basell, on the company’s Q1 earn- 1Q21 2Q21 3Q21 4Q21 Volume Margin Other 1Q22 China PE demand
ings conference call. Source: LyondellBasell China polyethylene (PE) demand
EBITDA
“Our outlook is that we’ll con- is also poised to snap back in the
tinue to see effective operating on-year basis, EBITDA rose 5%. can sell that twice,” he added. coming months as COVID-19
rates probably in the 90% or 12
Logistics headwinds have con- LyondellBasell has been able to lockdowns ease, the CEO said.
higher range, so that’s going to tinued, but the company has successfully manage shipments “That reopening impact is still
be very supportive for the price been able to export volumes of products offshore to minimise to come in China and so yes, in
increases that are in the market abroad, the CEO said. any impact to sales, he said. the short term we’re seeing
today,” he added. “No doubt we’ve talked about The company saw an increase some challenges around profit-
The CEO expects PE prices to the headwinds around the supply in PE exports in March to nearly ability with the cracker assets in
continue rising in Q2 with some chain and of course there have 40% of its production and ex- China. [But] as I look out in the
margin recovery, he noted. been some constraints in rail pects a continuation of that trend next few months, I expect that’s
In LyondellBasell’s Olefins & movements in the US and being to show up in its April numbers, going to reverse and you’re
Polyolefins – Americas segment, able to move volume offshore said David Kinney, head of inves- going to see a snapback in de-
earnings before interest, tax, de- even since Q4 – that’s not any- tor relations at LyondellBasell. mand,” said Lane.
preciation and amortisation (EBIT- thing new,” said Lane. Meanwhile, CEO Lane is also For now, “the demand profile
DA) declined 28% to $911m in Q1 “[However], that volume is al- “very bullish on the polypropyl- in China is quite challenging”
from $1.26bn in Q4, largely on ready sold, so it’s really not ene (PP) market”. given the lockdowns, he added.
higher feedstock costs. On a year- weighing on [us]… it’s not like we “The supply/demand funda- In response, producers in China
are cutting back operating rates.
Projects Al Greenwood Houston “We do expect that in the
Hyperzone plant to ramp up premium PE coming months, we’ll see a reset
around inventory. Inventories
LyondellBasell expects modifications. over the next 12-18 low and high molecu- are not high in China by any
its relatively new “We have mentioned months,” Lane said. lar weight PE. As a re- means and you’re going to see
500,000 tonne/year before that we had tak- “The successful side of sult, products made the inventory come down. And
Hyperzone high den- en a shutdown in the the equation is that with Hyperzone PE can then I expect you’re going to see
sity PE (HDPE) plant in fourth quarter to be we’ve demonstrated maintain strength and demand come back,” said Lane.
La Porte, Texas, will able to make some re- the ability to make dif- durability while still Given the challenging envi-
make increasing pairs,” said Lane. ferential products that being lightweight and ronment in China, new capacity
amounts of premium “We’ve been continu- have differential prod- easy to process. start-ups are also likely to slow,
products in the next ing to work through uct characteristics and LyondellBasell had he noted.
12-18 months. The that in the first quarter.” we’ve been able to get targeted four end-uses “Let’s not forget China is still a
plant had begun to “We are still not at a a premium on some of – large-part blow- very big importer of PE and…
start up at the begin- position yet to be rate- those.” moulded products like what we’re really focused on is
ning of 2020. ably selling the pre- Hyperzone can pro- industrial bulk contain- watching the demand develop-
In Q4 2021, mium products for duce a wide range of ers (IBCs), smaller ment. As that demand returns
LyondellBasell brought that asset,” he said. multimodal HDPE res- blow-moulded parts, and growth in China returns, it is
down the Hyperzone “That’s something ins, meaning it com- high molecular weight going to absorb that new capac-
plant to make some that’s going to build bines the benefits of film and plastic pipe. ■ ity – it’s just a matter of when,
not if,” he added. ■

MARKET INTELLIGENCE For real-time news and analysis
from our global team of reporters,
visit: icis.com/about/news
Upbeat but vigilant

On Q1 earnings conference calls, major chemicals producers
are mostly cautiously upbeat but not underestimating risk
Nigel Davis London Russia such as a natural gas embargo, or restricted gas
supplies from Russia as a result of counter-sanctions.
The major chemical producers reporting Q1 earnings “Further risks could arise from the future course of
are giving a fairly upbeat outlook on the next few the coronavirus pandemic and longer-lasting or new
months while acknowledging how pressured margins measures to contain the number of infections, espe-
are in Asia along with the clear threats from Russia’s war cially in China. Opportunities could arise from contin-
in Ukraine, congested logistics and rising inflation. ued high margins,” the company added.
Companies say they have been successful at passing The company was able to pass on costs in its up-
higher costs downstream, but this remains a fluid situa- stream chemicals and materials businesses and gain
tion that can meet resistance from inflation or other- stronger margins in Q1 2022, particularly compared
wise-led demand destruction. with the year-ago period.
The regionality of market dynamics and pricing that The world is slightly different from the perspective of
ICIS has reported on this year is apparent in the financial the major polymers producers. ExxonMobil mentioned
results and some of the backing material producers the pressure on margins globally in this year’s first quar-
have provided for investors. ter but also the fact that its portfolio and its ethane ad-
vantage in the US gives it great margin strength. It
Insights from BASF results and guidance talked of bottom of cycle conditions in Asia Pacific.
A striking chart from BASF, for instance, shows how
chemical production growth swung remarkably from LyondellBasell sees record results
Q1 2021 to Q1 2022 in the US, Europe and Asia. Polymer and intermediates producer LyondellBasell
It highlights the winter storm impact in the US last said that the first quarter in 2022 was its strongest first
year and the great swing in China from a period of high quarter since 2015.
capacity utilisation in the 2021 quarter to a much more It described healthy western markets in which solid
constrained picture today. consumed and industrial demand supported margins,
contrasted against globally on-going geopolitical ten-
Companies say they have been sions and supply chain challenges. The impact of Chi-
successful at passing higher costs na’s zero-Covid policy is of clear concern. Likewise of
downstream, but this remains a fluid concern are higher costs for feedstocks and energy.
LyondellBasell saw its olefins and polyolefins margins
situation that can meet resistance
from its Americas businesses fall from Q4 2021 to Q1
2022 but polyolefins demand remain strong despite the
The giant diversified chemicals company has retained logistics constraints.
its February 2022 outlook but talked about disrupted sup- The company said March set a record for Americas
ply chains, macroeconomic uncertainty and high costs. olefins and polyolefins sales and that April final numbers
“The market environment continues to be dominated are likely to exceed that.
by an exceptionally high level of uncertainty,” said BASF Sequentially, polyolefins results were stronger in the
in its quarterly report. “Risk may arise from further in- company’s Europe, Asia & International Olefins and Pol-
creases in raw material prices and new sanctions against ymers segment with improved margins despite higher
Global chemical production increased by 3.7% in Q1 2022
Global chemical production increased by 3.7% in Q1 2022
Chemical production Q1 2022 compared with prior-year quarter1
%
Growth rates
%
Q1 2022 Q1 2021
Global GDP 4.0% 3.6%
Global industrial
4.0% 5.1%
production
Global chemical
3.7% 11.1%
production
Have you seen the ICB website?

Get the latest stories at
icis.com/subscriber/icb Source: BASF
8 | ICIS Chemical Business | 6-12 May 2022 1 Source: BASF, Q1 2022 partly based on estimates. Data sources: IHS, NBS China, Feri, Fed, Eurostat, METI, ONS.
www.icis.com
7 April 29, 2022 | BASF Analyst Conference Call Q1 2022 All data subject to statistical revision.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
energy and monomer costs. The company’s Interim

CEO spoke of market strength for its products extend-
ing with typical summer seasonal demand, but also of
the global economy navigating geopolitical uncertainty.
Think Tank
Yoyo Liu Location
He is clearly concerned about volatile costs for energy
and feedstocks. China benzene imports set to fall in Q2
“In the second quarter, LyondellBasell’s margins are
likely to improve as the prices for our products catch up
with increased feedstock and energy costs, Interim
CEO Ken Lane said. China’s benzene imports are likely to aromatics units in Asia are likely to cut
“Additionally, we expect reductions in European and fall in Q2 2022, after increasing by or halt production.
Asian industry operating rates driven by maintenance around 91% year on year to 918,000 The production loss from more
downtime in Europe and unsustainable production eco- tonnes in Q2, according to the ICIS planned or unexpected maintenance
nomics in China to tighten market supply over the com- Supply & Demand Database. shutdowns in Asia in Q2 may be
ing months. We continue monitoring risks on supply Three downstream styrene offset by new plant start-ups.
chains and inflation,” he added. monomer (SM) units were started up An importer pointed out that some
and achieved stable operation in late cargoes from northeast Asia may be
Celanese posts blow-out Q1, raises guidance 2021 and Q1 2022. Zhejiang Petroleum diverted to the US from China, as the
US-based acetyls and engineered materials producer & Chemical (ZPC)’s phase II phenol/ arbitrage window between Asia and
Celanese reported a year-on-year rise in Q1 net income acetone plant also realised stable the US has opened.
because sales rose faster than costs. operation in Q1. The four units brought
For Engineered Materials (EM), Celanese said the busi- about 160,000 tonnes/month of Overall benzene supply in
ness produced to meet elevated demand, led by the au- additional benzene demand. Asia was relatively ample in
tomotive sector. The segment fully passed through cost Tianjin Bohai Chemical started trial Q1 due to fewer outages at
inflation for raw materials, energy and logistics. a run at its new SM unit in early April, Asian aromatics plants,
Quarter on quarter (Q1 versis Q4), EM segment vol- with the start-up date expected in the
umes rose by 23% and price rose by 7%. For the Acetyl second half of May. This will add
either planned or unplanned
Chain segment, volumes rose 8% quarter on quarter 30,000 tonnes of benzene demand
and prices fell 3% . per month by then. But even if import supply
Overall benzene supply in Asia was decreases, term contract volumes for
So far, many US-based chemicals relatively ample in Q1 due to fewer downstream producers and traders
companies have maintained or raised outages at Asian aromatics plants, may remain stable, market players
their 2022 earnings guidance after either planned or unplanned. said. A few may consider imports to
publishing their Q1 financial results Some traders and downstream hedge against currency exchange
buyers increased their import rate risk.
contract discussions sharply in 2022 A downstream producer expects
Moderation in acetic acid prices in China were largely on expectation of surging demand, a benzene imports to decline in Q2,
offset by shifting volumes in the Western Hemisphere. trader based in east China said. citing weakening domestic demand
That shift allowed Celanese to capture higher pricing in South Korea, Brunei and Thailand and higher import prices, but added
vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), emulsions, redispersible remained the top three origins of that the decline might be limited.
powders and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). benzene imports into China in Q1. Hampered transport of feedstock
Celanese raised its 2022 earnings per share outlook Import volume from South Korea and finished products amid the
from $15.00/share to $18.12. more than doubled from a year logistic woes arising from the
“We believe Q1 results support Celanese’s view that earlier, according to the ICIS Supply lockdowns in China has been curbing
the foundational level of EBIT (earnings before interest & Demand Database. benzene demand.
and tax) for its Acetyl Chain segment has fundamentally High crude oil prices have Additional reporting by Angeline
changed and now remains above $1.0bn, with the addi- squeezed margins. As a result, some Soh
tional capacity being constructed at Clear Lake incre-
mental to that,” said Wells Fargo analyst Michael Sison in US-South Korea benzene spread
a research note.
$/tonne, spot (US minus South Korea)
“Engineered Materials expectations were also shifted to
350
the top end of its prior guidance of $700-800m, benefit-
300
ing from solid volume and pricing expansion, as well as a
stronger contribution from Santoprene than forecast. It is 250
worth noting Celanese is still assuming a conservative 200
level on auto production in 2022, expecting flat versus 150
2021, leaving upside if the recovery is better,” he added.
100
So far, many US-based chemicals companies have
50
maintained or raised their 2022 earnings guidance after
publishing their Q1 financial results, with many seeing 0
demand holding up, allowing them to pass through ris- -50
ing costs for raw materials, labour and logistics. ■ -100
May 2021 Apr 2022
Additional reporting by Al Greenwood and Joseph
Chang

PRICE & MARKET TRENDS For up-to-date information on more
than 120 global commodities, visit:
icis.com/about/price-reports
Briefing
EUROPE also rose $50/tonne to $1,695- Supply has largely rebalanced spot prices. The April contract
European acrylate esters 1,770/tonne FOB Europe export. despite upstream limitations af- price settled 2.75 cents/lb lower
tighten on Russia Brightstock prices increased $50/ fecting INEOS and BASF as weak from March to 38.50 cents/lb.
European acrylate ester prices tonne to $1,925-1,995/tonne FOB demand is not challenging avail- Contract prices also fell in March.
have been largely flat this week Europe export. The brightstock able stocks of material. Ethylene supply has been ample
despite a mixed supply and de- market remains the tightest grade with two crackers returning from
mand picture. The methyl acrylate in Europe, with no offers being Europe IPA falls on softer turnarounds in March and two Q1
(methyl-A) market is the excep- seen for this material. propylene, quiet demand planned turnarounds delayed.
tion; supply is tight because the European spot prices for isopro- Logistics constraints have kept
impact of a lack of Russian materi- Europe MIBK tight supply panol (IPA) have fallen sharply more supply in the domestic
al is being felt in Europe. This has balanced by weak demand across assessed grades on softer market despite open arbitrage
seen the bottom of the spot price The European methyl isobutyl ke- feedstock propylene, good avail- windows to Europe and Asia.
range increase. Prices of the other tone (MIBK) market remains stable ability and weak demand. Techni-
acrylate esters – butyl acrylate with balanced to tight supply and cal grade IPA was assessed at Mexico to stop AS import
(butyl-A), ethyl acrylate (ethyl-A), quiet demand. MIBK was assessed €1,850-1,950/tonne FD NWE – a duties to curb inflation
and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA) at €3,000-3,500/tonne FD NWE. decrease of €150/tonne. Cos- Mexico will eliminate ammonium
– are stable. Supply of ethyl-A is Shell’s force majeure is limiting metic and pharmaceutical sulphate (AS) import duties for
also tight, due to upstream issues, availability but weak consumption grades were assessed at €2,050- one year, effective 4 May, Presi-
but prices have not changed. from the key automotive sector 2,200/tonne FD NWE – a de- dent Andres Manuel Lopez Obra-
continues to ease pressure on the crease of €200-250/tonne. dor said on Wednesday. At a
Global weekly IPEX down market. Imports continue to be im- morning press conference, the
on softer regional prices pacted by high costs and the po- European AA muted amid president presented an anti-infla-
Spot chemical prices fell week on tential for delays to impact ship- mixed demand tionary plan to guarantee fair food
week with softer values across re- ments from Asia to Europe. The European acrylic acid (AA) and fertilizer prices. The Secretary
gions, particularly in northeast market has been muted this week of Finance and Public Credit, Ro-
Asia, according to the latest figures Europe MEK prices fall on as the demand picture is mixed. gelio Ramirez de la O, said: “The
from the weekly ICIS Petrochemi- eased supply constraints Activity on the spot market has delivery of fertilizers is an integral
cal Index (IPEX). Spot chemical European spot prices for methyl been muted, with many market part of this strategy, which is why
prices declined in northeast Asia ethyl ketone (MEK) have fallen players meeting their needs via we are eliminating the compensa-
by 2.5%, with methanol and ethyl- sharply from record high levels on contracted volumes and forward- tory quota for one year.”
ene leading the fall. Northwest Eu- an easing of supply constraints bought material. Demand is
rope posted a fall of 1.7%, driven by and weaker demand. MEK pricing mixed, with some players saying it INEOS Styrolution seeks
weaker propylene and ethylene was assessed at €3,300-3,600/ is weaker than expected and has May price increase on PS
values. Spot pricing in the US Gulf tonne FD NWE – a decrease of softened over the last few weeks, INEOS Styrolution is seeking an
reduced by 1.3%, with styrene and €300/tonne. Supply of MEK is while others have said it is strong. increase of 5 cents/lb on all
ethylene declining the most. tight, but pressure has eased The supply picture is constrained, grades of polystyrene effective 1
compared with previous weeks. as Synthomer prepares to come May, because of rising costs for
Europe base oils export out of its maintenance shutdown manufacturing and distribution as
prices jump amid tightness Europe butac pricing at Sokolov, Czech Republic. well as market dynamics. Contract
European base oils export values stable, rebalanced supply prices have increased for three
increased this week as severe European spot pricing for butyl AMERICAS consecutive months. Demand re-
shortages continue to plague the acetate (butac) remains stable US April ethylene contract mains strong amid an ongoing
market. SN150 prices moved up despite eased pressure on sup- lower on spot expansion in US manufacturing
$50/tonne to $1,510-1,610/tonne ply. Butac pricing was assessed US April ethylene contracts set- activity and limited competition
FOB Europe export. SN500 values at €2,300-2,500/tonne FD NWE. tled at a decrease amid lower from other polymers. ICIS as-
sessed April contract prices at 113-
Europe base oils US EPS 124 cents/lb for general purpose
PS on a DEL US bulk basis.
$/tonne, paraffinic, spot FOB Europe export Cents/lb, spot DEL US Block
2,000 160 Packaging
US EPS May prices rise on
1,750 150 continued tight supply
US May expandable polystyrene
1,500 140 prices were assessed higher by
ICIS to 152-155 cents/lb DEL for
1,250 130 block grade on continued tight
supply and good demand. Con-
1,000 120
struction demand remains strong
Brightstock 110
and packaging demand stable.
750
SN150 Styrene supply continues to be
SN500
500 100 very constrained with more than
May 2021 May 2022 May 2021 May 2022
30% of North American styrene

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To read the full story,

visit icis.com/news
capacity currently offline. Three and lukewarm demand going into

producers have declared force May that could potentially extend
majeure. Three EPS producers into the first half of the month. Ac-
separately announced May price cording to ICIS data, South Ko-
increases of between 6 cents/lb rea’s Kumho Mitsui Chemicals Inc
and 9 cents/lb. (KMCI) and Japan’s Tosoh Corp are
both slated to enter planned turn-
US aliphatics prices move arounds in May, prompting expec-
up, T&X initiatives emerge tations of lower import availability
US aliphatic solvents pricing rose to Asian regions.
on strong energy and gasoline
pricing as supply of the latter Asia FAE spot market likely
continues to tighten. Increases to pick up
averaged 4 cents/lb. Although Asia’s fatty alcohols ethoxylates
also higher, ARO100 and ARO150 (FAE) market is expected to see a
prices remained within posted pick-up in activities, after the La-
ranges. The gains moved US Gulf bour Day and Eid ul-Fitr holidays
hexane to 92-96 cents/lb DEL between end April and early May.
and Midwest hexane to a new With offices in China and Malay-
range of 97-100 cents/lb DEL, as sia shut for most of this week, and
assessed by ICIS. Price increase business in Indonesia set to re-
initiatives for toluene and xylene sume in the week beginning 9
truck and rail material emerged. May, spot activities are expected
to pick up in the second half of
US May CX contract firms May. Indonesia is the world’s larg-
on higher natural gas est palm oil producer, followed
The US cyclohexane contract by Malaysia, while China is a
price for May increased by 4.5% major palm oil consumer.
from April, to $4.55/gal FOB USG,
following a steep increase in natu- Momentum shifts to sellers
ral gas costs and firmer feedstock for Asia melamine
benzene prices. The US CX con- The Asian melamine spot market
tract price is calculated by formu- could see a slight revival in the
la, based on the US monthly ben- first half of May after sluggish
zene contract settlement and spot prices dominated the export
daily gas prices. The US benzene market in March and April. There
contract for May increased by 2 were few firm offers from China
cents/gal to $4.11/gal FOB USG. at the end of April, fuelling specu-
lations that an increase in trading
ASIA activity is expected in the month
Asia MEG jumps on surging of May. Chinese producers said
crude, restocking the operating rate had fallen re-
Asia’s monoethylene glycol cently and certain makers in the
(MEG) market jumped after Chi- north of the country are also see-
na’s Labour Day holiday, on the ing orders on hand, which points
back of surging crude futures to a tightening supply in general
and active restocking. Spot MEG in that region.
deals were done at $627-635/
tonne CFR (cost & freight) CMP FPCC hikes Group II 500N
(China Main Port), sources said. base oils prices
On 29 April, spot MEG prices Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical
closed at $618-628/tonne CFR Corp (FPCC) has raised its local list
CMP, according to ICIS data. prices for May Group II 500N base
oils, a market source said. Effec-
Asia MDI sees tightening tive from 1 May 2022, prices were
supply, lukewarm uptake increased by New Taiwan dollars
Asia’s polymeric methyl diphenyl (NT$) 4.17/litre, the source said.
isocyanate (PMDI) and monomer- FPCC also hiked its Group II 70N
ic methyl diphenyl isocyanate and 150N prices in the same peri-
Shutterstock
(MMDI) markets are set to see bal- od amid generally firm upstream
ance between shortening supply values as well as tight supply.

ICIS News weekly price snapshot

Reported in ICIS News evening snapshots, Wednesday 4 May 2022
US benzene, toluene, MX US ethylene, propylene
$/gal Benzene Toluene MX Cents/lb Ethylene Propylene
5.0 80
4.5 60
4.0 40
3.5 20
3.0 0
9 Feb 23 Feb 9 Mar 23 Mar 6 Apr 20 Apr 4 May 9 Feb 23 Feb 9 Mar 23 Mar 6 Apr 20 Apr 4 May
2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022
Europe benzene, styrene, naphtha Asia ethylene, propylene, styrene

$/tonne Naphtha Benzene Styrene $/tonne Ethylene (CFR NE Asia) Propylene (CFR NE Asia)
2,500 1,500 Styrene monomer (CFR China)
2,250
1,400
2,000
1,750 1,300
1500
1,250 1,200
1,000
1,100
750
500 1,000
9 Feb 23 Feb 9 Mar 23 Mar 6 Apr 20 Apr 4 May 9 Feb 23 Feb 9 Mar 23 Mar 6 Apr 20 Apr 4 May
2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022
ICIS General Methodology

ICIS continuously develops, reviews and revises its methodologies in consultation with industry participants. Product specifications and trading terms and
conditions used aim to reflect typical working practices prevalent in the industry. ICIS publishes market prices based on information continuously gath-
ered from market participants about: spot transactions, spot bid and offer levels, contract price negotiations, prices of related commodities, and relevant
freight costs. For the entire general methodology, visit: www.icis.com/about/methodology/general
Regional snapshot data: 4 May 2022

Product Price ($/tonne) Change on week
Naphtha 915.00 19.00
Benzene 1,245.00 30.00
Styrene 2,125.00 -175.00
EUROPE
ASIA
AMERICAS
Product Price Change on week Product Price ($/tonne) Change on week

Ethane (cents/gal) 62.00 10.60 Naphtha 898.50 -3.50
Toluene ($/gal) 4.62 0.37 Benzene 1,154.50 1.50
Benzene ($/gal) 4.07 0.035 Toluene 1,035.00 15.00
MX ($/gal) 4.60 -0.325 Ethylene 1,200.00 -25.00
Ethylene (cents/lb) 29.625 2.25 Propylene 1,110.00 -25.00
Propylene (cents/lb) 57.00 -7.75 Styrene 1,295.00 8.00

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Americas
LyondellBasell mulls site options

Chemical recycling is one of the options for the company’s Houston refinery site
Al Greenwood Houston that pyrolysis oil into ethylene verted refining units to produce LyondellBasell is shutting
and propylene, the raw materials renewable diesel and sustainable down the refinery in part because
Chemical recycling is among the for the plastics polyethylene (PE) aviation fuel (SAF). operating the complex beyond
options that LyondellBasell is and polypropylene (PP). These fuels are made by treat- 2023 would require significant
considering for its Houston refin- LyondellBasell already has its ing vegetable oils, animal fats and capital investments, Lane said.
ery in Texas, where it plans to end own chemical recycling process waste greases with hydrogen to Leaving the refining business was
operations by the end of 2023. technology, called MoReTec, produce fuels that are virtually in- the best path forward for the
“The site’s unique location which it developed with the distinguishable from petroleum- company.
provides LyondellBasell with val- Karlsruhe Institute of Technolo- based products. By shutting down the refinery,
uable options for future growth, gy (KIT). Such renewable fuels are at- LyondellBasell expects to lower
including further development In 2020, LyondellBasell had tractive to refiners because they its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emis-
of our circular business,” said commissioned a pilot plant in can modify existing units to con- sions by 15%, the company said.
Ken Lane, interim CEO, on the Ferrara, Italy, that features the vert the oils and they have access The refinery can process
company’s Q1 earnings confer- technology. to hydrogen needed for the con- 268,000 bbl/day of oil. It is one of
ence call. The process relies on a catalyst version. the largest refineries in the US
The refinery has good pipeline that provides selectivity to pro- Other companies have con- that is designed to process heavy
connections with the company’s cess the waste plastics into a py- verted refineries into terminals. sulphur crude oil.
cracker in Channelview, Texas, rolysis oil closer to naphtha. LyondellBasell has not men- The refinery’s main products
Lane said. LyondellBasell’s Channelview tioned terminals or renewable are gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and
“If you think about circularity operations can crack naphtha diesel in its discussions about the lubricant oils, according to the
and some of the feedstocks that and they are connected to the possible options for the refinery. company.
we would be using, a lot of those Houston refinery by pipeline. The complex has a fluid cata-
pyrolysis oils do need some hy- Earlier this year, the company Refinery shutdown lytic cracking (FCC) unit, so it also
drotreating and things like that,” was trying to decide how big it LyondellBasell had been consid- produces propylene.
Lane said. should build a commercial-scale ering various options for the refin- Significantly, the refinery lacks
plant using its MoReTec technol- ery over the years. In 2017, it ruled a catalytic reformer. These refin-
Waste plastics ogy. LyondellBasell has not said out a sale after several months of ing units convert naphtha into
Chemical recycling plants that whether it is considering a review. gasoline blendstock and aromat-
rely on pyrolysis convert waste MoReTec plant at the refinery Earlier this year, the company ics such as benzene, toluene and
plastics into pyrolysis oil or site. Nor has it discussed other had decided to close the refinery mixed xylenes (MX). Because the
monomers. options for the refinery. by the end of 2023 after spend- refinery lacks a catalytic reformer,
A cracker could then convert Many companies have con- ing months trying to sell it. it sells naphtha. ■
Americas
US PVC to see more C2 availability
Bill Bowen Houston vantage for plastics compared bbl and above $88/bbl for 2023. to ramp up to meet the new de-
with cracking naphtha in most That gives oil and gas exploration mand created by the conflict. In-
Higher oil prices resulting from other parts of the globe. companies incentive to explore dustry observers say it will likely
the crisis in Ukraine are likely to and increase production in US be the third quarter before new
stimulate oil and gas production Market advantage energy fields. Growth in oil pro- production become significant.
and, along with it, greater availa- Low-cost ethylene gives US production would also increase The news comes as tight sup-
bility of ethane feedstock for plas- ducers of polyethylene (PE) and growth in production of associat- ply and strong demand for plas-
tics production, Westlake execu- polyvinyl chloride (PVC) an advan- ed natural gas. tics into construction materials
tives said. tage in global markets. The advent The recent spike in those pric- has driven prices higher for PE
“We believe there will be more of low-cost ethane has driven a es is attributed to the invasion of and PVC.
gas and oil and there will be more boom in plastics production ca- Ukraine by Russia and the sanc- Ethylene feedstock costs have
gas liquids and ethane, as well,” pacity in the US and increased the tions imposed on the country. been higher in recent months on
said Westlake president and CEO country’s export sales via com- Even an early conclusion to the tight supply, but they have been
Albert Chao on the company’s Q1 petitive prices in global markets conflict is not likely to end west- easing down in recent weeks.
earnings conference call. for the finished resins. ern markets’ preference against Major US producers of PVC
Ethylene derived from natural The US Energy Information Russia oil and gas. include Shintech, Westlake
gas component ethane has led to Agency (EIA) forecasts an aver- Oil and gas exploration and Chemical, Formosa Plastics and
the US low-cost production ad- age 2022 oil price of around $98/ production activity has been slow OxyVinyls. ■

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Asia
PET uncertain on wild upstream fluctuations
Hazel Goh Singapore iour have been mixed across mar- Asia PET margins are healthy delivery delays, as logistics effi-
ket players. ciency was still at a reduced level
The Asia polyethylene terephtha- Many producers have a good USD/tonne for some parts of China.
320
late (PET) outlook is looking un- number of on-hand orders and That said, the effect of summer
certain amid recent upstream some buyers have pre-bought 280 demand support may still be felt
fluctuations. and covered partially their later 240 by sellers, as they face support
With the fast-changing up- months’ demand requirements. 200
from domestic summer season
stream price direction, market This allowed trading activity to sales. Domestic sales have not
160
perception and trading behav- slow down compared with the advanced forward as quickly as
more active buying and selling in 120 export sales, so there will still be
the first quarter. 80 sales of cargo in time for the sum-
■ Market players’ reaction Buyers and producers both 40 mer peak.
mixed amid fast-changing have a certain level of flexibility to Other Asian and Middle East
0
upstream price direction wait and see when there is no May 2021 Apr 2022 producers have also been having
■ Demand outlook buoyed by clear upstream price outlook healthy sales, so they have little-
approaching northern from the recent fluctuations. summer demand preparation has to-no sales pressure. The feeling
hemisphere summer season Fundamentally, demand out- mostly been done. Most sales of snug supply availability is likely
■ PET production margins look is looking healthy with the ap- were locked in previously, with to continue in the coming
healthy to sustain high proaching typical northern hemi- recent weeks’ sales slowing months.
operating rates sphere summer peak season. down possibly due to upstream PET production margins are
■ Upstream prices have been Some Chinese producers have price fluctuations, the forward looking healthy and that will keep
showing either down-up or been selling forward to June-Sep- cargo availability so buyers have operations at high levels apart
up-down prices within a tember loading cargoes. Essen- no rush to commit to purchase from a few planned maintenance
week recently tially, that means their selling pe- and some buyers’ concerns of outages in May and June in China
riod to export customers for possible uncertainty in shipment and southeast Asia. ■
Europe
Europe PE, PP May outlook calmer

The outlook for May has many players expecting some level of stability in the market after a torrid April
Ben Lake London The outlook for May has many verters buying the minimum ed, such as packaging for potting
players expecting some level of needed during April while prices soil, since fertilizer supply is se-
Following a tumultuous first third stability in the market. Monomer were high in the hopes of a verely down from major produc-
of the year, European polymer contracts for May fell at the end of change come May. Whether this ers in Ukraine and Russia, limiting
players are looking towards a the previous week but disagree- materialises remains to be seen. availability. Industrial is mixed.
calmer if not easier May. ment will come on how this trans- Suppliers indicated intentions Technical demand is good.
Large three-figure hikes in lates to the polymers market. to offer rollovers or some reduc- Agricultural demand is weak
March and April framed a conti- Some producers expect good tion but not the full pass-through. since farmers are seen as reluc-
nent entering a new period of its sales in May based on current Buyers’ views were equally tant to pay high prices, preferring
history, following Russia’s inva- order books and customer fore- mixed, with some preferring sta- to wait to buy at lower values.
sion of Ukraine. casts, which may be due to con- bility of current pricing, following A European producer said it
Supply streams have shifted, torrid negotiations to pass on up- saw tightness in the low density
with some Russian products Europe PE, PP stream hikes in recent months. PE (LDPE) market and expected
banned from entering the EU. In contrast, other converters that to balance the monomer
€/tonne
Business relationships have LLDPE, Butene C4, domestic FD EU have said that without some level drops. Buyers are highlighting
2,600
fundamentally changed, as many PP Co-Polymer, spot FD NWE of reduction in price, their current some weak downstream de-
companies refuse to engage with 2,400
operations would be unsustaina- mand, affecting specialist pack-
Russia-based entities or touch ble, leading to reductions or po- aging sectors.
products benefitting Russia. 2,200
tentially complete temporary clo- Tightness has also been noted
Crude oil prices hit levels not sure of their plants. in linear low density PE (LLDPE),
seen for nearly a decade, imme- 2,000 especially LLDPE C6.
diately feeding through to energy Demand remains strong Polypropylene (PP) supply is
and production costs. 1,800 Purchasing for food packaging longer than polyethylene (PE), es-
As it becomes obvious that this remains good. Some segments pecially homopolymer commod-
conflict is likely to drag on, senti- 1,600 exposed to sectors impacted by ity grades. This may weigh more
May 2021 Apr 2022
ment has cooled. the Russia-Ukraine war are dent- heavily on discussions for May. ■

Americas
US oxo-alcohols up on feedstocks
Deniz Koray Houston time for planned outages. US US oxo-alcohol sought various means to increase
sources have not yet noticed crude oil output in the aftermath
After experiencing declining tightness in supply in the after- Cents/lb, DEL US of the first rise in oil prices.
200 2EH, spot
feedstock costs for much of the math of an INEOS force majeure in 2EH, contract
IsoButanol, spot
On 31 March, the US an-
winter, oxo-alcohols are experi- France impacting n-butanol (NBA) IsoButanol, contract nounced plans to release 1m bbl/
180
encing upstream pressure. and isobutanol (IBA) in Europe. day of oil from its strategic petro-
Unlike other propylene deriva- According to the ICIS Supply & leum reserves for the next six
160
tives and solvents – such as glycol Demand Database, material from months and in early April, the
ethers, butyl acetate (butac) and Saudi Arabia and South Africa Biden administration allowed for
140
propylene glycol (PG) – oxo-alco- made up more than 93% of NBA oil and gas leases to be sold on
hols have not faced upstream dis- imports in the past year, with al- federal land.
120
ruptions that have impacted sup- most 64% coming from Saudi Ara- April oxo-alcohols settled up
ply or led to a short-term demand bia. However, in February, Saudi 100
6.5 cents/lb ($143/tonne) follow-
run from market players seeking imports fell to 0 and market play- May 2021 Apr 2022 ing higher propylene feedstock
to procure material. ers continue to monitor SABIC’s prices in the prior month. After
Planned turnarounds are ex- involvement in the US market. Oxo-alcohol market partici- declining 28 cents/lb in Q4 2021,
pected to occur later this spring Additionally, there is significant pants had great concern about propylene contract prices par-
and by early Q3 for oxo-alcohols. US production of NBA internally. energy prices in the aftermath of tially rebounded in February and
However, players did not have The US is also a net exporter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine especially March, where con-
specific turnaround dates at this NBA by a greater than 2:1 margin. on 24 February. The US has tracts rose 10 cents/lb. ■
Podcast and video
Europe chems could face rationing

Catch up with analysis of chemical and energy market trends from our team of experts around the world
Podcast Nurluqman Suratman Podcast Will Beacham Barcelona Podcast Dan Lu Singapore
ACN trade shifts
Singapore
China faces Europe chemicals face gas rationing

disruptions European chemical companies
may be forced to cut gas use
will alleviate shortages
Will Beacham interviews ICIS
ICIS analysts Jady Ma and
Dan Lu discuss recent trade
Information manager Yvonne for short periods this winter if senior market reporter for gas flow changes in China’s acry-
Shi discusses with senior re- demand is very high and supply Aura Sabadus, ICIS senior con- lonitrile (ACN) market.
porter Nurluqman Suratman crimped, though steps are be- sultant Asia John Richardson ■ Slew of ACN capacity
the impact of COVID-19 lock- ing taken to avoid this scenario. and Paul Hodges, chairman of start-ups in Shandong led
downs in China. ■ Europe better prepared than New Normal Consulting. to oversupply
it was in winter 2021
Click here to listen to the ■ Greater supply of liquefied Click here to listen to the Click here to listen to the
podcast natural gas (LNG) to Europe podcast podcast
Video Zhibo Xiao Singapore Video Cecilia Barreiro Singapore Video Raymond Shi London
PP weighed by Global Oil: Five factors to watch European policy
high costs This week OPEC+ members ing up to 1m bbl/day for the rethink
Watch industry analyst Zhibo will meet to further discuss next six months. Meanwhile, Energy market reporter
Xiao discuss China’s polypro- production quotas for May. The coronavirus cases across Raymond Shi looks into:
pylene (PP) market which is market expects the cartel China continued to weigh on ■ The European energy poli-
facing the dual challenge of group to stick to its gradual the global oil demand outlook. cy rethink that has resulted
high costs and COVID-19 output hike despite missing Our ICIS experts highlighted from goals to reduce reli-
lockdowns. production targets from sever- the five main drivers to watch ance on Russian fuel
■P ossible further production al countries, particularly Libya. this week in a weekly oil out- ■ What this means for the
cutbacks on high costs The coordinated release of look video. immediate future
240m barrels of crude oil from
Click here to watch the emergency stockpiles will start Click here to watch the Click here to watch the
video this month, with the US inject- video video

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Americas
Chems brace for Superfund taxes

US Superfund taxes will be imposed on certain chemicals and polymers produced in the US or imported
Al Greenwood Houston passed down to end consumers.
The Superfund taxes could
Chemical companies are bracing raise $452m in 2022 and $1.17bn
themselves for the return of two US in 2023, according to the con-
Superfund taxes, one which cov- gressional Joint Committee on
ers 42 chemicals made or import- Taxation. By the time the tax ends
ed in the US and another covering on 31 December 2031, the pro-
an even wider range of substances ceeds could reach $14.5bn.
imported into the country. Wright said that companies
Allen J Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

The proceeds will help replen- could evaluate existing contracts
ish the government’s Superfund with suppliers and customers to
programme, which pays for see if they can pass along the
clean-up at waste sites. taxes. Ultimately, each company
The US is reviving the taxes as will have to determine the pros
part of the $1trn Infrastructure In- and cons of absorbing the taxes
vestment and Jobs Act that Presi- versus passing them along.
dent Joe Biden signed into law in To make things clearer for
November. Superfund taxes for environmental clean-up could raise over companies, the American Chem-
The tax levied on the 42 chemi- $1bn in 2023 istry Council (ACC), a trade
cals apply to some of the most group, has asked that the IRS
common building blocks used in law firm. The tax will cover im- One of these lists was published publish tax rates for the taxable
the industry. ports that contain at least 20% of when the Superfund tax was last substances. It also asked the IRS
Paraxylene (PX), an isomer of the 42 taxable chemicals. The tax in effect in the 1990s, Wright said. to include the harmonised tariff
xylene, would be subject to the rate would depend on the per- Another list was from historic no- schedule (HTS) numbers and the
tax once it is imported into the cent of the taxable chemicals tices that also date from the chemical abstract service num-
country, said Jeffery Wright, US contained by the substance. 1990s. At the time, the substances bers of the taxable substances.
oil, gas & chemicals tax leader for For example, a short ton of a in the two lists contained at least The HTS numbers are used by
Deloitte, a consultancy. For xy- taxable substance that contains 50% of the taxable chemicals. countries around the world to de-
lene, the tax becomes due upon 20% propylene would be subject It is presumed that they still termine which products are sub-
the first sale or the first use. to an excise tax rate that is 20% of contain at least 20%, Wright said. ject to a specific tariff. Such num-
The tax does include some ex- that for propylene. Since the pro- Some of these taxes will be prob- bers allow governments to
ceptions. Exporters can apply for pylene tax rate is $9.74/ton, the lematic. The US has just one plant impose the tariffs in a consistent
a refund, according to Deloitte. rate for the taxable substance that makes melamine. It has no and clear way.
Companies that use the chemi- would be $1.95/ton. domestic production for methyl The list of 151 taxable substanc-
cals to make fuel, fertilizer or ani- It is up to the importer to deter- ethyl ketone (MEK) and relies es could certainly use some more
mal feed are also exempt. mine the rate for a taxable sub- solely on imports. clarity. It lists polypropylene (PP)
Based on those exceptions, hy- stance and maintain the records The list could be modified to and PP resins as separate items.
drofluoric acid or propylene used that would back their findings. If add taxable substances that meet HTS numbers could reveal wheth-
in the alkylation units of refineries the company comes short, the the 20% threshold or remove er the tax applies to two different
could be exempt, since those IRS will impose a 10% tax based them that no longer meet the grades of PP or if the IRS simply
chemicals would be used to make on the substance’s value when it threshold, said Shawn O’Brien a listed the same product twice.
gasoline. Butane could avoid the enters the country. partner at Mayer Brown. Advanc- The ACC noted that the 20%
tax if it is blended in gasoline. Am- So far, there are 151 taxable sub- es or changes in production threshold could cause a lot of
monia used to make nitrogen ferti- stances that could meet this 20% methods could cause some of the chemicals to fall under the defini-
lizers could also avoid the tax. threshold, according to lists from substances to contain less than tion of a taxable substance. The
Methane could escape taxes if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 20% of the taxable chemicals. ACC would like the government
it is burned as a fuel in power For example, some of these to publish rules under which
plants or used to make hydrogen chemicals can be made with re- companies could request the re-
for feedstock in refineries. If the ■ US will revive two newable feedstock, such as bu- moval of chemicals from the list
methane is used to make metha- Superfund taxes on 1 July tanediol (BDO), polyethylene (PE) of taxable substances. ■
nol for downstream chemical 2022. and monoethylene glycol (MEG).
Click here for taxes
production, it could be taxed. ■ One tax applies to 42 Others could be made from feed- levied on a short-ton
The tax also exempts coal deriv- chemicals sold or used by stock derived from chemically basis for 42 chemicals
atives and sulphuric acid that is a producers or importers. recycled plastics. sold in the US by
by-product of air-pollution control. ■ Another tax could apply to If companies choose to pass manufacturers or importers, taxable
substances in the list followed by ICIS
The second tax covers sub- many more substances through the taxes, it will likely ap- and the full list of 151 taxable
stances sold or used by import- that are imported. pear as line items, O’Brien said. substances that, if imported, would
ers, according to Mayer Brown, a He could see the tax being be subject to the Superfund tax

Driving market
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Europe
Europe amines under pressure

Higher costs are more difficult to pass on amid lacklustre demand, adding to margin pressure
Cameron Birch London bilise and supply chains have be- Europe amines cracker in Lavera, France follow-
come more accustomed to the ing a leak in the cooling water
Two questions dominate the Eu- conflict in Ukraine. €/tonne, MEA, contract FD NWE system on 10 April. While no force
4,000
ropean ethanolamines market as More stability but continued majeure was announced, the dis-
participants make forecasts for higher pricing is anticipated by ruption upstream has meant limi-
3,700
the rest of Q2 and into Q3. many for the rest of the year, de- tations on production.
First, is the question of uncer- pendent on the evolution of the The cracker at Lavera was in a
3,400
tainty linked to feedstock costs, geopolitical situation. restart phase from 27 April, ac-
and, second, is the uncertainty As a result, for the next couple cording to a message from the
3,100
that surrounds the demand pic- of quarters domestic producers company on a local news website.
ture across the continent. will be forced to manage high al- Normal operations are expected
2,800
Sellers in the European market beit potentially more stable feed- this week. If this transpires to be
for ethanolamines are already be- stock and utility costs against an the case, ethanolamines disrup-
2,500
ginning to see warning signs that uncertain demand picture. May 2021 Apr 2022 tion because of the outage will
passing on costs is becoming a To avoid margin losses, particu- have been minimal.
more difficult situation that may larly on cheaper homologues, addition to constrained supply The upstream issues at Noury-
point to continued margin pres- limitations to levels of production supporting local prices. on are also now resolved, while
sure, adjustment of production are expected by some. Indorama is conducting a turn- potential upcoming maintenance
rates and demand concerns. As far as ethanolamines im- around while other producers is monitored closely by partici-
Triethanolamines (TEA) prices ports are concerned, the market have been hiking offers more ag- pants. While sellers expect a
above €2,000/tonne and mo- is still tighter. Little to no imports gressively. Some buyers were strong bedrock of demand for
noethanolamine (MEA) prices are coming in from Russia and looking at the possibility of im- MEA coming from the cleaning
above €4,000 are considered by only small volumes continue to porting Asian material but, with and washing industries, other
some to be levels that would see make their way into Europe from lead times the way they are, most consumer sensitive industries
demand taper off. the US market. are avoiding it. may come under pressure, de-
After the spikes for gas and The US market is strong with a Most attention has been fo- pendent on the European macro-
ammonia prices in February and combination of demand for cused on the outage at INEOS’s economic trends concerning ris-
March, things have begun to sta- diethanolamine (DEA) and MEA in joint venture Naphtachimie ing inflation. ■
Americas
LatAm ethanol supply should gradually rise
Adam Yanelli Houston petes directly with gasoline. the end of the year in an effort to Most ethanol in Latin America
Anhydrous ethanol is blended reduce inflationary pressures is made from sugarcane, but the
Latin America ethanol prices in gasoline at a mandated 27%. brought on by the pandemic. amount of corn-based ethanol
have been at multiyear highs fol- Supply should also be supple- The first two weeks of the production is growing.
lowing a sharp decrease in the mented by imports after Brazil 2022/2023 harvest was down by Conab anticipates corn-based
most recent sugarcane harvest, announced it would waive its 18% 70% compared with the same ethanol production from the
and while forecasts for the com- import tariff on ethanol through time during the previous harvest, 2022/2023 harvest will rise by al-
ing harvest are predicting a high- according to UNICA, the Brazilian most 11%, bringing the percent-
er yield, it will still likely be smaller LatAm ethanol sugarcane industry association. age of corn-based ethanol to
than the 2021/2022 harvest. Ethanol production over the 13.4% of the total biofuel market.
BRL/cbm, domestic ex-works
The National Supply Company Anhydrous
time period was 397.53m litres, a UNICA said corn-based etha-
5,000
(Conab) expects a 1.9% increase Hydrous decrease of almost 46% com- nol production over the first half
compared with the previous har- pared with the same time period of April amounted to 170.32m li-
vest, Conab said last week. 4,500 during the previous harvest. tres, compared with 114.68m li-
Sugarcane acres planted are As of 15 April, there were 85 tres produced from corn in the
expected to fall by 1.3% on com- 4,000 units operating, compared to 149 same time period of the
petition from other crops, but units during the same time peri- 2021/2022 cycle. So far during
productivity is expected to recov- od in the 2021/2022 cycle. the first two weeks of April, etha-
er by 3.2% on better weather. 3,500 Another 104 units were ex- nol exports reached 27.36m litres,
Hydrous ethanol is used in Bra- pected to have begun grinding in which is up from 17.4m litres ex-
zil as a standalone fuel in flexible- 3,000 the Center-South region over the ported during the same time pe-
May 2021 May 2022
fuel vehicles (FFVs) and com- second half of April, UNICA said. riod last year. ■

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Americas
US R-HDPE market to remain tight

Growth in import volumes or significant improvements in domestic collection will be needed to meet targets
Emily Friedman Houston FMCG PCR Progress

Commodity service
Natural high-density polyethyl- 2020 PCR % Progress 2025 PCR % Target
20 50
ene (HDPE) bale prices continued 2020 PCR % Progress 2025 PCR % Target ICIS has launched a new
to rise, due to renewed sustaina- 15
40 US recycled polyethylene
bility-driven demand for natural 30
(R-PE) commodity service
post-consumer recycled HDPE 10 covering prices for
(R-HDPE) material. 20 natural and mixed-
Increasing demand is expect- 5
10 coloured post-consumer
ed to continue throughout May, HDPE bales on the East
0 0
applying further upward pressure and West Coasts and
C ing
r P live
on systematically low supply due
r
bottle-derived or post-
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M el
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to declining collection rates. industrial recycled HDPE
iC
W co
a
PL
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ol ile
s,
-P
ps
a-
es
en
a
on
P
Am
D
m
ar
oc
te
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HDPE bottle collection rates and LDPE resin, including
al
ur
D
ra
Ke
C
fell to 28.8% in 2020, down from blow molding grade flake

G
Source: Ellen MacArthur Global Commitment Progress Report 2021
30.9% in 2019, according to a re- and pellet, injection

cent study published by Stina. US HDPE Bottle Collection Rate grade flake and film
Despite the decrease in do- grade pellet. To
mestic collection, recyclers pro- Bottles available (MT) Collection rate (%) subscribe to the pricing
1,540,000 36
cessed over 40,072 tonnes of Bottles Available (MT) Collection Rate (%) service, please contact
HDPE bottle material in 2020, an 1,520,000 34 [email protected].
increased overall volume due to 1,500,000 32
additional imports, equalling ap-
1,480,000 30
proximately 3,583 tonnes more in and mixed coloured HDPE bottles
2020 than in 2019, per the report. 1,460,000 28 comprise 14.4% and 20% of col-
Per the ICIS Mechanical Recy- 1,440,000 26 lected plastic bottles in the US,
cling Supply Tracker, the US has respectively.
1,420,000 24
over 3.3m tonnes of recycled West Coast natural HDPE bales
polyethylene (R-PE) processing 1,400,000 22 rolled over, though still maintaining
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
capacity, accounting for roughly a narrow deficit from East Coast
47% of the domestic mechanical Source: ACC, APR prices. West Coast bales are typi-
recycling input capacity. cally 10-12 cents/lb cheaper than
Growth in import volumes or moving consumer goods (FMCG) historically, mixed coloured bale East Coast bales to account for ad-
significant improvements in do- companies and state regulation demand for the agriculture pipe ditional freight costs, in order to
mestic collection will be needed in New Jersey and Washington. sector would carry through the ship bales to the East Coast where
to meet post-consumer recycled Mixed coloured HDPE bale de- end of spring. the vast majority of reclaimers and
(PCR) content targets from fast- mand softened prematurely, as According to the study, natural converters reside. ■
Asia
Duy Tan Plastic enters R-PET, R-PE
Arianne Perez Singapore domestic market and overseas. Duy Tan will also venture into (EFSA) later in the year.
This year, Duy Tan Plastic will the recycled polypropylene (R- With Duy Tan Plastic coming
One of Vietnam’s biggest plastic launch its 15,000 tonne/year re- PP) market, stamping its pres- in, trade dynamics in Vietnam
manufacturers Duy Tan Plastic cycled polyethylene (R-PE) facili- ence in all the major recycled may shift towards less reliance
has recently entered the recycled ty, which will specifically produce polymers trade, making it the first on imports.
polymers space amid growing recycled high density polyethyl- company in Vietnam to offer pel- However, it will not be an easy
downstream requirements for ene (R-HDPE) blow moulding, lets with global recycling certifi- transition towards locally pro-
sustainable plastic packaging. natural-coloured pellets. cations and approvals. duced R-PET and R-PE pellets,
The company launched its Around 70% of its combined It had already secured approv- said a market source. “Vietnam-
20,000 tonne/year recycled pol- R-PET and R-PE capacities will be al from the US Food and Drug Ad- ese converters are able to source
yethylene terephthalate (R-PET) traded locally while the remain- ministration (FDA) and expects to materials at more competitive
plant in end-2021, offering bottle ing capacity is bound for exports be granted approval by the Euro- rates from other Asian recyclers,”
grade pellets to converters in the to various destinations. pean Food Safety Authority the source added. ■

ICIS GLOBAL PLANT STATUS UPDATES
Global plant status update

Global Americas Europe, Africa, Middle
East
Asia China
Click on the maps to view major plant disruptions, shutdowns and restarts reported by ICIS for the week
from 28 April-3 May 2022
ICIS AMERICAS WEEKLY PLANT STATUS UPDATES
ICIS Americas weekly plant status updates
© 2022 Mapbox © OpenStreetMap
Company Commodity Annual Capacity (ton.. Outage Start Da.. Outage End Date Cause Latest Arti..
03/05/2022
AMERICAS STYRENICS ICIS GLOBAL PLANT STATUS UPDATES
POLYSTYRENE 115,000 28/06/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled
00:00:00
10760460
03/05/2022
AMERICAS STYRENICS POLYSTYRENE 150,000 28/06/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760460
Global Americas Europe, Africa, Middle
00:00:00 Asia China
East 03/05/2022
00:00:00
03/05/2022
00:00:00
ICIS EUROPE WEEKLY PLANT STATUS UPDATES
ICIS Europe, Middle East, Africa weekly plant status updates 03/05/2022
00:00:00
27/04/2022
AMERICAS STYRENICS STYRENE 503,000 30/06/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled Null
00:00:00
GULF COAST GROWTH 02/05/2022

ETHYLENE 1,800,000 05/05/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760455
VENTURES 00:00:00
02/05/2022
HOUSTON REFINING PROPYLENE 155,000 04/05/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760432
00:00:00
13/04/2019
HOUSTON REFINING PROPYLENE 155,000 13/04/2019 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10348677
00:00:00
15/02/2021 05/03/2021 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10606649
00:00:00
Company Commodity Annual Capacity (ton.. Outage Start Da.. Outage End Date Cause Latest Art..
02/05/2022
INEOS ENTERPRISE 1,4-BUTANEDIOL 100,000 22/05/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760435
00:00:00
28/03/2022
SHELL CHEMICALS MEK 90,000 27/04/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760427
00:00:00
30/03/2022
INOVYN EPICHLOROHYDRIN 20,000 02/05/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760402
00:00:00
09/05/2022
VERSALIS ETHYLENE 490,000 18/05/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10759777
00:00:00
09/05/2022
PROPYLENE 245,000 18/05/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10759777
00:00:00
PRICE & MARKET TRENDS
ICIS GLOBAL PLANT STATUS UPDATES

Click on the maps to see a weekly sum-
Global Americas Europe, Africa, Middle Asia mary of all new plant disruptions, shut-
China
East downs and restarts which appear on the
ICIS Live Supply Disruption Tracker
ICIS ASIA WEEKLY PLANT STATUS UPDATES

ICIS Asia weekly plant status updates
Company Commodity Annual Capacity (to.. Outage Start Da.. Outage End Date Cause Latest Arti..
LOTTE FINE CHEMICAL ICIS GLOBAL PLANT STATUS UPDATES

CAUSTIC SODA 150,000
20/04/2022
00:00:00
16/05/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760527
20/04/2022
Global
LOTTE FINE CHEMICAL Americas 210,000
CAUSTIC SODA Europe, Africa, Middle
00:00:00
Asia 16/05/2022 00:00:00
China
Unscheduled 10760527
East
15/05/2022
PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP METHANOL 1,675,000 14/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10754281
00:00:00
04/05/2022
YNCC ETHYLENE 915,000 04/05/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760519
00:00:00
ICIS
ICIS CHINA WEEKLY PLANT STATUS UPDATES
Northeast Asia weekly plant status updates 04/05/2022
PROPYLENE 590,000 04/05/2022 00:00:00 Unscheduled 10760519
00:00:00
30/06/2022
PT ASAHIMAS CHEMICAL VCM 400,000 24/08/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760499
00:00:00
16/05/2022
AGC INC CAUSTIC SODA 290,000 16/06/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760503
00:00:00
05/05/2022
PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL LDPE 345,000 13/05/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760506
00:00:00
28/05/2022
RELIANCE IND. POLYBUTADIENE 40,000 17/06/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760498
00:00:00
RELIANCE IND. SBR (Includes SBCs) 150,000 27/05/2022 17/06/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760497
00:00:00
Company Commodity Annual Capacity (ton.. Outage Start Da.. Outage End Date Cause Latest Art..
02/05/2022
FORMOSA PLASTICS CORP. ACRYLIC ACID ESTERS 80,000 10/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760539
00:00:00
02/05/2022
FORMOSA PLASTICS CORP. ACRYLIC ACID 110,000 10/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760539
00:00:00
02/05/2022
FORMOSA PLASTICS CORP. ACRYLIC ACID ESTERS 40,000 10/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760539
00:00:00
16/07/2022
FORMOSA PLASTICS CORP. PVC 100,000 22/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760492
00:00:00
16/07/2022
FORMOSA PLASTICS CORP. PVC 120,000 22/07/2022 00:00:00 Scheduled 10760492
00:00:00
PLANTS & PROJECTS For a global listing of existing and
planned projects along with
capacities, visit: icis.com/projects
New projects and permanent plant shutdowns

Reported by ICIS News, 25 April – 1 May 2022
New projects
Company Location Product Capacity* Process Contractor Cost Start-up Status
Alpek Pernambuco, Brazil purified terephthalic (x) debottleneck – – – P
acid (PTA)
US expandable (x) debottleneck – – – P
polystyrene (EPS)
BASF-YPC – BASF and Nanjing, Jiangsu, tert-butyl acrylate – – – – end 2023 U
Sinopec JV China (TBA)
propionic acid, (x) – – – end 2023 U
propionic aldehyde,
ethyleneamines,
ethanolamines and
purified ethylene
oxide.
Corpus Christi Polymers Corpus Christi, polyethylene 1.1m – – – – P
(CCP) – Alpek, Indorama Texas, US terephthalate (PET)
Ventures and Far Eastern
New Century jv
PTA 1.3m – – – – P
Domo Chemicals Haiyan County, nylon (x) 35,000; – – €14m Q3 2023 P
Zhejiang, China 50,000T
Jiaxing, Zhejiang, nylon 6 (x) 6,000; – – – – P
China 14,000T
Dynasol Group – Repsol Santander, Spain solution styrene 20,000 potential to – – Q1 2024 P
and Grupo Kuo jv butadiene rubber reach 25,000
(SSBR)
Altamira, Mexico styrene butadiene (x) – – – – P
copolymer (SBC)
Eastman Port-Jerome-sur- chemical recycling – 160,000 methanolysis- – – 2025 P
Seine, Rouen, hard-to-recycle based
France polyethylene
terephthalate (PET),
carpet and textiles
Kingsport, chemical recycling – methanolysis- – $250m 2023 D
Tennessee, US hard-to-recycle based
polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)
waste
Eni Venice biorefinery, hydrogen – hydrogen Maire – – E
Porto Marghera, production Tecnimont
Italy line subsidiary
KT-Kinetics
Technology
Enterprise and Oxy Low Texas, US carbon dioxide (CO2) – collect along – – – S
Carbon Ventures (OLCV) capture US Gulf Coast
- Occidental Petroleum
subsidiary
Huntsman Geismar, Louisiana, methylene diphenyl – – – – end 2022 U
US diisocyanate (MDI)
splitter
Jiangsu Sierbang Jiangsu, China propylene 700,000 PDH – – Apr 2022 C
Petrochemical
LANXESS Krefeld-Uerdingen, engineering plastics – Durethan – €50m April C
Dusseldorf, polyamide 2022
Germany and Pocan
polybutylene
terephthalate
Linde Freeport, Texas, US helium 200m cubic recover gas – – 2024 P
feet (mcf) from LNG site.
Lotte-GS Chemical – Yeosu, South Korea butadiene (BD) 90,000 – – – April C
Lotte Chemical and GS 2022
Energy jv

PLANTS & PROJECTS
New projects
Company Location Product Capacity* Process Contractor Cost Start-up Status
LyondellBasell La Porte, Texas, US polyethylene (PE) – (x) Hyperzone – – 2023 P
premium products technology
Meghna PVC Meghnaghat, PET 100,000 – – – 2022 U
Sonargaon,
Narayanganj,
Bangladesh
polyvinyl chloride 150,000 – – – 2022 U
(PVC)
Methanex Geismar 3, methanol 1.8m – – – late 2023 U
Louisiana, US or early
2024
MOL Group and Plug Danube refinery, green hydrogen 1,600 – – €22m 2023 P
Power Szazhalombatta,
Budapest, Hungary
Olin and Plug Power St Gabriel, green hydrogen 15 tons/day – – – 2023 P
Louisiana, US
PT Bumi Indus Padma Indonesia recycled 15,000-18,000 bottle-to- – – Q2 2022 U
Jaya polyethylene bottle R-PET
terephthalate (R-PET)
Qixiang Tengda Sandong, China methyl ethyl ketone 80,000 – – – Apr 2022 C
(MEK)
Shell Geismar, Louisiana, linear alpha olefins 425,000 – – $1.4bn 2026- S
US (LAO) 2027
poly alpha olefins – – – – – S
(PAO)
Siam Cement Group Long Son high density 450,000 – – – Q1 2023 U
(SCG) Long Son Petrochemical polyethylene (HDPE)
Petrochemical project project (LSP1),
(LSP1) Vietnam
linear low density 500,000 – – – Q1 2023 U
polyethylene (LLDPE)
polypropylene (PP) 400,000 – – – Q1 2023 U
Sinochem International Lianyungang, acrylonitrile- 400,000 – – – – P
Polymer (Lianyungang) China butadiene-styrene
Co (ABS)
SkyFuelH2 – Sasol and Langsele, Sweden sustainable aviation – Sasol – – – P
Uniper jv fuel (SAF) proprietary
technology
TC Energy and Nikola Crossfield, Calgary, hydrogen 150 tonnes/ gas-based – – – P
Canada day
Notes: *Capacity: figures given in tonnes/year; tonnes/day are converted by multiplying by 330. (x) = expansion; T = total capacity including expansion.
Start-up: Dates given are for planned start-up. H1 = 1st half year; H2 = 2nd half year; Q1 = 1st quarter; Q2 = 2nd quarter; Q3 = 3rd quarter; Q4 = 4th quarter.
Status: S = study; P = planned; A = approval; E = engineering; U = under construction; C = completed; D = delayed; CAN = cancelled.
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ICIS-supply_demand_filler_quarter_hori_V6.indd 1 08/03/2013 14:08

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SPECIAL REPORT
TOP 100 CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS
ICIS TOP 100

CHEMICAL
DISTRIBUTORS
Shutterstock
Welcome to the 13th annual Top 100 Chemical Distributors. Look inside to find out
who the leaders are of this important element in the chemical industry supply chain
CONTENTS Amid challenges UK industry
finds ways to innovate, grow
42 Univar’s Nick Powell sees
distribution as integral amid
50 Lithuania hit by Russia/
Ukraine war and sanctions
28 Tough times ahead supply chain disruptions
34 Russia/Ukraine war is
29 Russia/Ukraine war adds to
challenges: Fecc
altering trade patterns 44 Caldic CEO is seeking THE RANKING
38 Distributors grapple with additional transformative
53 ICIS Top 100 main listing
30 RDC hails the folks that keep logistics before focusing on deals after GTM merger
the supply chain running. 72 Asia Pacific leaders
longer-term strategy 46 Think beyond crisis urges
NACD is driving regulatory Erbsloeh CEO 78 North America leaders
40 IMCD CEO Piet van der
changes Slikke sees opportunities 48 Safic-Alcan aims for global 85 Middle East & Africa leaders
31 Brazil chemical distribution through mergers and expansion to become a 90 Latin America leaders
demonstrates its resilience. acquisitions more sustainable company 94 Europe leaders

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Tough times ahead

Europe’s chemical distributors must adapt to the region’s changing competitive
environment plus the prospect of an economic downturn later in the year
Will Beacham Barcelona whom have put in decades of service. Distrib- East and US are already getting more enquir-
utors operating in Eastern Europe have wel- ies from new customers in Europe, and this is
Welcome to the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Dis- comed displaced colleagues’ families from a trend we can expect to continue.
tributors for 2022, a global listing of the Ukraine. Brenntag CEO Christian Kohlpaintner Chemical distributors – with their global
world’s largest and most influential compa- told ICIS that employees from Poland, Hun- network of suppliers – are in a unique position
nies which power this dynamic and essential gary, Czech Republic and Romania have wel- to turn these challenges into opportunities.
link in the industrial supply chain. comed Ukrainian refugees. Another risk chemical distributors should be
Those supply chains continue to face se- We can expect to see changes in sourcing aware of for the second half of the year is a po-
vere pressure, with the war in Ukraine adding by distributors as the war has undermined Eu- tential downturn in consumer demand. Wages
another element to already torrid conditions rope’s competitive position versus other re- are not keeping pace with inflation while high
for anyone trying to move products around gions. Oil, naphtha and gas prices in Europe energy and fuel prices are sucking money out
the world. In Europe, thousands of Ukrainian have hit multi-year highs, pushing up the of people’s pockets. Some economists are even
and Russian truck drivers have been taken out costs of chemical production and inflating forecasting a recession later in 2022. China –
of circulation while Russian ships are no long- prices to downstream customers. the engine of the global economy – is cooling,
er welcome at many ports in the region. The desire to avoid Russian products is also with lockdowns adding to existing problems
Some distributors are now winding down raising costs in Europe because the country with its real estate sector. Distributors are prov-
their businesses in Russia while minimising often sells at a discount to global prices. ing they can continue to adapt to extreme mac-
the impact on employees there, many of Chemical producers in Asia, the Middle roeconomic and geopolitical conditions. ■
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Ukraine war adds

to challenges: Fecc
The war in Ukraine has added yet another element of uncertainty, and new
challenges, for Europe’s chemical distributors, say the Fecc’s director general
Dorothee Arns European Association of
So far distributors have
Chemical Distributors (Fecc)
been navigating the
stormy waters well
These times are exceptional: first the pan-
demic, now on top the Russian war in Ukraine.
At the moment it seems that crisis scenario
follows crisis scenario, partly reinforcing each
other, and personal as well as business resil-
ience is needed more than ever before.
So far distributors have been navigating
the stormy waters well and were able to
meet to meet all their commitments, in
close cooperation with their principles and
customers.
It goes without saying that also distributors
Shutterstock
were affected by the significant supply chain
disruptions, which marked the year 2021 and
so far also 2022. Like all other players in the
chemical value chain also distributors had to well as regionalisation in sourcing strategies always be interpreted as either a challenge or
cope with soaring freight rates, limited to no and logistical concepts. an opportunity. The challenge for distributors
availability of containers, shortages of raw Additionally, with the Russian war in and most other value chain partners is the
materials and semi-finished products, strong- Ukraine, geopolitics are now substantially complexity and the pace of the industrial
ly increasing prices and other factors. kicking in and start to significantly shape the transformation in times of multiple uncertain-
The term “new normal”, which originally new business reality of tomorrow, in particular ties and with ongoing operational issues re-
emerged to describe a new way to handle the for Europe. Europe is currently reinventing it- quiring the highest level of attention.
daily lives in Corona times, can now obviously self in two-dimensional ways: on one hand in On the other hand, both topics require an
be extended to cover a new business reality terms of sustainability/circular economy via enhanced collaboration across the entire val-
with almost daily logistical challenges and the so-called European Green Deal and on the ue-chain and here distributors are ideally
constant planning for the unexpected, even other hand in a geopolitical context in terms placed amidst all market segments and
unprecedented. of exiting long-standing energy and raw ma- amidst all supply chain functions. With the
Supply reliability and supply chain excel- terial supply patterns in a move towards gain- deep understanding for today´s and
lence are becoming decisive competitive ad- ing complete independence from Russian oil tomorrow´s needs and trends of all value
vantages, whereas in former times they were and gas in the near future. chain parts that is inherent to a distributor´s
actually more or less taken as granted. As a matter of fact, new developments can business model they can certainly make a
For distributors, however, this can also be multitude of active contributions to reach
Dorothee Arns
an opportunity, because more than ever be- Director General, European Association of Europe´s societal targets.
fore they can demonstrate their value-added: Chemical Distributors (Fecc) The ”European masterpiece” will now be to
it has always been in the distributors´ DNA to reconcile the ambitious European sustainabil-
adapt quickly to ever-changing market condi- Supply reliability and supply chain ity and climate change mitigation agenda
tions and to use their huge international net- excellence are becoming with economic necessities and realities. ■
works to secure supplies even under extreme- decisive competitive For latest news and further information
ly challenging circumstances. on chemical industry trends, challenges,
advantages,
The consequences of the pandemic be- and much more please visit Fecc at
come increasingly obvious and persist longer whereas in former www.fecc.org or at #FeccEurope on
than originally anticipated: marked, incongru- times they were LinkedIn and Twitter. We also warmly
ous demand and supply fluctuations trigger a actually more invite you to join Fecc’s Annual Congress
critical review of existing business models to- or less taken in Sitges/Spain from 5 to 7 September
wards higher inventories, the requirement of 2022 – more details and registration link
for granted
additional services, more diversification as available soon on our home page.

People make it work

Responsible Distribution Canada hails the folks that have been essential in keeping
the supply chain running
Catherine Wieckowska RDC Catherine Wieckowska out the pandemic. They certainly deserve the
President, RDC
accolades and appreciation of Canada.
Disruption, inflation, climate change, recov- “People are a fundamental In addition to our healthcare and emergen-
ery, war, polarisation – all topics that have cy heroes, Canadians are also indebted to the
investment. In
been in our recent discussions and decisions. supply chain essential workers.
There are so many variables impacting our unsettling times, it’s Our drivers, logistics and customer service
businesses, and although historically there the team that will coordinators, quality managers, warehouse
have always been interruptions, I’m not con- push through to operators and others deserve our respect be-
vinced that we’ve had this many all at once in keep goods and cause they have kept our nation safe, stocked,
the past. and resilient.
services moving”
So, how does a leader persevere through it People are a fundamental investment. In
all? At Responsible Distribution Canada (RDC), unsettling times, it’s the team that will push
we believe the answer is the people. Despite our interactions being primarily through to keep goods and services moving.
RDC represents over 3,600 member em- online for the past 24-plus months, our net- Finding and sustaining the right people is
ployees, 210 facilities, eight standing commit- work committed to connectivity. In spite of challenging, however imperative, especially
tees, and a whole community of volunteers being bogged down by Covid and supply during a time of historical disruption.
who work together for the betterment of the chain fatigue, they attended virtual meet- The association is thankful to our commu-
industry. ings, town halls and training events. RDC ac- nity of dedicated volunteers.
The association has been extremely fortu- tually saw a spike in participation levels and We applaud all the hard work of the chemi-
nate with the increased level of engagement volunteer involvement. cal distribution industry’s essential workers
that our membership showed throughout the Our nurses, doctors and emergency re- and are grateful for their continued commit-
pandemic. sponders have been acknowledged through- ment to Canada. ■
NACD driving regulatory changes

The National Association of Chemical Distributors sees positive changes coming in 2022 and beyond
Eric Byer NACD network that distributors rely on for trans- last-minute hearing to explore the recent de-
porting their goods, is once again on the terioration of freight rail service.
Last year brought with it a bevy of hardships, right track. On our nation’s roads, truck driver shortag-
including the persistence of COVID-19, infla- The agency is moving ahead with essential es persist, impacting chemical distributors’
tion, and supply chain issues. rail reforms including finalising Demurrage ability to transport their goods in a timely,
Many of these issues are still affecting busi- Billing Requirements rules, acting on a joint cost-effective manner.
nesses like ours, and this was all before the petition for rulemaking around private railcar Congress has taken initial steps to address
global disruptions caused by the conflict in use, conducting a hearing on reciprocal these shortages by implementing a driver
Ukraine. switching, and calling a nearly unheard-of pilot program to allow employers to establish
Despite all of this, things are starting to look an apprenticeship program for certain 18-21
up for US chemical distributors in 2022. Eric Byer year-old drivers to operate commercial vehi-
To address shipping disruptions and other President and CEO, NACD cles in interstate commerce.
supply chain-related issues, the Biden ad- After a turbulent 2021, US chemical distrib-
ministration has taken the initiative and “NACD is ready to work with utors have a lot to be positive about now, but
began investigating antitrust, competition, lawmakers and the this work is not finished.
and price collusion in the ocean carrier in- administration to make For example, the administration’s investiga-
dustry. tion is ongoing, and Congress has not fin-
sure this year is better
Congress too is finishing up work on the ished reconciling its two bills on ocean ship-
Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), which than the last for ping reform.
would crack down on many of the ocean chemical As we look ahead to the rest of the year,
cargo shipping issues we have experienced distributors and NACD is ready to work with lawmakers and
over the course of the pandemic. businesses the administration to make sure this year is
The Surface Transportation Board (STB), better than the last for chemical distributors
across the US”
the US agency which oversees the freight rail and businesses across the US. ■

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Brazil distribution
proves its resilience
Distributors are demonstrating resilience and proving to be a reliable source of supply
Rubens Medrano Associquim demic, large industrial companies that directly to rely on the distribution channel, as it guaran-
imported their raw materials were affected by teed supply at competitive prices and in the
2021 was another year of difficulties and chal- market uncertainty and the challenges their quantities necessary to help maintain cash flow.
lenges for the Brazilian chemical distribution traditional suppliers were facing, and started to Despite all these major problems occurring
sector. After the effects of the pandemic on use distribution channels for supply. Distribu- successively and in such a short period of
global raw materials sources, we were im- tors proved to be a reliable source of supply, time, distribution companies have proven
pacted by the disruptive crisis that impacted providing the necessary quantities as well as their maturity and management excellence in
international maritime logistics, caused by competitive prices to keep plants operating. navigating through difficulties, mainly in man-
lack of containers and changes in vessels’ lo- Even after this period, customers continued aging costs for their customers in a way that
cations and rotations. wouldn’t make prices unfeasible and exces-
Rubens Medrano
These unfavorable factors resulted in a sub- President, Associquim
sively burden the production of essential
stantial increase in freight rates, which are products for the end consumer.
then passed on to the final cost of imported “Distributors proved Investments made in digitalisation and IT
products. Distribution companies, in a dem- to be a reliable source equipment, in addition to training for staff,
onstration of resilience and administrative ef- were important tools for distribution to reiter-
ficiency, took the necessary and effective ac-
of supply, providing the ate its importance as a key player within the
tions to keep customers supplied with the necessary quantities as production chain. Associquim , as a national
essential raw materials, especially small- and well as competitive entity representing the Brazilian distribution
medium-sized companies for which we are prices to keep plants sector, has made every effort to support and
the main source of supply. operating” defend the interests of our members in vari-
During the most critical period of the pan- ous domestic and international forums. ■
Challenges fuel growth, innovation

Using innovative approaches to turn difficult situations into business opportunities
Tim Doggett Chemical Business manufacturing site in Milton Keynes into its ti-million-pound investment to build a new fa-
Association (CBA) existing network to maintain the UK produc- cility at Rugby, Warwickshire, consolidating its
tion of betaines and other products. This has existing operations and to allow for further
There can be no doubt that the past few years led to employment opportunities and upskill- expansion, whilst another has increased its
have seen an incredible number of challenges ing of existing employees through the crea- solvent handling capacity by 75% and extend-
across all industry sectors and the chemical tion of an innovation hub. In addition, this has ed its facility by 33%.
supply chain is no exception. reduced their carbon footprint, as it can now A further opportunity for the UK chemical
In addition to battling the impact of COVID, service customers from local sites. industry is the government’s ‘levelling up’
the industry has had to deal with regulatory Similarly, another member has made a mul- campaign which includes public capital in-
changes and increased bureaucracy due to vestment of £26bn for the green industrial
Tim Doggett
Brexit, major disruptions throughout the sup- revolution and transition to net zero, which
CEO, Chemical Business Association (CBA)
ply chain, the closure of manufacturing will go a long way towards supporting the in-
plants, raw material shortages, rocketing en- “The compound dustry’s sustainability efforts. Contrary to per-
ergy costs, and the geopolitical fall-out from impacts of the ceptions, the chemical industry is heavily in-
the conflict in Ukraine. volved and instrumental in finding solutions to
Despite the doom and gloom, the UK challenges outlined solve the problems of climate change.
chemical industry endures – a testament to its have resulted in dramatic The compound impacts of the challenges
strength and resilience. In fact, amidst these changes in the outlined have resulted in dramatic changes in
challenges, the UK chemical industry has chemical industry the chemical industry landscape. As a result,
found ways to innovate and grow. For exam- landscape” the opportunity for innovation and growth has
ple, one of our members has integrated a never been greater. ■

War alters patterns

of chemical trade
Europe’s competitive position is undermined by soaring energy and feedstock costs,
forcing distributors and downstream buyers to seek alternative supplies
Will Beacham Barcelona ICIS Europe naphtha reporter, Shruti Sal-
wan, pointed out that Russian supplies of
Europe’s chemical industry faces multiple naphtha may be crimped further after the 15
headwinds which could see it lose out to May deadline for negotiating new annual sup-
other regions, and lead to more sourcing from ply contracts. Most buyers in Europe have
further afield by downstream customers and been avoiding Russian material since the war
distributors. began. However poorer downstream demand
The war in Ukraine has pushed up feed- and a switch to propane by cracker operators
stock and energy costs for chemical produc- has alleviated earlier market tightness and
ers in Europe, forcing them to increase selling high prices.
prices and putting them at an increasing dis- She added: “While regional refineries are
advantage compared to competitors in the likely to struggle in filling the void, especially as
US, Asia and Middle East. they steer clear of Russian crude, lower cracker
Gas prices in Europe rocketed to historic buying and limited exports are expected to
highs in the build up to Russia’s invasion of keep market balanced in the near term.”
Ukraine, and along with rising crude oil prices,
have pushed up production costs particularly Other regions more competitive
in Europe. Although direct sanctions are not Christian Kohlpaintner Chemical distributors recognize that the com-
yet in place in Europe, many companies have CEO, Brenntag petitive landscape is changing as the war has
self-sanctioned by avoiding sourcing from pushed up Europe’s energy and feedstock
Russia. This has also increased feedstock pric-
“I think we are seeing a change in cost base so much. This will change trade
es for European chemical producers which trade flows coming, and I guess it flows, they say.
are now buying often more expensive prod- will be quite massive over the next According to Christian Kohlpaintner, CEO of
ucts from further afield. 12 to 24 months” Brenntag, the world’s largest distributor: “Esca-
In an environment of structurally high oil lating energy prices can put Europe into a dis-
prices, petrochemical producers in North advantage for the foreseeable future – that
America and the Middle East which use torically relied heavily on Russia for naphtha means other regions in the world are getting
ethane rather than naphtha as a key feedstock for around half of its requirements. The ab- more competitive – the US, the Middle East
will enjoy a huge competitive advantage. sence of Russian volumes in Europe is likely to and Asia. So, I think we are seeing a change in
In Europe, naphtha is the most important cause a supply loss of 700,000-1m tonnes an- trade flows coming, and I guess it will be quite
petrochemical feedstock. The region has his- nually, according to market sources. massive over the next 12 to 24 months.”
Kohlpaintner is concerned about the medi-
Europe PE prices soar above other regions as costs rocket um-to-long term competitiveness of the Euro-
pean chemical industry if access to cheap
$/tonne, HDPE injection Spot CFR Asia SE Contract, DEL US Spot, FD NWE
2,250
energy is not possible or is hampered.
“I’m talking about naphtha, oil and gas in par-
2,000 ticular for the German manufacturers which are
the core of the European chemical industry –
1,750 this is very critical because the competitiveness
1,500
of Europe was secured for quite some time
through access to low energy costs. High ener-
1,250 gy costs will increase the supply of chemicals
from outside of Europe to Europe.”
1,000 North America, which has ramped up wave
750
after wave of ethane-based chemical produc-
tion, is likely to export more to Europe in the
500 long term.
May May May Apr
2019 2020 2021 2022 According to Kohlpaintner: “Bringing lique-
Source: ICIS fied natural gas (LNG) from the US to Europe

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Christian Kohlpaintner
CEO, Brenntag
“What I’m concerned about is the

medium to long term
competitiveness of the European
chemical industry if access to
cheap energy is not possible or is
hampered”
tem with China’s zero Covid policy leading to

continuing lockdowns in important cities, af-
fecting roads and ports which have been
closed or are operating at reduced capacity.
The war in Ukraine has also hurt logistics, es-
pecially in Europe which relies on truck drivers
from Ukraine and Russia. Russian ships are also
not being allowed to enter European harbours.
There are fears that the container system
Europe’s cost
may not rebalance for years because few new
base means it is
ships are nearing completion. The shipping
losing out to other
sector had been unprofitable for years and
regions, opening
the number of shipyards globally has col-
new trade routes
lapsed, with empty order books until recently.
for chemical
Shutterstock
Kohlpaintner said: “Even before the war
distributors
supply chains were already under severe
pressure and the war is impacting production
is just the first wave of supply of materials and sometimes you’ve long term commitments. and supply chains in particular in Europe – we
chemicals out of the US into Europe. That will Our strength has also been that we are are not expecting any normalization soon.
increase going forward unless there is a devel- teamed up with supply partners for long peri- That additional stress on the supply chains
opment which restores the competitiveness ods of times, even decades.” has had a massive impact on price develop-
of European chemical producers.” In fertilizers, Brenntag is looking for alterna- ments and we are seeing significant price in-
tives to its traditional suppliers in Belarus and creases, in particular driven by high energy
Changes to sourcing Russia. The switch will have a some impact on costs and lack of supply.”
Despite the challenges of disrupted logistics, Brenntag’s fertilizer volume development this He added that exports from China to Europe
particularly in container shipping, down- year, according to the CEO. are suffering from high logistic costs and tight
stream buyers in Europe are already changing logistics capacities for material that can flow
their behaviour, sourcing more from other re- Supply chains still stressed out of China and the rest of Asia into Europe.
gions to avoid Russian material and because Global logistics and supply chain networks Some European countries are still operat-
prices are lower. are still under severe strain, especially the ing quarantine periods of up to 10 days, and
For example, in the styrene-butadiene-rub- shipping container system. this is adding to bottlenecks and availability of
ber (SBR) market, Asian producers are prepar- Since the pandemic hit in early 2020, a se- transport capacity.
ing to ship out more cargoes to Europe given ries of events have disrupted supply of chemi- “It’s a daily challenge to really navigate lo-
recent loss of Russian supply. Tyre factories in cals to global markets amid strong demand, gistics and we have no signs that this is im-
Europe are a major consumer of Russian SBR, leading to record prices in some value chains. proving,” he said.
and “quite a number of them have had to look As demand fell for transport fuels in the first
for alternative supplies now, after the sanc- half of 2020, refineries closed down or re- Azelis, Cornelius feel the strain
tions on Russia came into force”, a northeast duced run rates. This reduced supply of feed- Belgian-headquartered specialty chemical
Asian SBR maker said. stocks such as naphtha and propylene for distributor, Azelis, also sees continuing chal-
In the caustic soda market, European buy- chemicals production. lenges in global logistics, especially transport-
ers along the Mediterranean are looking for Also in 2020, the US hurricane season, fol- ing goods from China into Europe or the
cargoes in northeast Asia to replace Russian lowed by the February 2021 polar storm, Americas. CEO Hans Joachim Müller said:
supplies. closed down large parts of the US chemicals “The effects of port lockdowns in Shanghai
Chemical distributors are also changing sector. In the aftermath of the polar storm, due to Covid have a tremendous impact. Not
their sourcing strategies. Global groups such 100% of US capacity was offline for some im- only that, US coasts have been suffering from
as Brenntag can adjust and balance out their portant products such as butadiene (BD) and workforce shortages for months, slowing
supply chains to take advantage of changing polycarbonates (PC). down cargo clearances, and let’s not forget
regional dynamics. Hurricane Ida struck the US Gulf coast in the known shortage of truck drivers both in
“We are now drawing on that capability and late August 2021, though with less severe con- the US and Europe…..We do not believe that
that, I think, puts us in a in a competitive situa- sequences than the polar storm. the situation in 2022 will normalize, and we
tion also in Europe. It’s not that you switch re- A resurgent pandemic in Asia has caused can only hope that in 2023 these supply
lationships from one day to the other easily – further disruption to the global container sys- chains will reach a degree of stability.” ❯❯

❯❯ Ukraine and Russia are respectively

Top 10 chemical net exports from Russia to Europe in 2021
global number one and two producers of sun-
flower oil, and product shortages are affecting Tonnes
UK-based Cornelius Group’s sourcing of prod-
Polypropylene
uct for the cosmetics industry with rocketing
HDPE
prices and short availability.
Chairman Neville Prior, who is also Fecc Caustic Soda
president, said: “If you can get hold of it, Polybutadiene

you’re going to pay double, and you can’t get Propylene
hold of as much as you want. It has a knock on SBR (Includes
SBCs)
effect on other oils such as sweet almond oil
Acrylonitrile
and olive oil – ultimately that’s inflationary.”
Butyl Rubber
He points out that the price of shipping
containers from China to Europe is still sky Styrene
high, costing up to $30,000 compared with Benzene
$1,800 18 months ago. 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000
Source: ICIS Supply & Demand Database
Supply/demand imbalance
Downstream demand has stayed robust Major upstream net exports from Russia to Europe in 2021
throughout 2021 and so far in 2022. But there
Tonnes
are questions about how sustainable this will
be for the rest of the year as soaring energy Gasoil 11.9%
prices, rising interest rates and inflation suck
money out of consumers’ pockets. Fuel oil 74.5%
In its April World Economic Outlook, the In-
ternational Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down Naphtha 14.7%
its global GDP forecast by 0.8 percentage
points to 3.6% year on year in 2022. Eurozone LPG 4.9%
GDP was revised down by 1.1 percentage
points to 2.8% for 2022 and 2.3% in 2023. Kerosene 3.6%
According to Kohlpaintner: “Demand out-
strips supply because of availability of logis- Motor
gasoline
1.2%
tics capacity and the deliberate reduction in
0 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M 30M 35M 40M
production capacity because of escalating
energy prices, which we particularly see in the Source: ICIS Supply & Demand Database. Note: Percentage of net exports compared to total European demand for product.
inorganics markets where massive price esca-

lations on the energy side curtail production, mand balance than Europe, according to the In China, Brenntag is seeing an impact from
which adds to a lack of supply.” CEO, though he can see the impact of higher the current lockdowns, affecting its industrial
He believes demand is still healthy, but can- energy and logistics costs. business more than specialities. “There is an
not yet distinguish whether this is real de- “Inflationary trends in the US are even more impact clearly on volumes when you basically
mand, inventory replenishment or even pre- pronounced for the time being than in Europe shut down a city like Shanghai with 26m peo-
buying by purchasing managers with an eye and that will lead also to similar consumer be- ple. In China there was already lower demand
on continuing price inflation. haviour with people postponing maybe invest- than everybody was hoping for coming out of
The US has a more balanced supply/de- ments for larger discretionary items,” he said. the pandemic situation and then on top of
that we had the export difficulties because of
Geopolitics Will Beacham Barcelona lack of capacity, lack of harbour capacity, lack
Brenntag ramps down in Russia of workers and the hardware.”
The CEO points out that demand is still very
Brenntag is putting its Ukraine. In early March we difficult period. healthy in many regions of the world, with the
business in Russia on hold took the decision to suspend “I have been moved by catch up from the pandemic still in full swing.
in response to the coun- all imports and exports from how our Brenntag employ- Just meeting that demand is very challenging
try’s invasion of Ukraine. It Russia and Belarus for the ees help each other. We so he is not expecting catastrophic scenarios
has around €100m in sales time being, and to ramp have numerous examples globally from a demand perspective.
in Ukraine (35 employees) down that business – we are of Ukrainian employee’s But he is concerned about demand in the
and Russia (60 employ- executing this now in a con- families being taken in by coming quarters: “Not immediately or in the
ees). Russia, Ukraine and trolled manner.” our Polish, Hungarian, first half, but we will see impacts in the second
Belarus made up less than Some of the company’s Czech or Romanian half of 2022 and then going into 2023. The
1% of the company’s an- employees in Russia have Brenntag workforce.” waves of price increases are just working
nual sales in 2021. been with Brenntag since Brenntag’s business in down the value chains until they hit the con-
Kohlpaintner said: “We 2005 and the CEO said Ukraine is on hold, accord- sumer. An inflationary situation meeting a re-
took as a management Brenntag is supporting ing to the CEO. A ware- cessionary setup is not easy to navigate –
board a very clear position both Russian and Ukrainian house in Kiev has been stagflation (stagnant growth and high
that we condemn the war in employees through this affected by the warfare. ■ inflation) – that’s a quite a challenging situa-
tion in Europe.” ■

Let’s define a better
future together
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provide actionable insight to support sustainable business decisions.
Build a strategy with a team of experts providing a comprehensive view of global

chemical markets and together, let’s shape the industry with enhanced data.
Grow with our united team

Logistics crisis
casts a shadow
Chemical distributors need to come to terms with the ongoing logistics
crisis before they can focus on longer-term strategy such as M&A
Guenther Eberhard DistriConsult Main drivers were significant price increases Guenther Eberhard
and a sharp pick-up in mergers & acquisition Managing Director, DistriConsult
Not only because the Russian invasion into (M&A) activity compared to 2020: more
Ukraine is more than 50 days old as I am writ- about this later. “At a certain time point in January
ing this article, the quote “Amateurs talk strat- Looking back on last year’s performance, around 7% of global 20’
egy, professionals talk logistics …”, originally everybody was quite happy. In private con- container capacity was
attributed to American World War II infantry versations, the representatives of mid-sized, floating off the west
general Omar Bradley, has been used quite mostly privately held distributors that have
coast of the US,
often recently. not yet formally published results, do smile
Whilst comparisons of business with war broadly and confirm their companies’ results outside Long
are in itself rather questionable, even in as being fully in line with what is described Beach harbour”
peaceful times, they are even more so at above. But when asked what to expect for
times of conflict. But the quote is descriptive 2022, they become much more tight-lipped.
of the situation that the chemical distribution Apart from the geopolitical situation, the re- and supply chain/logistics staff are carrying
industry, in fact the whole chemicals and ported inflation levels are causing concern. the brunt of the additional workload that is re-
polymers industry, is in today. Potential changes in consumer sentiment sulting from lack of availability overall, de-
A lot of thought is given to global supply/ and the following dampening or even delayed or short shipments from suppliers, fre-
demand considerations and design, con- crease of demand are on people’s minds quent price changes, the introduction of
struction and operation of world-scale plants. when they look at the future. For the more various “surcharges”, or resource constraints
But in practice quite often local or at most re- pessimistic it’s not so much if, but when along the whole supply chain.
gional availability determines a significant growth will come to an end sometime later in Examples for these are the lack of contain-
portion of downstream activities and how the year. And then, will it be just flat-lining ers. At a certain time point in January around
management time is allocated. And with that going forward or even a turning trend and 7% of global 20’ container capacity was float-
we are right in the middle of what is happen- hence decline? As to globalisation, there’s talk ing off the west coast of the US, outside Long
ing in chemical distribution right now. about a slowdown, or even a (partial) reversal. Beach harbour, and 14% of global container
ship capacity was tied up in logistics conges-
It looked so good at the end of 2021 Managing for the short term tion around the world.
The results for 2021, presented by all the list- Despite continued strategic initiatives at a There has been limited availability of pack-
ed distribution companies were way beyond number of distribution companies, a large aging materials such as drums or intermedi-
expectations and often record breaking. portion of the managerial activity is oriented ate bulk containers (IBCs), the frequent roll-
Sales and profit growth was remarkable. towards operational fire-fighting. Back-office over of containers and delays in sailings of
ocean vessels. There has also been a scarcity
M&A activity by continent of transport space and a lack of truck divers
virtually all across Europe.
Number of transactions EUR MEAF Asia-Pacific NAM LAM
But it is not only a problem of logistics.
2021 Since the winter storms in Texas in first quar-
2020
ter 2021, when a significant percentage of up-
2019
stream petrochemical feedstocks capacity
2018
2017
was shut down for prolonged periods of time,
2016 product availability was constrained across
2015 large part of the petrochemical industry. It felt
2014 a bit like a “whack-a-mole” game, a logistics
2013 expert recently commented.
2012 All this triggers a lot of extra work and puts
2011 a lot of stress on the sales and particularly the
2010
back office teams. And depending on where a
2009
company is located, it is not so easy to find
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Source: Company websites, press releases, company filings, ChemAgility, Hazardous Cargo Bulletin, DistriConsult analysis the additional staff that may be needed to
Note: Private placements of Brenntag, DKSH, IMCD and Univar shares are counted as separate transactions cope with the increased workload.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Lack of innovation
The need to concentrate on the short term
makes it difficult to plan for and work on the
long term development of a business. Al-
though hard data are difficult to come by,
there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that the
distributors’ customers in the formulating in-
dustries have neglected or even cut back on
innovation.
With all the supply challenges, many tech-
nical development chemists and engineers
have been re-assigned to identifying, testing
and qualifying alternative raw materials and
ingredients (or altogether new suppliers),
rather than upgrading and enhancing their
formulated products by adding new features.
Being away from the office or the laborato-
ry for extended times in 2020/21 didn’t make
things easier. As practical as web-based inter-
Shutterstock
action in 30 or 60 minute intervals is for work
on structured and well defined tasks, it is not
always conducive to innovative ideas regard- Port congestion around the world has tied up a lot of container capacity
ing as yet to be discovered and developed
products or services. ery dates and price increases or energy/ they will continue to add on to business. The
There a certain level of serendipity is criti- freight cost surcharges initiated by a multi- latter shows that the financial community be-
cal, difficult to experience sitting in front of a tude of suppliers, make it difficult to keep sys- lieves that there is space for yet a few more of
small computer screen. Some of this will be tems up-to-date. Algorithms can only be as such globally active distribution firms. Another
hard to catch up, unfortunately. But it can be good as the programmer and the applied member of the category is Barentz, part-
overcome with time. knowledge behind them. owned by investor Cinven, who just recently
For the time being it’s is mostly back to have announced the acquisition of Unipex.
What about digitalisation? phone calls and e-mails and the operational But it’s not only these large groups that make
What we discovered in a survey in spring 2019, nous of experienced inside sales and supply acquisitions. Quite a number of mid-sized, pri-
the fact that many distributors were at the time chain staff. Although there has been some in- vately held distributors have acquired busi-
investing in “digital infrastructure”, helped sig- vestment by shippers in supply chain visibility nesses and/or entered new geographies, as
nificantly to manage the business during COV- and predictability solutions, because of all the the consolidation of the industry continues.
ID-related lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. Enter- disruption over the past couple of years, in-
prise Resource Management (ERP) and cluding multiple funding series for start-ups. The way forward
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) So it will be worthwhile to monitor that space. As mentioned before, macro-economic driv-
systems have been upgraded as well as cloud- ers will influence developments in the coming
based data storage and web-based communi- Buy & build is back, isn’t it? quarters. High energy and (agricultural) com-
cation systems. Setting up a call on MS-Teams, In terms of M&A the year 2021 was also re- modity prices will have a significant impact on
WebEx or Zoom is now as common as making cord-setting. After a low in 2020 with just 36 the industry.
a phone call was a few years ago. recorded transactions, mostly due to difficul- This can be via increased input costs or fur-
But other digitalisation initiatives, such as the ties feeding valuation models with forecast ther disruption to product availability on the
use of platforms/market places, have slowed data during the COVID pandemic, 2021 saw supply side. But also on the demand side,
down quite a bit according to our observation. 64 deals, an all-time high in our statistics. when consumer sentiment changes and de-
When product available for sale is limited, it is The comparatively high level of activity in mand for formulated products stagnates or
often difficult enough to fulfil the “conventional” Q1-2021 would indicate that there was quite a declines, either because price increases make
requests from long-time customers or even lot of pent-up demand and as the data under- them unaffordable or the purchasing power
meet contractual obligations. Making an extra, pinning valuations became more robust, weakens as discretionary income declines.
incremental sale via a digital channel is then transactions started to be completed again. Some of this is beyond control of the individu-
much less attractive, or even impossible. The most significant events in terms of size al person or even a company. Not so much of
Also the dynamics of the market, with all its and relevance were the initial public offering a rosy outlook.
frequent changes in general availability, deliv- (IPO) of Azelis at Euronext in Brussels in Sep- But other developments like the implemen-
tember and the acquisition of Caldic by Ad- tation of a circular economy for chemical
Guenther Eberhard vent International and combining it with the products and particularly polymer materials,
Managing Director, DistriConsult existing investment in GTM/quantiQ, when with its need for reverse logistics, may after all
Goldman Sachs exited their roughly three provide new business opportunities for dis-
“Implementation of a circular year-long investment in November. The for- tributors and logistics providers. Finding the
economy, with its need for reverse mer is the (temporary) end-point to a “buy & right balance between robust strategic direc-
logistics, may provide new build” model sponsored by private equity in- tion setting and short term performance de-
business opportunities for vestors, lasting for more than 20 years since livery will be crucial. ■
its origins in Italy in the late 1990s. Written with input from Paul Gooch,
distributors and logistics providers”
Temporary, because Azelis has made it clear Managing Director The Logical Group

IMCD builds out

global presence
CEO Piet van der Slikke sees more opportunities in M&A, including in Latin America,
while managing through supply chain challenges. The sustainability focus sharpens
Joseph Chang New York tics, pharmaceuticals and HI&I industries.
“We of course want to be present in the
Netherlands-based chemical distributor IMCD larger Latin American markets and we have
will continue building its global presence now reached that point, although I don’t rule
across all its diverse business groups through out that we do further acquisitions there,” he
mergers and acquisitions (M&A) along with added.
organic growth. In March, IMCD Mexico unveiled its new
“We have always been a consolidator in this headquarters in Mexico City. IMCD acquired
market the moment we started this business Mexico-based DCS Pharma in 2019 and re-
26 years ago – first in Europe where we want- branded it to IMCD Mexico in April 2020. It
ed to have a European network of companies then acquired Mexico-based distributors Mil-
in different business segments, and now we likan and Banner Quimica in 2021 and
have globalised this over the years,” said Piet Maquimex in 2022.
van der Slikke, CEO of IMCD, in an interview IMCD Mexico focuses on the pharmaceuti-
with ICIS. cals, food, nutrition, beauty, personal care,
“Each of our business segments has its HI&I (household, industrial and institutional),
own strategy of aligning with top suppliers water treatment and other industrial markets.
Piet van der Slikke
and products, and then we also have a geo- CEO, IMCD IMCD has also expanded via M&A in Asia – in
graphic strategy of being present in the main China and Indonesia – along with Europe. Its
markets of the world in the most efficient “Our pillars of growth are organic most recent deal in Europe was the March ac-
way,” he added. growth, taking market share and quisition of UK-based specialty food and bever-
IMCD has a very diverse set of business age ingredients distributor Evenlode Foods.
also being a consolidator through
groups which include Advanced Materials, In Asia, IMCD acquired China-based Syntec
Coatings & Construction, Food & Nutrition, M&A. That has been a constant in (personal care, cosmetics, home care) in De-
Home Care and I&I, Lubricants & Energy, our strategy, we have been quite cember and Indonesia-based Megasetia
Beauty & Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals, successful, and that will continue” (pharmaceutical ingredients, personal care,
Synthesis and Other Industries. home care, animal health and industrial) in
“Our pillars of growth are organic growth, November.
taking market share and also being a consoli- zil, and then got an opportunity to buy Andes “We remain active all across the world.
dator through M&A. That has been a constant Chemical which is based in Miami and active Nothing is out of bounds,” said van der Slikke.
in our strategy, we have been quite success- in Central America and the Caribbean, and we
ful, and that will continue,” said van der Slikke. also expanded in Colombia and in the last Private equity competes for deals
Each of IMCD’s business groups develops couple of years in Mexico,” said van der Slikke. The chemical distribution M&A landscape has
its own unique growth strategy and pursues In February, IMCD announced the acquisi- been increasingly populated by private equity
deals, rather than the company favouring tion of distributor Quelaris International, with players that continue to compete for deals.
M&A only in certain product areas. offices in Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru. “Private equity may be focusing even more
“Sometimes you have more opportunities Quelaris focuses on polyurethanes, coatings, now on the industry because of the success
in one segment versus another in a certain adhesives, rubber and other industrial markets. we’ve had in the stock market,” along with
timeframe, but we continue to fulfil the strate- Also in February, IMCD announced the buy- subsequent successes of private equity
gies of each business segment, so there is no out of Brazil-based Polyorganic Technologia, owned distribution companies going public,
preference there,” said van der Slikke. which distributes sanitation and infection con- van der Slikke noted.
trol products, and water treatment chemicals. Like many major chemical distributors,
Flurry of Latin America deals Earlier in May 2021, IMCD unveiled its acqui- IMCD has a long history of private equity own-
On a geographic basis, IMCD has been active sition of Andes Chemical, marking its debut in ership. In 1995, van der Slikke led the combi-
on the M&A front in Latin America in particular. Central America and Peru while expanding in nation of several specialty chemical distribu-
“We didn’t have much a presence in Mexico the Caribbean. Andes focused on the coatings, tion companies within Internatio-Muller into a
and are now quickly catching up there. For a adhesives, sealants, and elastomers (CASE), separate division and started to grow the
long time we had a significant position in Bra- construction, cosmetics, personal care, plas- business in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
levels than normal but we have been able to

supply. It also means sometimes there are al-
locations [from suppliers] but we have fared
pretty well,” he added.
On any impacts from the Russia/Ukraine
war, IMCD is far less impacted as it is more fo-
cused on specialties and sources most prod-
ucts from the US, Europe and Japan, the CEO
pointed out.
“As far as supply is concerned, Russia has not
been a factor for us at all,” said van der Slikke.
However, the economic impact on Europe
from higher energy prices and broader infla-
tion is a concern.
“Longer term, we all know that this bears the
risk of a recession… it’s clear that if these prices
generally increase and interest rates follow,
that will have an effect at a certain stage on our
sector as well,” said van der Slikke.
For now, IMCD has been able to pass along
price increases to customers.
“I would say that our specialty chemicals
distribution sector is pretty robust in these
times,” said van der Slikke, pointing to IMCD’s
exposure to life sciences and pharmaceuti-
cals while also acknowledging that its indus-
trial business would be more impacted from
an economic slowdown or recession.
“Let’s hope that price increases subside a
bit and level out because in the short term it
can be good but in the long term it will have a
negative effect for all of us,” he added.
IMCD
For now, demand remains strong and there

IMCD Mexico unveiled its new headquarters in the Torre Polanco development in are no signs of demand destruction from
Mexico City. The division now has 106 employees after a series of acquisitions higher prices, the CEO noted.
Africa) and Australia. for a market capitalisation of around €8.6bn. Sustainability opportunity
In 2001, NIBC Private Equity (became Al- IMCD shares had reached a high of over €211 In the meantime, IMCD continues to sharpen
pInvest Partners) acquired the chemical dis- in late 2021. its focus on sustainability – not only seeking to
tribution division that is now IMCD from In- “There is the recognition in private equity reduce its own emissions and waste and
ternatio-Muller. that this is an interesting, robust industry that those of its logistics partners, but to work with
In 2005, ABN AMRO Capital (AAC) Partners is growing and has good cash generation,” suppliers to formulate more sustainable prod-
acquired IMCD from AlpInvest. Then Bain said van der Slikke, who also noted strong pri- ucts and those that promote sustainability.
Capital acquired IMCD from AAC Capital Part- vate equity competition for deals. “We look very closely with our suppliers to
ners in 2011 and later took the company pub- “There is competition, although I would say make their products more sustainable. We
lic in an initial public offering (IPO) in 2014. for the smaller, medium-sized family owned also see commercial opportunities in that we
Priced at €21/share in its June 2014 IPO, businesses, it’s probably not a great way to sell. can, with our labs all over the world, formulate
IMCD has seen steady gains through the It’s in the bigger deals where there is certainly more sustainable products for our customers,
years and today trades at around €150/share competition from private equity,” he added. or help them formulate them. This is an inte-
gral part of our strategy,” said van der Slikke.
Piet van der Slikke Supply chain disruptions This cuts across all business areas – not
CEO, IMCD Today chemical distributors all over the world only in food ingredients and personal care,
continue to struggle with availability of mate- but in coatings, advanced materials (which
“We look very closely with our rial and longer lead times, as supply chain dis- include plastics and packaging, composites
suppliers to make their products ruptions continue. This has led to delayed de- and rubber) and construction as well.
more sustainable. We also see liveries to customers, and also distributors Sustainability characteristics include recy-
having to keep higher levels of inventory. clability along with reducing use of plastics,
commercial opportunities in that
“For IMCD in particular we have done pretty he noted.
we can, with our labs all over the well. It has been a strain on our people, and One exciting area for IMCD is in formulat-
world, formulate more sustainable we have had discussions with customers on ing plant-based meat substitutes. In March,
products for our customers, or lead times and some postponements but by IMCD partnered with Singapore-based
help them formulate them. This is and large we have been able to cope,” said SGProtein to develop new concepts with
van der Slikke. SGProtein’s high-moisture meat analogues
an integral part of our strategy”
“Yes, it’s an issue and it means higher stock (HMMA) in terms of taste and texture. ■

Distribution key in
‘new normal’
Univar Solutions head of EMEA, APAC and Ingredients & Specialties Nick Powell sees
distribution as integral amid today’s supply chain disruptions
Joseph Chang New York Nick Powell our integrated platform to deliver products
President, EMEA, APAC and Ingredients & and services to customers and have the right
Specialties
Chemical distribution has always been a key products at the right price to meet the de-
component of the global supply chain, but it “From a business perspective, mand,” said Powell.
is even more integral today with supply chain
disruptions becoming the ”new normal”, said
whether it’s due to a Expanding Asia footprint
a senior executive at Univar Solutions. pandemic, a ship In Asia, Univar continues to expand its busi-
“From a business perspective, whether it’s stuck in the Suez ness organically with new supplier partner-
due to a pandemic, a ship stuck in the Suez Canal or international ships. “We are all watching closely what hap-
Canal or international instability, supply chain instability, supply chain pens in China as they manage their Covid
disruptions seem to have been the ‘new nor- response. The good news is that our APAC
mal’. It is during these times that our custom-
disruptions seem business remains strong,” said Powell.
ers and suppliers rely on us to provide the ma- to have been the In April, Univar extended its relationship
terials they need to keep operating,” said Nick ‘new normal’” with Dow in a deal to distribute its UCON PAG-
Powell, president of EMEA, APAC and Ingredi- based synthetic lubricants and metalworking
ents & Specialties for Univar Solutions. fluids in mainland China and Hong Kong.
“I believe the challenges of the past two technical capabilities during these turbulent These products offer a high level of flexibility
years have brought into focus the value distri- times. By leveraging our global Solution Cent- to help reduce wear and extend the service
bution brings to the markets we serve. The ers network, we have been able to help cus- life of industrial, mobile, marine and other
reach and depth of the customer base, com- tomers reformulate into materials more avail- equipment, further enhancing their environ-
bined with the ability to ‘one stop shop’ materi- able in the market,” said Powell, who noted mental aspects, according to the companies.
als, makes distribution an even more integral this network also supports suppliers bringing “This new agreement further strengthens
and valued partner than ever before,” he added. new ingredients to market. our portfolio in China and underscores our ef-
The US-based global chemical distributor In March, Univar opened its latest Solution forts to organically grow with key partners in
has been able to navigate supply constraints Center in Essen, Germany which will serve as Asia Pacific,” said Powell.
and mitigate disruptions with its substantial the flagship facility for Europe. “We expect to win more similar authorisa-
owned fleet of trucks and railcars, along with These centers focus on sustainability, col- tions in APAC as we leverage the strength of
its supply chain and logistics expertise, digi- laboration and development, with-in-house our global network to find solutions, acceler-
tal technologies and global supplier network, experts in product formulation, benchmark ate innovation and advance product develop-
he added. prototyping, product performance testing ment for customers in mainland China and
The market is very dynamic today with pric- and efficacy, product analysis and shelf-life Hong Kong,” he added.
es in certain chemicals increasing and others testing.
stabilizing, the executive said. Product applications expected to be devel- Global versus regional
“We have a supply and demand imbalance oped at the Essen facility include hair care, Strategically, Univar aims to take a ‘best of
in many key chemistries. What we have seen toiletries, skin care, colour cosmetics, topi- both worlds’ approach by deploying a global
through this cycle is resiliency that is in many cals, tablet coatings, ointments, dishwashing hub-and-spoke model across sales, market-
ways based on strong consumer demand, formulations and building materials. ing, product management, and technical in-
particularly in North America,” said Powell. novation. “We have centralised offices, distri-
“The unknown for all of us will be whether Challenges in Europe bution centers and Solution Centers that are
overall economic inflation begins to slow The Russia/Ukraine war and ensuing energy well-versed in their regional and end-market
growth in wide swaths of the market. I think volatility presents challenges, particularly for needs while also being seamlessly connected
until we see some normalcy return to the sup- Europe which depends heavily on Russian gas to our global network,” explained Powell.
ply chain, that balance will be tough to and crude oil. Fears of a recession in Europe “This allows teams to collaborate, innovate,
achieve,” he added. are widespread. share best practices, solve problems and de-
“We are closely monitoring Europe for any liver exceptional service and support, no mat-
Technical expertise signs of recession, as well as overall chemical ter where they’re located or which markets
In times of raw materials shortages, formulation price deflation. Although not immune from they serve. And our suppliers have become
expertise also becomes a greater advantage. these extraneous factors, we have confidence strong proponents of their global-local ap-
“We’ve also very much leaned into our in our ability to mitigate them by leveraging proach because of the consistent and seam-

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Univar’s large
owned truck fleet
helps it navigate
through supply
chain constraints
Univar
less experience it offers them,” he added, cit- Nick Powell cialisation of a full range of sustainable and
President, EMEA, APAC and Igredients &
ing recent expansions of relationships with Specialties
natural ingredients across the portfolio.
Ashland, Calumet, Dow and Novozymes. This will include developing sustainable
“Suppliers will ultimately ask two characteristics for all Univar’s products while
Sustainability approach questions: First, does my communicating the key environmental im-
Meanwhile, sustainability continues to be a pacts for non-product related services, and
key theme in the chemicals industry, and dis-
distributor have the technical offering circular packaging solutions.
tributors are boosting their capabilities to ability to represent my specialty “Sustainability just makes good business
serve this growing trend. ingredients to the market? sense and aligns with who we are as a com-
“As we look to the future, I think suppliers Second, how can I leverage pany,” said Powell.
will ultimately ask two questions related to distribution to improve my
their distribution partner. First, does my dis- M&A strategy
tributor have the technical ability to represent
sustainability profile by utilising On the M&A front, Univar has been quite disci-
my specialty ingredients to the market? Sec- their asset base more effectively?” plined since its $2bn acquisition of US-based
ond, how can I leverage distribution to im- Nexeo Solutions in March 2019. However,
prove my sustainability profile by utilising their moves may be coming.
asset base more effectively?” said Powell. paign supported by the United Nations Global “As discussed at our recent Investor Day,
“Our ESG approach offers tremendous op- Compact (UNGC), of which it a signatory we are looking at multiple options that could
portunities as we leverage our portfolio of sus- member. The company will measure its net expand our company into new regions and
tainable products, services, practices and carbon neutrality progress through the SBTi end markets and will evaluate them thorough-
technologies to support customers’ sustaina- to ensure credibility, transparency and cross- ly to ensure they are the best fit for our long-
bility journeys,” he added. industry comparability. term growth strategy,” said Powell.
In March, Univar announced it will distrib- Univar aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 CO2 “One thing that has surprised me, in a very
ute Dow Organics’ sustainable line of beauty emissions against a 2019/2020 baseline by good way, as we meet with potential acquisi-
and personal care products in Brazil. This in- 20% by 2025, 40% by 2030, and achieve net- tion targets is how much current owners care
cludes multifunctional polymers and cellulose zero emissions by 2050. about the legacy of their businesses and the
derivatives to chelating agents, used to im- “We are organised to deliver our products future of their employees. All across Univar
part eco-friendly textures in shampoos, con- and services with a planet-based mindset. Solutions you see executives and top busi-
ditioners, body washes, hair colourants, This includes placing our ESG (Environmental, ness leaders who came to us through acquisi-
creams, lotions and skin cleansers. Social and Governance) efforts at the very tions. Bringing the different business cultures
Univar will also work to reduce its own core of how we operate,” said Powell. and a best-of-the-best approach to how we
emissions. In December 2019 the company In March, Univar named Kelly Gilroy as vice operate has allowed those leaders to thrive
pledged to join the Science Based Targets ini- president, Sustainable & Natural Products to and frankly make us the great company we
tiative (SBTi) Business Ambition for 1.5°C cam- lead the further development and commer- are today,” he added. ■

Caldic looks to
M&A after GTM
CEO Alexander Wessels
seeks additional
transformative deals as
well as bolt-ons after the
GTM merger. Specialty
assets in the US and
Mexico are of interest
Tom Brown London
Caldic is looking toward further transforma-

tive deal-making following its acquisition by
Caldic
private equity firm Advent International and
planned merger with Latin America specialist Caldic aims to build out its distribution footprint worldwide
GTM, the CEO of the Netherlands-based
chemicals distributor said. tial here to be more transformative, on top of a up deal valuations.
Advent International agreed to buy Caldic very solid base of organic growth,” he added. This is especially true of large players or en-
from former owner Goldman Sachs Asset While the company has several locations tities with a strong presence in a market with
Management in November 2021, and merge it across North America, its presence is not as substantial barriers to entry, or with an attrac-
with GTM, a chemicals distributor focused on substantial in the region as in its European tive portfolio, but price tags are less important
the Latin American market that has been in home base, so the US remains a potential tar- to Caldic than the qualities of a business.
the firm’s portfolio since 2014 and bolstered get for significant acquisitions, Wessels said. “We’re not so much looking to affordability
with the purchase of quantiQ, Brazil’s largest Mexico as a bridge between its North but much more at what it really brings us,
player, in 2017. America and newfound Latin America assets such as new geographies, new sectors, cus-
The Advent purchase and GTM merger is also on its shortlist if a strong opportunity tomer groups, or a new technology that will
agreement have now closed, adding a sub- presents itself, along with southeast Asia. represent a very interesting proposition,” Wes-
stantial footprint in Latin America to Caldic’s “There are places like the US where we are sels said.
existing operations in Europe, North America still a little under-represented, and the same is
and China and Asia Pacific, according to Cal- true of Mexico. So there are still places where GTM deal changes product mix
dic CEO Alexander Wessels. we can make big steps and then of course, As well as dramatically growing the compa-
The GTM merger represents a substantial there is Asia, where everyone still plays,” said ny’s size and global footprint, the GTM merger
evolution for the company, increasing its annual Wessels. shifts the make-up of Caldic’s portfolio.
revenues from €1bn to €1.85bn as a combined The chemicals distribution landscape re- Prior to the merger, the company’s product
company, but Wessels is eyeing further transfor- mains extremely fragmented and consolida- mix stood at around 70% in specialty chemi-
mational bets as the firm pushes toward be- tion is perennially the order of the day among cals, with the largest chunk of that in the food
coming a fully global chemicals distributor. larger players, but cheap financing has driven and nutrition space, along with pharmaceuti-
cals and personal care, and 30% industrial
Alexander Wessels
War chest for more deals CEO, Caldic
chemicals.
The Advent deal included cash reserves for Following the merger close, specialties will
Caldic to pursue further plays, potentially on “[Advent has] given us a war chest comprise 53% of the Caldic-GTM portfolio,
the order of the GTM deal, Wessels said. to continue that process. Bolt-on but the company is looking to shift that mix
“Advent saw a lot of advantage in bringing further in favour of specialties in the future,
the GTM business into a company that was on
acquisitions you can do out of according to Wessels.
its way to becoming a global platform, and your own cash flow, but there’s The company’s pharmaceutical and food
enhancing that,” Wessels said. potential here to be more market sales have coped well through the
“They’ve also given us a war chest to contin- transformative, on top of a very pandemic and into this year, while the per-
ue that process. Bolt-on acquisitions you can solid base of organic growth” sonal care sector – which was hit by lock-
do out of your own cash flow, but there’s poten- downs and the shift to home working – has

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
rallied, and industrial market demand remains could see happening in some sectors with
mixed, Wessels said. fuel becoming prohibitively expensive, then
of course, it may actually get much quicker to
Supply chain challenges a new balance point than originally forecast-
The first quarter was “spectacular” for the ed,” he said.
company, he added, with customers re- Caldic derives 70% of its global power
sponding to ongoing supply chain disruption usage from renewable sources, and transpar-
and geopolitical volatility by building up ency on the Scope 1-3 emissions footprint of
stronger reserves. distributors will become an increasingly
“There have been a lot of geopolitical dis- prominent factor in the sector, Wessel said.
continuities over the last two years, which With the future so uncertain, the capacity
have influenced the way that we have operat- respond to disruptions is becoming a key dif-
ed, and today security of supply is probably ferentiating factor for companies in the wake
more high on the agenda among our custom- Alexander Wessels of over two years of a global pandemic and a
ers than it used to be, say three to four years CEO, Caldic land war in Europe.
ago,” Wessel said. “What happens in the business is very un-
The impact of the pandemic is still being felt “There are places like the US predictable. The focus and the agility to deal
despite a widespread gradual relaxation of so- where we are still a little under- with changes rather than trying to fully fore-
cial control rules across much of the globe, in represented, and the same is true cast them is becoming more and more impor-
the form of high infection rates in Europe and of Mexico. So there are still places tant,” Wessels said.
the current lockdowns in parts of China. where we can make big steps” “We are now bringing these two compa-
The unravelling of the tight global supply nies together which means integration is real-
integration brought on by the disruption of he ly on my mind. Secondly, of course, is contin-
COVID-19 era shows little sign of abating in according to Wessels. uing to drive this ESG (environment, social
the near future. But potential lower demand “Supply and demand have been out of and governance) agenda more aggressively
as consumers contend with high pricing and whack with each other for the last couple of than anyone else in the industry. And thirdly,
surging inflation could reduce the impact ear- years, but if we get a turn in the economy and to accelerate our digitalisation strategy,” he
lier than had been expected before the war, demand will start slowing down, which we added. ■
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winds and spot
opportunities
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and make the best business decisions
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ICB half page adverts 2022.indd 4 5/3/22 8:53 AM

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We have to get used to a world where geopolitical and natural disasters are more commonplace – the end of business as usual
Think beyond crisis

– Erbsloeh CEO
As the world is subject to one critical event after another, we now live in a period
where we cannot expect to see a return to ‘business as usual’ any time soon
Morgan Condon London ing about COVID and crises, as it keeps peo- As a company concentrating on R&D ac-
ple waiting for a release,” said Erbsloeh. tivities within the chemicals industry and
The past few years have presented challenges “But then the next thing happens and the helping to bring new products to market,
for all involved in the chemicals industry. One next thing. People wait for things to go back Erbsloeh does not include assessing logis-
of the most significant obstacles for the sec- to normal, but society and humans are chang- tics and pricing of commodity chemicals as
tor has been the bottlenecks stymieing global ing, and I hope if we focus on dealing with the part of the ‘core competencies’ at the fami-
trade at every link of the supply chain. changes it is more refreshing for everyone.” ly-run business.
With the rate of change continuing to From the pandemic and the related lock- And as the sector adapts to the changing
evolve at an unprecedented speed in re- downs, to the war in Ukraine and the inflation- topography of supply chains, Erbsloeh argues
sponse to global events, specialty chemical ary pressures that has brought, the impact on that businesses should continue to bear in
distributor C.H. Erbsloeh CEO Christopher the supply chain seems only to have ratcheted mind the role of distributors when tensions
Erbsloeh said that we cannot expect a return up, which has weighed heavily on distributors. ease off and lead times are alleviated.
to business as usual. “We are good at supply chain, which is “Distributors will continue to play a role,
“We should stop thinking in terms of crisis not what customers wanted in the past, but and we can be a good buffer for customers,
and get used to ever-changing geopolitics in that has helped us deal with the situation,” manufacturers of finished goods and interme-
a world that is dynamic. We need to stop talk- added Erbsloeh. diates and suppliers. It is stupid to try and get

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
rid of them in the good times, we should think implications through the Russia-Ukraine war
about entire supply chain,” he said. yet, the further you are away from commodi-
Erbsloeh applies this approach to his own ties, the longer it takes to trickle down…but I
business practices, acknowledging the herit- am sure that is still to come,” Erbsloeh said.
age and legacy that comes with a genera- “We have been passing things down in the
tions-owned firm, stating that he tries to never supply chain, which out of COVID and the
lay people off, and while profit is important, start of Ukraine crisis there has been an open-
there are ways to survive a bad year. ness to accept that. Looking at inflation in Eu-
This approach extends beyond thinking rope – in the eurozone but also in non-euro-
about employees to those who C.H. Erbsloeh zone countries – companies are going to find
do business with, supporting smaller business- it more and more difficult to keep increasing
es where the owner is the formulator, or opera- prices to consumers, plus they will try to stop
tions depend on only two people in a lab. increases in supply chain.”
These smaller businesses remain important Christopher Erbsloeh The balance of managing costs and supply
in driving innovation, as it will force larger com- CEO, Erbsloeh chains as pressure on fuel prices is sustained
panies to remain competitive with new tech- is just one of the things Erbsloeh’s distribution
nologies or products going forwards, coupled “We should stop thinking in terms firm has to take note of on the horizon.
with legislative pressures in the form of new of crisis and get used to ever- “We are wide enough to not have to think
environmental and sustainability targets. changing geopolitics in a world about investing in one market as another dies
Although geopolitical tensions continue to that is dynamic” down, I want to keep all of them abroad, I see
escalate, Erbsloeh believes that companies them as future industries, but they are chang-
cannot afford to take their focus away from ing production capacities…the markets will
R&D activities and that they will continue pur- ues, and focus on both R&D pursuits as well stay but the suppliers will change,” he said.
suits in this area even in the face of an eco- as ensuring minimal ruptures in the supply “Luckily summer season is ahead, so we
nomic slowdown. chain will continue to loom large for the may just get through with just a couple of
Pressures to the economy seem more company in the near term. bruises and without severe damages to costs
prevalent as the conflict in Ukraine contin- “We have not had any serious supply chain from Russian gas imports.” ■

Safic-Alcan is assessing
its carbon footprint using
an external consultant so
it can set future goals
Shutterstock
Safic-Alcan aims
for global growth
The company – which is 80% owned by its employees – aims to look further afield
from its two main trading areas, Europe and the Middle East
Jonathan Lopez Madrid “The aim is to continue being independent by 2050.
and to continue to manage and run our com- “We have a duty with our customers and
Safic-Alcan aims to expand globally and be- pany for the benefit of all our stakeholders. suppliers to turn towards more sustainable
come a more sustainable company while navi- With 80% of our people being shareholders of products: we have a role to play by looking for
gating the unknown, after the pandemic and the company, that makes Safic-Alcan different more bio-based products. This is also an op-
the war in Ukraine upended supply chains, the to others: we could say the mindset is like that portunity due to the current situation, and
CEO of the French chemicals distributor said. of a cooperative,” said Lissillour. people are more open to try those new prod-
Yann Lissillour, in post since 1 April, added He added that the company has achieved ucts,” said Lissillour.
that while Safic-Alcan has not yet suffered a 10% annual growth consistently over the past 15 “Within Safic-Alcan, we are launching an as-
direct impact from Russia’s attack against years, a position set to help in its expansion to sessment of our carbon footprint, using an ex-
Ukraine, an indirect impact is coming from other regions like Asia-Pacific – where China is ternal consultant to help us see where we are
higher energy surcharges implemented by set to dominate the global chemicals produc- right now so we can be able to set some goals
chemicals producers. tion in coming decades, as well as the Americas. for the future. We plan to have the assessment
The CEO said, however, that the economy In September 2021, Safic-Alcan acquired ready by the end of the second quarter.”
in Europe could resist this crisis, adding that US-based, New York-headquartered chemi- Lissillour would not disclose the name of
order books remain quite healthy, but he con- cals distributor Rit-Chem; financial details the consultant carrying out the assessment.
ceded that the mayhem in supply chains and were not disclosed.
logistics remains a thread for which uncer- Geographical expansion would take place Navigating uncertainty
tainty is the only certainty. in parallel to becoming a more sustainable Safic-Alcan’s CEO praised the resilience of the
company. For a chemicals distributor, this is a chemicals industry in Europe during the past
Going global, going sustainable double-edged challenge: both in the materi- two years, as shown by the “good year” it had
Safic-Alcan is privately owned, but 80% of its als it offers to its customers as well as its own in 2021 in terms of profitability.
stock is owned by its employees, said the transportation, responsible still for a large “They were able to sustain the stress [from
CEO of the 175-year-old company, a charac- chunk of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. high prices for logistics and raw materials]
teristic set to help it in its next ambition: to GHG, like carbon dioxide (CO2), are re- along the value chain, but it’s a complicated
make the company a true global player, fur- sponsible for global warming, causing climate situation. We know the cycle will turn, but we
ther afield from its two main trading areas, change; the EU wants to be a champion in de- don’t know how it will pan out as this is an un-
Europe and the Middle East. carbonisation and aims for net-zero emissions precedented situation,” he said.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
“We have gone through a few cycles, al- or Ukraine, around 1% of the total, and for the
though we don’t know the long-term effect the moment we are not planning to close our
current woes will have in the supply chain.” Moscow office, as we want to continue pro-
As the pandemic upended global logistics, viding support for our employees there and
talk of an end to globalisation as we know it we are taking this day by day, week by week,
has been a constant, with more regionalised month by month,” said Lissillour.
value chains in coming years to fend off dis- “We are starting to feel the indirect impact
ruption like that over the past two years. from the war with the energy surcharges out-
Lissillour does not think globalisation in lined by several suppliers or the continuation
trade is over after the world has become an of logistical supply chain woes. We have not
intertwined marketplace where undoing seen a reduction of consumption from a cli-
close trade links could prove difficult. ent perspective, which is still quite strong.”
Safic-Alcan
He mentioned the UK’s exit from the EU as He went on to say Safic-Alcan has not re-
an example showing that difficulty. corded a downturn in consumption and
However, the shift to China in chemicals Yann Lissillour added that while historically distributors
CEO, Safic-Alcan
production – with “huge investments” com- would have a limited vision on clients’ order
ing on-stream this decade – shows that the “We have very limited sourcing books, right now they do have a sense of
global trade links are unlikely to disappear as order books because clients are planning bet-
from Russia or Ukraine, around 1%
China is to become an exporter of chemicals ter for the coming months.
to the rest of the world. of the total, and for the moment “Simply because they must to plan better
The disruption caused by the war in we are not planning to close our to make sure they will get the goods [due to
Ukraine has come to add more woes to an al- Moscow office” logistics disruption]. Are we seeing healthy
ready-strained logistics sector. consumption because customers are build-
Safic-Alcan has not yet suffered from the ing stock? How much stock are end-clients
conflict, said its CEO, as it only sources 1% of filtering down to the purchase of products building?” said the CEO.
its materials in Russia and Ukraine. across the board as producers have imple- “That’s the difficult part to understand and
But the rise in energy prices – moderated mented the so-called energy surcharges. we haven’t seen yet anyone providing a clear
during April, although values remain high – is “We have very limited sourcing from Russia answer of what the future will look like.” ■
of leading
with insight
www.icis.com
ICB half page adverts 2022.indd 2 6-12 May 2022 | ICIS Chemical5/3/22
Business | 49
8:46 AM
Lithuania hit by war

and sanctions
Transport has now become almost impossible because it costs
two-to-three times more than before the war
Jonathan Lopez Madrid linked to Russia and Belarus, mostly purchas-
ing raw materials like metal, wood, or gas:
Lithuania’s logistics and chemicals sectors are suddenly, most of this stopped. Colleagues in
suffering from the war in Ukraine and the con- other companies concede their businesses
sequent sanctions on Russia but the country have in a matter of weeks been totally de-
feels strong and will overcome the challenge, stroyed,” said Mickus.
the CEO at a distributor in the former Soviet “For instance, most of our metal imports
republic said. came from Russia. You can get alternatives
Redzinaldas Mickus, CEO at UAB Greenlab from Sweden, for instance, but the prices are
Solutions, said raw materials for chemicals much higher: if you bring in that product, you
production have sharply been “cut off” and will not sell it to your domestic customers.
the two-year-old logistics mayhem that start- Companies will need around six months at
ed with the pandemic has worsened. least to adapt to this.”
Vilnius-headquartered UAB Greenlab pro-
duces chemicals like brake fluids used in the No other way
automotive industry, ethylene glycol-based Despite the dire prospects for the 3m-people
Shutterstock
antifreeze, and propylene glycol (PG)-based country’s economy in 2022, Mickus said
heat carrier liquid, among others. Via its sub- strong sanctions against Russia were the only
sidiary Rim Logistika, the company also oper- The Lithuanian economy is feeling the way forward if the EU and other major coun-
ates in the chemicals distribution sector. pinch from logistics mayhem in Europe tries did not want to enter into a military con-
Mickus said the Lithuanian economy, as since the invasion of Ukraine flict with Russia.
well as his own company, are likely to take a In most former Soviet republics, public
serious hit from the current crisis, but he said invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February. opinions have tilted towards the West since
sanctions against Russia were the only way to The logistical trouble now comes on top of their independence, and the fear of the big
try to stop President Vladimir Putin’s invasion the pandemic-induced woes in both maritime neighbour aiming to regroup its former area
of Ukraine. and inland transport, as well as prior sanctions of influence is always present.
on Belarus’s exports, which had in Klaipeda its While at the start of Ukraine’s war Lithuani-
A sixth of GDP main port of exit to overseas markets. ans felt their country – as well as Estonia and
Lithuania’s vibrant logistics sector and its flag- Mickus conceded the Lithuanian economy Latvia, the other former Soviet republics in the
ship Klaipeda port were already a Baltic Sea “is likely” to take a hit this year, but said the Baltic – could be next in Putin’s calculations,
powerhouse in Soviet times, a strategy con- current strong sanctions against Russia and the strong response in the form of sanctions
tinued after the country became an inde- Belarus were the only way forward to stop Pu- has now dissipated fears.
pendent republic in 1990 – Mickus said logis- tin’s Russia from advancing its invasion. “I have many friends who jumped on a
tics account for 12-14% of the country’s GDP. plane to get out of Lithuania, but luckily the
With many raw materials and finished prod- Russian material out world has seen the Russian army has stalled,
ucts’ suppliers as well as customers located in While Russian raw materials as well as chemi- like a giant with feet of clay, and their expecta-
neighbouring countries, the Lithuanian econ- cals have not yet been banned by the EU, of tions of a quick invasion failed – everybody
omy is already feeling the pinch from logistics which Lithuania has been a member since now sees there is no way Russia will conquer
mayhem in central and east Europe since the 2005, transport has now become almost “im- Ukraine,” said Mickus.
possible” because it costs two to three times He added he was hopeful that the effect of
Redzinaldas Mickus more than before the war, said Mickus. sanctions, with Russian feeling the lack of eve-
CEO, UAB Greenlab Solutions He added that players in chemicals are ryday products they used to purchase just a
quickly trying to find substitutes in neighbour- month ago, will dent Putin’s grip on power
“Around 25% of Lithuania’s ing countries but they all come at a much and, at least, help end the war if not regime
economy is linked to Russia and higher cost. Moreover, the EU is now report- change in Russia.
Belarus, mostly purchasing raw edly mulling a ban on Russian ships from “As for Lithuania, we are a small, flexible,
materials: suddenly, most of this docking in EU ports which would complicate and smart nation and we will survive the cur-
trade even more. rent economic crisis – we will find the way to
stopped”
“Around 25% of Lithuania’s economy is adapt to this situation,” he concluded. ■

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SPECIAL REPORT
ICIS Top 100

Chemical
Distributors
We present our global ranking of the leaders in chemical

distribution, from large to small based on 2021 sales. This year
we have a record of just over 300 companies participating
Shutterstock
Sarah Creswell London stop-shop solutions; specific application tech- tory management; risk management for com-
Joseph Chang New York nology; extensive technical support; value- modity price and foreign exchange
Will Beacham Barcelona added services such as just-in-time delivery; Assets: Global presence with sales into over
product blending and mixing; formulation; 100 countries; 21+ offices; more than 450
BRENNTAG repackaging; inventory management; drum employees
1 2021 SALES: $16.36BN (€14.38BN) return handling
Essen, Germany Assets: 700+ locations in 78 countries; work- UNIVAR SOLUTIONS
www.brenntag.com force of more than 17,000 employees 3 2021 SALES: $9.54BN
CEO: Christian Kohlpaintner Downers Grove, Illinois, US
Products: Full-line range of more than 10,000 TRICON ENERGY univarsolutions.com
products; industrial chemicals; specialty 2 2021 SALES: $10BN President and CEO: David Jukes
chemicals; ingredients; adhesives; paints; oil Houston, Texas, US Products: Acids; additives and modifiers;
and gas chemicals; food and nutrition ingredi- www.triconenergy.com chelants; oleochemicals; oxides; polymers
ents; water treatment chemicals; personal President and CEO: Ignacio Torras and resins; process acids; silicones; solvents;
care ingredients; pharmaceutical ingredients; Products: Chlor-alkali; aromatics; glycols; surfactants
cleaning chemicals; coatings and construc- fibre intermediates; solvents; olefins; poly- Services: Technical support; corporate ac-
tion chemicals; animal nutrition products; mers; fertilizers counts; ChemPoint; custom blending; lab and
pulp and paper chemicals Services: Marketing; re-export financing; formulation services; supply chain; transpor-
Services: Tailor-made distribution solutions shipping; logistics; packaging; blending; stor- tation; warehousing; on-site services; Chem-
for industrial and specialty chemicals; one- age; just-in-time delivery; repackaging; inven- Care services and local and bulk chemical

SPECIAL REPORT
distribution United Arab Emirates, Africa (EMEA); US, Can- Assets: 60+ application laboratories; 3,100+
Assets: Warehouses; solution centres; truck ada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, people; offices and access to warehouses
fleet; digitalisation/e-commerce Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico across EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific; high
(Americas); Australia, New Zealand, India, quality sales force that is technically trained
NAGASE & CO Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Phil- for the market segments they serve
4 2021 SALES: $7.21BN ippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan,
Tokyo, Japan South Korea (Asia-Pacific) SUNRISE GROUP
www.nagase.co.jp/english 10 2021 SALES: $2.54BN
Representative Director and President: SINOCHEM PLASTICS Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Kenji Asakura 8 2021 SALES: $3.79BN www.sunrisechemical.com
Services: Import/export and domestic sales Beijing, China President & CEO: Sun Yang
of chemicals; plastics; electronics materials; www.sinochemplastics.com Products: Adhesives; active pharmaceutical
cosmetics and health foods General Manager: Guoxun Zhao ingredients and intermediates; paints and
Products: Engineering plastics (AS, PS, PMMA, coating chemicals; polymers and resins; poly-
HELM MS, PC, PA, POM, PC/ABS, ASA, POE, PVC, EVA, urethane; solvents; surfactants; aromatic hy-
5 2021 SALES: $6.93BN (€6.10BN) R-Resin and ABSHR); high performance plas- drocarbon; polyester; polyolefin; engineering
Hamburg, Germany tics (modified nylon, modified PBT, modified plastics; animal feed additives; veterinary and
www.helmag.com polyformaldehyde, polysulfone and PES); plas- pesticide preparations; agrochemicals and
CEO: Stephan Schnabel tic additives (antioxygen, flame retardants, lu- intermediates; Chinese medicine
Products: Methanol; base petrochemicals; bricants, matting agents, compatibilisation, ti- Services: Global sourcing and distribution;
bio-based chemicals; acids and lyes; fibre- tanium dioxide and other additives); epoxy hazardous chemical storage; manufacturing
glass; intermediates; fertilizers (nitrogen, po- resin (BPA and crude glycerine); UPR (phthalic and formulation; repackaging and labelling;
tassium, phosphates, liquids, specialties); anhydride, 2-methyl-1, 3-propanediol, neopen- custom mixing and blending; milling and
crop protection (insecticides, herbicides; tyl glycol); coatings (organic silicon, emulsions, granulating; laboratory analysis and quality
fungicides, growth regulators); pharmaceuti- coating agents, surfactants); hygiene materials control; technical training and consultancy;
cal products (active pharmaceutical ingredi- (fluff pulp, SAP super absorbent polymer); syn- digital logistics support; marketing and fi-
ents, pharmaceuticals) thetic rubber (IIR, SSBR, EPDM, SBCS, TPE); nancing services
Services: International marketing; logistics; general plastics (ABS, polyethylene (PE), poly- Assets: Global distribution network in 39
project development; scientific and technical propylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride); fine chemi- countries with offices in China; United King-
services; production and investments cals; polyurethane; vulcan chemicals; specialty dom; Japan and Canada; 3 plants and 2 labs
Assets: Subsidiaries in about 30 countries; chemicals; textile raw materials; dyestuff and with gross area of 74,000+ square metres;
production participations; joint ventures pigments; coating materials; intermediates; workforce of 270+ employees; self-developed
solvents and other chemical products; bio- customer portal; network of warehouses
KOLMAR GROUP chemistries (palm oil, oilseed, vegetable oil, (owned and third-party)
6 2021 SALES: $4.39BN food raw materials and food chemical prod- Trading Sales: 58%
Zug, Switzerland uct); oilfield chemicals
www.kolmargroup.com Services: One-stop procurement; supply SNETOR
CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of chain management; technical support; com- 11 2021 SALES: $2.51BN
Directors: Ruth Sandelowsky missioned processing; brand maintenance; Courbevoie, France
Products: Alcohols; aromatics; renewable information consultation www.snetor.com
fuels; fibre intermediates; solvents; olefins Trading Sales: 40% President: Emmanuel Aubourg
Services: Blending; storage; transportation Products: PE; PP; PVC; PET; PS; ABS; engi-
Assets: 2 biofuels plants AZELIS neering polymers; polyols; TDI; industrial
Trading Sales: 69.2% 9 2021 SALES: $3.22BN (€2.83BN) chemicals – recycled, biodegradable, mass
Antwerp, Belgium balance Services: Trading
IMCD www.azelis.com Assets: 90 warehouses; technical support
7 2021 SALES: $4.22BN Group CEO: Hans Joachim Mueller Trading Sales: 70%
Rotterdam, Netherlands Products: Thousands of specialty chemicals
www.imcdgroup.com and food ingredients for the following mar- BARENTZ
CEO: Piet van der Slikke kets: animal nutrition, food and health, per- 12 2021 SALES: $2.15BN (€1.89BN)
Products: Specialty chemicals and ingredi- sonal care, flavour and fragrance, home care Hoofddorp, Netherlands
ents for the following industries: pharmaceuti- and industrial cleaning, pharmaceuticals, spe- www.barentz.com
cals; coatings, adhesives, sealants and elasto- cialty agri/horti, CASE, electronics, essential CEO: Hidde van der Wal
mers (CASE); personal care; advanced chemicals, fine chemicals, lubricants and Products: Life science ingredients and spe-
materials; food and nutrition; animal nutrition; metalworking fluids, rubber and plastic addi- cialty chemicals for human nutrition, pharma-
nutraceuticals; lubricants; synthesis; HI&I; oil tives, textile, leather and paper, and other ap- ceuticals, personal care, animal nutrition,
and gas plications CASE and plastics, household care, industrial
Services: Technical sales; application labora- Services: Laboratory analysis; formulation and institutional cleaning, specialty interme-
tory services; local and central stock holding; development and blending; expert technical diates
drumming; repackaging; blending; sampling and regulatory support; repacking; flexible Services: Local/regional/global warehousing;
Assets: 65 market-focused application labo- pack sizes; local stockholding; market re- combined order management; harmonised
ratories; over 3,700 employees; 92 offices and search and trend analysis; GMP and clean sampling system; technical and formulation
107 warehouses throughout all operating room pharmaceutical facilities; integrated support; customised nutrition and taste sys-
companies in Europe, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, supply chain; sampling tems/production; customized sourcing; dry/

Shutterstock
liquid blending; spray-drying; micro-encapsu- Products: Aromatics; monomers; methanol; www.omya.com
lation; test-market support alcohols; esters; polymers; pharma\oil field Vice President, Global Distribution Ser-
Assets: Offices in 65+ countries in EMEA, materials; plasticizers; acetic acid; butanols vices: Peter Bigler
Asia-Pacific, China, North America and Latin Services: Bulk chemicals distribution world Products: Binders; high-performance poly-
America; 25+ specialized application labora- wide; tank storage solutions; blending and mers; titanium dioxide; organic pigments;
tories; 1,750+ employees; Barentz Academy manufacturing chemicals dyes; minerals; additives; specialty raw mate-
Assets: State-of-the-art bulk chemicals stor- rials for coatings, adhesives, sealants, elasto-
CALDIC age terminal; drum and powder chemicals mers (CASE), inks, engineered materials, plas-
13 2021 SALES: $2.1BN (€1.85BN) storage; drumming lines and loading arms tics, thermosets, plasters, mortars, concrete,
Rotterdam, Netherlands Trading Sales: 36% packaging, board and paper, and aluminum
www.caldic.com finishing; ingredients for food, nutraceuticals,
CEO: Alexander Wessels STOCKMEIER HOLDING pharmaceuticals, personal care, cosmetics,
Products: Specialty ingredients and chemi- 15 2021 SALES: $1.8BN (€1.59BN) home care and animal nutrition; raw materials
cals for the food, pharmaceuticals, personal Bielefeld, Germany for agriculture and water treatment
care and industrial formulations markets such www.stockmeier.com Services: Global marketing and sourcing;
as coatings and construction, plastics and CEO: Peter Stockmeier global supply chain management (logistics,
rubber and other industrial applications Products: Industrial chemicals (acids, caus- customer service); regulatory affairs manage-
Services: GMP warehousing and clean room tic, solvents, solids); specialty chemicals for ment and services; R&D; technical service;
facilities for pharmaceuticals; manufactur- industrial and home care; cosmetics ingredi- analytics; microscopy; quality control
ing; mixing; blending; filling; grinding; re- ents; coatings ingredients; construction Assets: R&D center for surface science, min-
packing and other services; technical formu- chemicals; cleaning products; peracetic acid; eral pigment, chemical engineering, microbi-
lation and application support; integrated polyurethane chemicals; flavours and spices; ology and consumer goods; technical appli-
supply chain services; regulatory support printing inks; textile auxiliaries; AdBlue; water cation services hubs in Europe, Americas and
and quality control treatment chemicals Asia Pacific for all product categories; sales
Assets: Presence in 32 countries in Europe, Services: Warehousing; blending; toll manu- affiliates in more than 50 countries; global
Asia Pacific, North America and Latin Ameri- facturing; specialised laboratories; logistics network of 120+ warehouses
ca; 2,300 employees Assets: More than 50 locations in Europe;
200 trucks BIESTERFELD
PETROCHEM MIDDLE EAST 17 2021 SALES: $1.62BN
14 2021 SALES: $2.1BN OMYA Hamburg, Germany
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 16 2021 SALES: $1.66BN www.biesterfeld.com
www.petrocheme.com (SWFR1.51BN) CEO: Thomas Arnold
CEO: Yogesh Mehta Oftringen, Switzerland Products: High-performance polymers; engi-

Alamy
neering polymers; thermoplastic elastomers; synthesis, construction, HI&I, cosmetics and Services: Marketing and sales; logistics; inno-
styrenic and acrylic polymers; sustainable personal care, feed and food, flavours and fra- vation and formulation services; regulatory
polymer solutions; synthetic rubbers; high- grances, pharmaceuticals, water treatment, services; sourcing services; blending and re-
quality compounds based on silicone and surface technology, plastic and rubber, agri- packing; after-sales services; digital services
flouro-silicone rubbers; carbon blacks; addi- culture, lubricants, metal and surface treat- Assets: 48 innovation centers; 120 business
tives; raw materials for personal care, pharma- ment, automotive and machinery locations
ceuticals, organic synthesis, food and CASE, Services: Blending; dilution and mixing; sus-
performance products, industrial and agricul- tainability and recycling in own units; tailored MANUCHAR
tural chemicals, plant protection, animal logistics solutions; key account management; 20 2021 SALES: $1.4BN
health, salts technical support; laboratory services; stor- Antwerp, Belgium
Services: Technical expertise and consulting; age and warehousing; drumming and pack- www.manuchar.com
individual solutions; active application devel- aging; transloading vessel to rail; regulatory CEO: Philippe Huybrechs
opment and product specification; custom- affairs management; clean room services; Products: Sodium sulphate; soda ash; zeo-
ised logistical solutions; direct and warehouse price risk mitigation (fixed, contract and spot lite; caustic soda; sodium bicarbonate; calci-
distribution; less-than-truckload (LTL) quanti- pricing) um chloride; sodium lauryl ether sulphate
ties; blending and storing; formulation/techni- Assets: Offices and own warehouses in Eu- (SLES); linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid
cal assistance and laboratory support; consul- rope covering 23 countries; tank terminal in (LABSA); glycerine; surfactants and oleo-
tancy and advisory services for EU’s Reach Ludwigshafen, Germany; recycling plant; fleet chemicals; silicones; emulsifiers; resins and
regulation of own trucks; specialised laboratories; dedi- monomers; homecare and detergent chemi-
Assets: Subsidaries in more than 40 coun- cated workforce of 1,300 Europe-wide cals; textile chemicals; personal care and cos-
tries; application laboratories; mixing; blend- Trading Sales: 5% metics ingredients; paints and coatings
ing and storage facilities for solid and liquid chemicals; construction chemicals; mining
chemicals DKSH HOLDING chemicals; oilfield chemicals; food and feed
19 2021 SALES: $1.43BN additives; fertilizers
OQEMA GROUP (SWFR1.3BN) Services: Diversified product portfolio in
18 2021 SALES: $1.48BN (€1.3BN) Zurich, Switzerland chemicals; local know-how and technical sup-
Liedberg, Germany www.dksh.com/pm port in emerging markets; distribution chan-
www.oqema.com CEO: Stefan P Butz nel from producers towards end-users; tailor-
CEO: Peter Overlack Products: Food/beverage ingredients; per- made warehousing and other logistics/supply
Products: Chemicals and ingredients for sonal care and cosmetics ingredients; phar- chain services; financial solutions; Coverage
paints and coatings, chemical industry and maceutical ingredients; specialty chemicals of emerging markets in Latin America, Carib-

SPECIAL REPORT
bean, Africa, Middle East and Asia Assets: 21 branches and representative offic- JEBSEN & JESSEN GROUP
Assets: 80+ affiliates worldwide across 35+ es worldwide; 2 plants of biodegradable plas- 27 2021 SALES: $957.9M (€842M)
countries; 170+ locations; 500,000+ square tic bags with capacity of 4,000 tonnes/ Bangkok, Thailand and Ham-
metres of warehouse space month; 17 warehouses in Vietnam burg, Germany
Trading Sales: 40% Trading Sales: 20% www.ingredients.jjsea.com,
www.jebsen-jessen.de
MITSUBISHI SHOJI CHEMICAL TER GROUP Managing Director: Lim Siew Tin;
21 2021 SALES: $1.38BN 24 2021 SALES: $1.04BN (€910M) CEO: Fritz von der Schulenburg
Tokyo, Japan Hamburg, Germany Products: Coatings and resins; plastics and
www.mccml.co.jp/en/index.html www.terchemicals.com rubber; food and nutrition ingredients; health
President and CEO: Noriyuki Koga CEO and Managing Shareholder: Christian ingredients; feed additives; oil and gas chemi-
Products: Solvents (aromatics, esters, paraf- Westphal cals; oil derivatives; bioethanol; pharmaceuti-
fins, ketones, acids); urethanes; coatings (car- Products: Portfolio of more than 5,000 prod- cal and personal care ingredients; home care
bon black, acrylic resin, polyester resin, mon- ucts; specialty chemicals for adhesives, rub- specialties; adhesives; water treatment spe-
omers, additives); silicones; fluorocarbon ber, plastic, coatings, construction, lubri- cialties; mining components; agrochemicals;
polymers cants, industrial cleaning, home care, modified starches; collagen and sweeteners
Services: Global marketing; sourcing and disinfection and water treatment; ingredients Services: Sales and marketing; R&D; import/
trading; logistics by vessel, isotank, bulk lorry, for personal care, health care, food and ani- export; regulatory affairs; warehousing distri-
drum, bag mal nutrition bution; sourcing; factory audit; credit report;
Assets: Global network in 115+ countries and Services: Tailor-made distribution solu- local currency financing
locations as Mitsubishi Corp tions; product blending and mixing; pack- Assets: 21 offices worldwide; 15 warehouses;
aging; warehousing; specific application 4 laboratories; 3 regional innovation centers
QUIMIDROGA technology; formulation advice; laboratory
22 2021 SALES: $1.28BN (€1.12BN) services; sampling; shipping; marketing; KARTLI INTERNATIONAL
Barcelona, Spain production 28 2021 SALES: $904.4M
www.quimidroga.com Assets: Global presence with 40+ subsidiar- Baar, Switzerland
CEO: Vicente Munoz ies, 1,000+ employees, 30,000+ customers www.kartli.ch
Products: Solvents; monomers; glycols and and sales into 100+ countries by technically Director: Marat Barnabishvili
intermediates; fine chemicals and specialties trained salesforce for dedicated application Products: HDPE; LDPE; LLDPE; MLDPE; PP;
for food, feed, agrochemicals and fertilisers, segments PC; GPPS; HIPS; PET; PVC; ABS; synthetic rub-
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, flavours and fra- ber; carbon black
grances, detergents, coatings, adhesives, EMERAUDE Services: International marketing; global dis-
paper, water treatment, plasticizers, resins, 25 2021 SALES: $1BN tribution; logistics; technical support; tech-
plastics and elastomers Paris, France nologist consultation; over 450,000 tonnes of
Services: Storage of liquid and packed prod- www.emeraude-international.com products supplied annually
ucts; blending; standard and tailor-made CEO: Umar Rafique Assets: More than 200 employees; more
packaging; dissolutions; AEO (authorised Products: PE; PVC; PVC; PP; PET; PS; PU; recy- than 300 warehouses
economic operator) certification; customs cled polymers; masterbatches and additives;
bonded warehousing; technical advice, for- adhesives and coatings BEHN MEYER GROUP
mulations and research for personal care, Services: Logistics; packaging; storage; 29 2021 SALES: $883.7M (€776.8M)
home care and food technical expertise Hamburg, Germany
Assets: One logistics complex at the Port of Assets: 24 locations; workforce of more than www.behnmeyer.com
Barcelona with capacity of 30,000 tonnes of 170 employees; 35 warehouses Products: Fertilizers; crop protection chemi-
packed products plus 155 tanks for 12,000 cals; agricultural additives and specialties; in-
cubic metres of liquids; two sites in the north RAVAGO CHEMICALS gredients for food, personal and home care,
(Burgos) and center (Madrid) of Spain, each 26 2021 SALES: $981.8M (€863M) and pharmaceuticals; additives for animal
with capacity of 1,500 tonnes of packed Arendonk, Belgium feed and aquaculture; specialties for rubber
products plus 20 tanks for liquids; 9 distribu- www.ravagochemicals.com and plastics; eco-friendly solutions for water
tion centers; fully equipped quality control General Manager EMEA: Filip Van Camfort; treatment, petrochemicals, coatings, leather
laboratory; applications and development General Manager US: Kevin Wettstein and textiles, and process industries
laboratory Products: Industrial chemicals (coatings, PU Services: Technical sales and marketing; cus-
Trading Sales: 5% and polymers, construction, asphalt); special- tomer service; industry-specific advice; regula-
ty chemicals (care, life sciences, perfor- tory and risk management; innovation and for-
STAVIAN CHEMICAL mance, water); base chemicals (solvents, inor- mulation; R&D support; blending; ingredient
23 2021 SALES: $1.12BN ganics, intermediates, plasticizers) customisation and packaging; warehousing
Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Services: Technical expertise; warehousing; and logistics; supply chain management; om-
Vietnam logistics; blending; repackaging; laboratory ni-channel support; business development
www.stavianchem.com services Assets: Over 1,200 employees worldwide; of-
Chairman and CEO: Dinh Duc Thang Assets: Network of warehouses (owned and fices and warehouses in 14 countries; 38
Products: Plastics resins; biodegradable plas- 3rd party); drumming and blending and labo- warehouse locations; global production facili-
tic bags ratory facilities; feed premix plant; pressure ties in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Italy,
Services: International trading; logistics; im- vessel manufacturing and water treatment Netherlands, US and Australia; laboratory fa-
port and export; supply chain solutions; factory cilities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Viet-
packaging Trading Sales: 10% nam, Italy, Netherlands and Australia

Services: Marketing; storage; logistics; pack-

aging; supply chain management; process-
ing; transloading; re-manufacturing; sulphur
forming (prilling); regeneration; investments
in sustainable production; production and in-
vestments; project development
Assets: 9 tank farms; 6 storage facilities/
warehouses; 1 production facility; worldwide
subsidiaries from shareholder Sojitz Group
HYDRITE CHEMICAL
33 2021 SALES: $752M
Brookfield, Wisconsin, US
www.hydrite.com
CEO: Paul Honkamp
Products: Extensive line of products includ-
ing peracetic acid (PAA); chlor-alkali; industri-
al chemicals; foam control chemicals; food
processing and sanitation chemicals; food in-
gredients; liquid sulfites; fertilizers and liquid
micronutrients; pulp and paper chemicals;
organic and inorganic chemicals; styrene/
acrylic emulsion polymers; metal finishing
chemicals; solvents; wastewater treatment
chemicals
Services: Contract manufacturing; formula-
tion; solvent reclamation; hazardous waste
removal; packaging and transloading; techni-
cal training; customer product research
Assets: 15 locations; bulk storage of 15m gal;
private fleet of trucks and professional drivers
HAWKINS
Shutterstock
34 2021 SALES: $705.4M

Roseville, Minnesota, US
www.hawkinsinc.com
SAFIC-ALCAN neering polymers; thermoplastic elastomers; President and CEO: Patrick Hawkins
30 2021 SALES: $857M styrenic and acrylic polymers; polyolefins; Products: Caustic soda; bleach; minerals;
Paris, France sustainable plastic solutions; blends; com- lactates; sulphuric acid; hydrochloric acid; so-
www.safic-alcan.com pounds; masterbatches dium citrate; vitamins; ferric/ferrous chloride;
President and CEO: Yann Lissillour Services: Individual solutions; technical exper- urea; chlorine
Products: Wide range of specialty chemi- tise and consulting; direct and warehouse distri- Services: Manufacturing; custom blending;
cals and materials; performance products bution; customised blends and storing; active packaging; private label; delivery
for adhesives and sealants, coatings and application development and product specifi- Assets: Industrial manufacturing facilities (7);
inks, construction, plastics, rubber, polyure- cation; assistance and laboratory support water treatment distribution warehouses (37);
thanes, industrial specialties, detergents, Assets: Subsidiaries in 23 European coun- trucks (150); nutraceutical manufacturing
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal tries with local brands (Plastoplan, Lenor- plant (1)
care, health, wellness and nutrition plastics, Graesslin, Aectra, Guzman, AGI, Trading Sales: 10%
Services: Global sourcing; local sales; supply SAX, DK); 43 warehouses; 2 compounding
chain management and marketing support; facilities; 3 laboratories REDOX
dedicated technical, regulatory and quality Trading Sales: 5% 35 2021 SALES: $678.4M
support; formulation; blending; sampling Sydney, Australia
Assets: 31 offices that cover 60 countries in SOLVADIS GROUP www.redox.com
EMEA, North America and Asia; 9 laboratories 32 2021 SALES: $770M Chairman and Managing Director: Robert
for cosmetics, coatings, rubber, pharmaceuti- Frankfurt, Germany Coneliano
cals and water treatment; combination of www.solvadis.com Products: More than 1,000 products serving
local warehouses and regional storage CEO: Andreas Weimann all markets; commodity and specialty chemi-
Products: Sulphur; sulphuric acid; methanol; cals; food ingredients; agricultural chemicals;
HROMATKA GROUP petrochemicals; solvents; industrial chemi- household and personal care chemicals; min-
31 2021 SALES: $819.1M (€720M) cals; industrial minerals; cosmetic and phar- ing chemicals; surface coatings; plastics addi-
Vienna, Austria maceutical raw materials; synthetic lubri- tives; grease and lubricants; water treatment
www.hgmag.ch cants; laboratory chemicals; coatings; chemicals; building and construction chemi-
Owner: Hans W Hromatka fertilizers; packaging materials; personal pro- cals; pharmaceutical ingredients; animal feed
Products: High-performance polymers; engi- tective equipment; polymers ingredients

Chemical Distributor Since 2000
4400+ 2090+ 500+ 45+

Happy Customers Stable Suppliers Available Products Countries Served
Fine Chemical Basic Chemical Animal Health Plant Protection

Distribution Trading - Manufacturing - - Manufacturing -
Alcohol Aromatic Veterinary Pesticide
Amine Hydrocarbon Preparations Preparations
Alkane & Derivatives Polyester Animal Feed (methyl bromide)
Aromatic Compounds Polyolefin Additives Intermediates
Ester Engineering Intermediates
Ether Plastics APIs
Ketone
Carbonyl Compounds
& Derivatives
Inorganics
Link Resources to Needs - Link the World Together
T: +86 574 87979999 Email: [email protected] Head Office: 42/F, No. 588 Tiantong
F: +86 574 87731800 www.sunrisechemical.com South Road, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

Services: Custom blending; dilutions; re- Group CEO: Opher Linchevski ents; biotech and life sciences chemicals;
packaging; bulk storage of powders; solvents; Products: Lubricants; solvents; electronics aroma chemicals and flavors and fragrances;
acids; alkalis; palletised storage materials; printing inks and polymers; waxes HI&I chemicals; CASE chemicals; imaging
Assets: 13 regional sales offices; 2 manufac- Services: Marine logistics; tank storage; land components; specialty chemicals; industrial
turing sites; 7 in-house operated warehouses; logistics; terminals; ecology services; R&D products
more than 100 stock locations Services: Warehousing; blending; packag-
QUADRA CHEMICALS ing; custom/contract manufacturing; custom
CELLMARK 39 2021 SALES: $545.6M synthesis; product development
36 2021 SALES: $667M Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada Assets: 36 stocking locations in North America
Gothenburg, Sweden www.quadra.ca
www.cellmark.com CEO: Philip Infilise CG GROUP/CG CHEMIKALIEN
CEOs: Hugo Galletta, Ersin Alkan Products: Performance adhesives; flexible 42 2021 SALES: $523.3M (€460M)
Products: Acetyls; acids; chlor-alkali; agro- packaging; household, industrial and institu- Laatzen, Germany
chemicals; construction chemicals; ligno tional cleaning chemicals; water treatment www.cg-group.de
chemicals; petrochemicals; light metals; chemicals; mining and smelting chemicals; Managing Director: Philipp Klass
foundry chemicals; non-ferrous and ferrous soluble fertilizer; pulp and paper chemicals; Products: Industrial and specialty chemicals;
materials; caustic soda; hydrogen peroxide; metal treatment and galvanizing chemicals; nutrition ingredients; pharmaceutical ingredi-
semiconductor materials; renewable battery construction chemicals; coatings, adhe- ents; coatings materials; water treatment
materials; oil and gas chemicals; water treat- sives, sealants and elastomers (CASE); pool chemicals
ment chemicals; coatings; agrochemicals; and spa chemicals; oilfield chemicals; food Services: Consulting; procurement; analyt-
flame retardants; food and beverage ingredi- and beverage ingredients; sports nutrition ics; quality management; contract manufac-
ents; cosmetic and oral care ingredients; ac- ingredients; animal nutrition ingredients; turing; labelling and packaging; application
tive pharmaceutical ingredients health and wellness ingredients; pharmaceu- technology; cleanroom production (grade C
Services: Sales and marketing; sourcing; tical and nutraceutical ingredients; personal and D)
custom manufacturing; packaging; blending; care ingredients Assets: 7 subsidiaries; 7 locomotives; 100
milling and granulations; R&D; regulatory ser- Services: Storage; packaging; blending trucks; 114 tank wagons and ISO containers;
vices; market research; logistics; bulk and dry Assets: 7 locations (warehouses and tank 14 certificates
storage farms)
Assets: Production facility and equipment; WEGO CHEMICAL GROUP
inventory held at public warehouses in over KLJ RESOURCES 43 2021 SALES: $523M
20 locations worldwide 40 2021 SALES: $526.7M Great Neck, New York, US
Trading Sales: 53% New Delhi, India www.wegochem.com
www.kljindia.com President: Bert Eshaghpour
NORDMANN, RASSMANN Managing director: Hemant Jain Products: Agricultural chemicals; animal nu-
37 2021 SALES: $624.6M (€549M) Products: Aromatics; amines; acids; trition and feed ingredients; antifreeze and
Hamburg, Germany acrylates; acetates/esters; alcohols/oxo alco- coolants; CASE; corrosion inhibitors; lithium
www.nordmann.global hols; aliphatic solvents; anhydrides; base oils battery materials and electrolytes; lubricants
Managing Directors: Gerd Bergmann, Felix and LAB; chlorinated solvents; de-aromatised and greases; pharmaceutical and fine chemi-
Kruse hydrocarbons; glycols/PG/PEG; ketones and cals; HI&I chemicals; flame retardants; food
Products: Adhesives and sealants; compos- monomers; paraffins/isoparaffins; polymers and beverage ingredients; metal working
ites; construction and coatings chemicals; and polyols chemicals; finishing and flux chemicals; oil-
contact lens materials; dental and medical Services: Dedicated storage tanks; wide prod- field chemicals; plastics additives; resins and
materials; flame retardants; food additives; uct range and inventory management; supply rubber chemicals; pulp and paper chemicals;
electronics materials; industrial chemicals chain operations; in-house quality testing lab water treatment and pool chemicals
and intermediates; lubricant additives; mono- and certification; repacking; branding and la- Services: Supply chain solutions; logistics;
mers; oleochemicals; personal care additives; belling; value added products; blending and warehousing; outsourcing
pharmaceutical and nutraceutical ingredi- distillation; market information; index-based Assets: 100+ worldwide professionals; 14 in-
ents; polyurethane chemicals; synthetic rub- pricing and extended credit; documentation ternational offices; global distribution network
ber and rubber chemicals; thermoplastics; support for pharmaceutical industry of 50+ warehouses
polymer additives Assets: 9 branches in India; 3 offices in Singa- Trading Sales: 20%
Services: Laboratory services; studies and pore, Dubai and Qatar; 13 warehouses across
R&D; chemical synthesis and compounding; India; dedicated workforce; leased storage MONTACHEM INTERNATIONAL
marketing and market intelligence; legislative tanks in Kandla, Mundra, Hazira, Pipavav, 44 2021 SALES: $521.2M
and regulatory support; quality management Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US
and safety; global supply chain management; Ennore, Vizag, Kakinada and Budge Budge www.montachem.com
repacking and refilling; sample service Trading Sales: 31% CEO: Jerry Murcia; COO: JC Avila; CFO: Ben-
Assets: Warehouses located all over Europe, nett Schwartz; Partner/Director: Steve Liston
Asia and North America LBB SPECIALTIES Products: Thermoplastic resins (polyethyl-
Trading Sales: 5% 41 2021 SALES: $526.2M ene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PET, PVC)
Norwalk, Connecticut, US Services: Global logistics; supply chain man-
GADOT CHEMICAL TERMINALS www.lbbspecialties.com agement; financing; market intelligence; poly-
38 2021 SALES: $553.4M CEO: Darren J Birkelbach mer technical service; risk management
Netanya, Israel Products: Personal care ingredients; nutri- Assets: 14 third-party warehouses worldwide;
www.gadot.com tional ingredients; food and beverage ingredi- 52,000 tonnes thermoplastic resins (stocks)

SPECIAL REPORT
EIGENMANN & VERONELLI

45 2021 SALES: $514.2M (€452M)
Rho, Milan, Italy
www.eigver.it
CEO: Gabriele Bonomi
Products: Specialty chemicals for adhesives
and sealants, animal nutrition and health, con-
struction, ecology and water treatment, food,
home and industrial care, leather lubricants
and industrial auxiliaries, organic synthesis,
paper, personal care, pharmaceuticals, plastic
additives, polyurethanes, rubber, surface
coatings and textiles
Services: Sales and marketing; toll manufac-
turing; warehousing and logistics services;
repackaging; bulk breaking
Assets: Production sites; wareouses; R&D
labs; applications labs
Trading Sales: 15%
EMCO CHEMICAL
46 DISTRIBUTORS
2021 SALES: $512.5M
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, U.S.
www.emcochem.com
President: Edward Polen
Products: Acids and alkalis; additives; aliphat-
ic and aromatic hydrocarbons; amines; car-
bonates; chelating agents; ester and ether
esters; ethanol and denatured ethanol; gly-
cols; ketones; pigments; plasticizers; resins;
silicones; surfactants
Services: Specialties and traditional com-
modities distribution; blending and packag-
ing; waste services; CASE application labora-
tory services; hazardous goods warehousing;
order fulfilment; USP and food grade packag-
ing; private fleet delivery
Assets: 3 production facilities (US – North
Chicago, Illinois; Columbia, Illinois; Pleasant
Prairie, Wisconsin); 9 warehouses (US – Co-
lumbia, Illinois; North Chicago, Illinois;
Elkhart, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Shutterstock
Cincinnati, Ohio, Pleasant Prairie, Wiscon-
sin)/Canada – Calgary, Alberta; Toronto, On-
tario; Montreal, Quebec); 45 tractors and
125 trailers PON PURE CHEMICALS GROUP Sri Lanka; 23 warehouses across India (inclu-
48 2021 SALES: $494.8M sive of 7 explosive repack warehouses; leased
CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIES Chennai, Tamilnadu, India terminal facilities at Kandla, Mumbai, Ennore,
47 GROUP www.pure-chemical.com Kakinada, Haldia and Hazira; manufacturing
2021 SALES: $500M Chairman and Managing Director: M Pon- units in SIDCO, Alathur and SIPCOT, Thervoy-
New York, New York, US nuswami kandigai
www.continental-industries.com Products: Acids and derivatives; aromatics;
President and CEO: Omer T Karabey ketones; esters; ethers; chlorinated solvents; LEHMANN & VOSS
Products: Polymers; specialty and commod- alcohols; aliphatic solvents; hydrocarbons; 49 2021 SALES: $478.2M (€420.3M)
ity chemicals monomers; coatings and inks; plastics and Hamburg, Germany
Services: Sourcing; sales and marketing; composites; textile chemicals; leather and www.lehvoss.de
trading; shipping; logistics; warehousing; paper chemicals; sugar chemicals; water Managing Partner: Soenke Thomsen
blending; project development; inventory treatment; lubricants; oilfield chemicals Products: Customised polymer materials;
and risk management of chemicals and petro- Services: Small packing; underground stor- composite materials; masterbatches; plastic
chemicals. age; technical service; custom blending; just- additives; rubber chemicals; functional fluids;
Assets: 10+ global offices; 70+ team mem- in-time delivery; transportation raw materials for coatings, cosmetics and nu-
bers Assets: 28 branches in India ; 5 branches in traceuticals; magnesia; rare earths; diatomae-
Trading Sales: 40% Dubai, Australia, Singapore, Bangladesh and ceous earth

Shutterstock
Services: Sourcing; manufacturing; custom- Products: Ingredients; specialty chemicals; SHRIEVE CHEMICAL
ising; product development; logistics CASE; lubricants 53 2021 SALES: $422M
Assets: Production sites in US, Europe, China; Services: Global distribution and sourcing; The Woodlands, Texas, US
laboratories; warehouses QC/QA laboratory services; custom blending www.shrieve.com
Trading Sales: 30% and packaging; transloading CEO: George Fuller
Assets: Warehousing; bulk storage; rail; Products: Full line of organic and inorganic
INDUKERN blending tanks and packaging lines; company industrial chemicals and specialty ingredients
50 2021 SALES: $463M (€407M) owned and operated delivery fleet; full ser- for CASE, pulp and paper, personal care, food
El Prat de Llobregat, Spain vice QA laboratories and beverage, chemical manufacturing,
www.indukern.es water treatment, pharmaceuticals, oil and
General Manager: Daniel Diaz-Varela POCHTECA MATERIAS PRIMAS gas, home care and industrial cleaning, agri-
Products: APIs for human pharmaceuticals 52 2021 SALES: $442.3M cultural, lubricants, mining
and veterinary; nutraceuticals; amino acids; Mexico City, Mexico Services: Custom blending; packaging; for-
pigments; nutritional additives; essential oils; www.pochteca.net mulating; technical service; application devel-
cosmetic ingredients; synthetic and natural CEO: Armando Santacruz opment; R&D; global supply chain manage-
aromatics; lactic and meat blends; vegan Products: Inorganic chemicals; solvents and ment; toll blending; warehousing;
products blends; food ingredients; chemical special- transportation; regulatory services; tank
Services: Blending; storage; product devel- ties; lubricants cleaning
opment; reformulation Services: Blending; packaging; storage and Assets: Sales, administrative and laboratories
Assets: 22 warehouses (including 5 manufac- logistics solutions; product application; prod- in US, China, UK; pilot plant in The Woodlands,
turing); Reach registrations; IT systems and uct development; quality control; environ- Texas; 29 stocking locations across US, China,
software mental solutions UK; railcar fleet
Trading Sales: 2% Assets: More than 295,000 square metres of
logistics capacity; capacity to store 17.4m li- TOP SOLVENT
TILLEY-PHOENIX GROUP tres of liquids; 49 distribution centers – 33 in 54 2021 SALES: $413.9M
51 2021 SALES: $445.3M Mexico, 3 in Central America and 12 in South Bangkok, Thailand
Baltimore, Maryland, US America; fleet of more than 200 units; solvent www.thaioilgroup.com
www.tilleycompany.com recycling plant; 23 quality control and prod- Managing Director: Anawat Chansaksoong
COO & President of Distribution: Sean Tilley uct application laboratories Products: Hydrocarbon solvents – hexane,

Asia Pacific chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)

Rank Company Sales ($m) Rank Company Sales ($m) Rank Company Sales ($m)
1 NAGASE & CO 5,909.3 33 Continental Industries 80 64 Skystep Trading 9.9
Group
2 Sinochem Plastics 3,753 65 Aug. Hedinger 9.3
34 Transmare Chemie 69.6
3 Tricon Energy 3,141.4 66 Connect Chemicals Group 9
35 Aik Moh Paints & Chemicals 60.6
4 Sunrise Group 2,532.8 67 Nortex 8.8
36 Biesterfeld 59.5
5 Brenntag 2,053.5 68 Arkem Kimya 8
37 Montachem International 53.4
6 Mitsubishi Shoji Chemical 1,171.7 69 BDV Behrens 7.5
38 Nordmann, Rassmann 48.9
70 Metafrax Trading 6.8
7 DKSH Holding 998
39 McKinn International 46.3 International
8 IMCD 949 71 2M Group 6.1
40 Lehmann & Voss 45.8
9 Kolmar Group 926.3 41 NEO Chemical 37.2 72 Equilex 5.7
10 HELM 918.9 42 Ankush Enterprise 37 73 TRiiSO 5
11 Stavian Chemical 833.2 43 RishiChem Distributors 36.2 74 Quimdis 4.3
12 Behn Meyer Group 801.2 44 Wego Chemical Group 33.7 75 Jobachem Group 4.3
13 Redox 657.7 45 Shrieve Chemical 29.6 76 Grup Barcelonesa 4.1
14 KLJ Resources 507.7 46 S. Kushalchand 27.9 77 Alliance-Energy 3.5
International
15 Azelis 490.3 78 Penpet Petrochemical 3.4
47 Taj Al Mulook General 26.7 Trading
16 Pon Pure Chemicals Group 463.9 Trading
79 Grolman Group 3.3
17 TOP Solvent 410.5 48 United Trading System 25
80 Cornelius Group 3.1
18 Omya 340 (UTS/ETC)
81 National Chemical 2.7
19 Petrochem Middle East 315.2 49 Norkem Holdings 24.7
82 Eigenmann & Veronelli 2.3
20 Jebsen & Jessen Group 306 50 Bodo Moller Chemie 22.1
83 BassTech International 2.1
21 KPL International 232.2 51 ECEM European Chemical 21.9
Marketing 84 Solventis 1.6
22 Cellmark 198.5 85 George S. Coyne Chemical 1.5
52 Saiper Chemicals 20.9
23 WWRC Holding 179.3 53 Telko 20.7 86 Lake 1.4
24 ECHEMI Group 166.5 54 PHT International 19.7 87 RE Carroll 1.4
25 Manuchar 122 55 DYM Resources 18.9 88 Faravelli 1.3
26 Guangzhou Lifly Chemicals 110 56 Prakash Chemicals 18.2 89 Hawkins 1.2
27 Shanghai Saifu Chemical 98.8 International 90 Al Nahda International 1.2
Development 57 Novasol Chemicals Group 18 (Anichem Group)
28 Union Petrochemical 95 58 Arpadis Benelux 17.1 91 The Chemical Company 1.1
29 Barentz 92.1 59 RAHN Group 13 92 Life Supplies 1.1
30 Rakha Al Khaleej 91.2 60 Safic-Alcan 13 93 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 1.1
International 61 Gadot Chemical Terminals 12.1 94 Hubbard-Hall 1
31 Maha Chemicals 90 62 WISTEMA 11.4 Note: Sales are in the specific region and may differ
from total company slaes. Sales $1m and above are
32 TER Group 85.3 63 An Loc Phat International 10 included
Products: Hydrocarbon solvents – hexane, houses with total capacity of 60,000 drums digital solutions such as B2B ecommerce
pentane, SBP group (rubber solvent), toluene, (200 litres); loading and unloading facilities Assets: 20 operating centers; 5 warehouses;
xylene aromatic solvents (A100/A150), white with both trucks, isotanks and vessels; drum 1 factory; 1 quality control laboratory
spirits; chemical solvents – iso-propyl alcohol filling station; laboratory; 60 bulk lorries (con- Trading Sales: 60%
(IPA), acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), tracted); 45 pack trucks (contracted)
ethyl acetate, butyl acetate; petroleum fuel; MCASSAB
olefins (monomers and polymers); LAB; ethyl- ECHEMI GROUP 56 2021 SALES: $400.9M
ene glycol (MEG/DEG); cleaning chemicals 55 2021 SALES: $412.7M Sao Paulo, Brazil
Services: Manufacturing of hydrocarbon sol- Hong Kong, China www.mcassab.com.br
vent products; storage; drum filling; transpor- www.echemi.com CEO: Victor Cutait Neto
tation services; multi-delivery mode offerings CEO: David Zhang Products: Performance and specialty chemi-
– vessel, bulk lorry, iso-tank, drum; thinner Products: Paints and coatings materials; fine cals for polyurethanes, paints, resins, con-
blending chemicals; food and nutrition additives; phar- struction and polymers sectors; solvents; ad-
Assets: 1 manufacturing plant of hydrocarbon maceutical APIs and intermediates; more ditives; silicones; pigments; monomers;
solvents with nameplate capacity of 141,000 than 1,000 self-operated products and emulsifiers; polyols; isocyanates; biocides;
tonnes/year via subsidiary SAK Chaisidhi; 5 100,000 products from suppliers APIs and pharmaceutical excipients; home
tank terminals in Asia – 2 in Thailand, 2 in Viet- Services: Global chemical supply chain man- and personal care ingredients; veterinary
nam, 1 in Indonesia; 86 chemical storage tanks agement; technical service; quality control; products; feed and food premixes and ingre-
with total capacity of over 58m litres; 9 ware- storage and logistics; full marketing support; dients; vitamins; amino acids

SPECIAL REPORT
Shutterstock
Services: Blending; packaging; storage; in- www.utsrus.com West & Central Africa; warehouses; liquid stor-
ventory management; dilutions; technical ap- CEO, UTS: Lars Hjorth; CEO ETC: Andrey age tanks; solid bulk facilities; docking berths;
plications laboratory services (polyurethanes, Shkola bulk powder trailers; repacking installations; 2
home and personal care, coatings, agribusi- Products: Paints and coatings chemicals; dry laboratories (Ivory Coast and Cameroon)
ness, pharmaceuticals and food); full techni- mixture and construction chemicals; plastics Trading Sales: 7%
cal support; formulation; quality control labo- and polymer additives; rubber chemicals; res-
ratory services (physical, chemical and ins and chemicals for composites; fibres; ECEM EUROPEAN CHEMICAL
microbiology) chemicals for detergents; cosmetics and 60 MARKETING
Assets: 4 warehouses in Brazil; 1 warehouse household chemicals; oil and oilfield chemi- 2021 SALES: $357.7M
in argentina; 4 premixes facilities for animal cals; lubricants and refinery additives and Amsterdam, Netherlands
nutrition; 1 premix facility for nutritional chemicals; food additives; specialties; phar- www.ecem.com
blends (human); 1 facility for polyurethanes maceutical raw materials; agricultural chemis- CEO: Barend Barendse
systems; laboratories try; chemicals for mining; chemicals for road Products: Acrylates; methacrylates; hydroxy
Trading Sales: 100% construction; polyurethanes monomers; isocyanates; anhydrides; phos-
Services: Storage and logistics; mixing/ phonates plus 150 other complementary
ARKEM KIMYA blending; laboratory tech support; develop- products for coatings resins and polymers;
57 2021 SALES: $370M ing certification adhesives and sealants; water treatment
Istanbul, Turkey Assets: 15 offices and 17 warehouses with chemicals; pharmaceutical ingredients
www.arkem.com 40,000 square metres; 14,000 square metres Services: One-stop shopping and global sup-
Chairman and CEO: Levend Kokuludag office space; 7 laboratories; 620 employees ply chain through offices in EU, Brazil, US,
Products: Monomers; hydrocarbon solvents; Japan, UK; supply from bulk storage tanks and
alcohols; ketones; esters; glycols; glycol SOLEVO packed materials from several warehouses in
ethers; chlorinated solvents; oleochemicals; 59 2021 SALES: $359.3M EU; drumming; blending; break bulk deliver-
specialty chemicals; cosmetics; pharmaceuti- Switzerland ies; full Reach registrations
cals; food ingredients; surfactants; plastics www.solevogroup.com Assets: Bulk storage and warehouses in sever-
Services: Sales and marketing; bulk storage; CEO: Joris Coppye al countries; drumming installations; 8 owned
blending; formulating; drumming; packaging; Products: Agrochemicals; animal feed addi- isotanks for dedicated bulk transport; over 100
labelling; other warehousing services tives; chemicals for food and beverage, house returnable (custom tailored) stainless steel
Assets: Deep sea tank terminal at Gebze, Tur- care and personal care, mining, paints and IBCs; over 70 professional staff in global sales
key with capacity of 84,000 cubic metres; lo- construction, polymers and packaging, and and logistics managers; workers on several ter-
gistics company with 75 transport units and water treatment minals and warehouse operations; sales offices
600 isotank containers; 4 warehouses (2 in Services: Warehousing; reconditioning; solid in Brazil, Japan, China, US and EU
Istanbul; 1 in Izmir; 1 in Rotterdam) and liquid blending; tailor-made formulations; Trading Sales: 5%
Trading Sales: 3% consignment; telemetry-managed stock man-
agement; application laboratory services; sup- FEBO
UNITED TRADING SYSTEM UTS / ply chain optimisation; liquid and solid bulk 61 2021 SALES: $352.7M (€310M)
58 ETC handling and distribution; full range of agro Serravalle Pistoiese, Pistoia, Italy
2021 SALES: $365M services – test fields, digitalisation projects www.febo.it
Astorp, Sweden/St Petersburg, Russia Assets: Unique asset base in 7 countries in CEO: Giuseppe Carocchi

Products: Polyethylene; polypropylene; PVC; acetates; glycols; glycol ethers; hydrocar- HSH CHEMIE
ABS; polystyrene; SAN; PA6; PA66; PC bons; ketones; monomers; propylene glycols; 69 2021 SALES: $327.6M (€288M)
Assets: Subsidiaries Febo 3r, Matras, CGT, white oils; airplane de-icers Hamburg, Germany
Febo Hellas, Chi.fra Services: Importing bulk chemicals; global www.hsh-chemie.com
Trading Sales: 15% bulk and drum distribution and blending of Managing Directors: Stephan P Lohden,
automotive products and de-icers Frank Raabe, Stefan Rather
RUSKHIMSET Assets: Antwerp storage terminal with drum Products: Specialty chemicals for coatings,
62 2021 SALES: $350M and blending facilities; UK storage terminal adhesives and building, personal and home
Moscow, Russia and blending facilities care, food, feed and pharmaceuticals, plas-
www.rushimset.ru tics and rubber, and industrial performance
General Manager: Alexander Cheryatov KRAHN CHEMIE applications
Products: Polymers and additives; coating 66 2021 SALES: $341.3M (€300M) Services: Technical consultancy; formulation
and adhesives; rubber; elastomer additives; Hamburg, Germany advice; storage and logistics; sampling; fi-
food/feed and nutrition ingredeients; cosmet- www.krahn.eu nancing; full compliance support; full market-
ics; all range of solvents; chemicals for com- CEO: Rolf Kuropka ing support
posites; PVC additives Products: Coatings ingredients (additives, Assets: 12 sales office locations in Central and
Services: All types of chemical transporta- rheology modifiers, pigments and colourants, Eastern Europe
tion; handling and logistics; drumming; resins, biocides, film consolidation agents); Trading Sales: 10%
blending and mixing construction chemicals (additives, pigments,
Assets: Central distribution site and more fillers, rheology modifiers); adhesives ingredi- NORTEX
than 25 locations; 44,000 pallets; i-market- ents (resins, plasticizers, additives, bonding 70 2021 SALES: $314.3M
place; 20 ADR trucks agents); cleaning and disinfection products; Moscow, Russia
Trading Sales: 20% personal care ingredients; plastics ingredients www.nortex-chem.ru
(additives, plasticizers, flame retardants); rub- CEO: Vladimir Yakushin
K-SOLV GROUP ber ingredients (synthetic rubber, additives, Products: Isocyanates; polyols; polyolefins;
63 2021 SALES: $346.1M adhesion promoters, mould release agents); engineering plastics; rubber and latexes;
Houston, Texas, US lubricant ingredients (base oils, additives and phenolic resins; epoxy resins; hardeners;
www.ksolvgroup.com additive packages); heat transfer fluids PVC resins; plasticizers; antioxidants and UV
Owner and CEO: Russell Allen Services: Technical sales and marketing sup- stabilisers; mineral fillers; synthetic fibre; lu-
Products: Aliphatic solvents; aromatic sol- port; application development; laboratory bricant additives; detergents; construction
vents; alcohols; glycols; glycol ethers; ace- analysis; colorimetry and colour matching chemicals
tates; chlorinated solvents; ketones; base oils; service; formulation advice; warehousing and Services: Warehousing; safety stocks; logis-
white oils; acids logistics solutions; mixing and blending; re- tics; drumming; financing; technical support;
Services: Packaging; blending; distillation; packaging; sampling service; legislative and product marketing and search
fuel distillation; laboratory services; maritime regulatory support Assets: Central licensed storage hub; 16 re-
services; emergency spill and hazmat re- Assets: 5 technology centers gional warehouses
sponse; critical incident response; recovery Trading Sales: 20%
and logistics; industrial services; waste man- THE PLAZA GROUP
agement; transportation; wireline pressure 67 2021 SALES: $332M GAMMA CHIMICA
control; hydraulic latch assemblies Houston, Texas, US 71 2021 SALES: $311.7M (€274M)
Assets: Tote and drum warehouse; tank farm; www.theplazagrp.com Milan, Italy
flare; nitrogen access; waterfront dock President: Randy Velarde www.gammachimica.it
Products: Acetone; benzene; methanol; President: Giuseppe Mearini
RAKHA AL KHALEEJ fuels; toluene; MEK; aqua ammonia; sulphuric Products: Glycols; ethanolamines; amines;
64 INTERNATIONAL acid; lignosulfonates fatty acids; intermediates; solvents; anti-
2021 SALES: $343.4M freeze; glycerines; sequestring agents
Dubai, UAE TENNANTS DISTRIBUTION Services: Storage; packaging; blending; anti-
www.rai-uae.com 68 2021 SALES: $328.9M (£243M) freeze production
CEO: Eduardo Contreiras Manchester, UK Assets: Head offices; warehouse of 54,000
Products: HDPE; LDPE; LLDPE; polypropyl- www.tennantsdistribution.com square metres (of which 15,000 covered)
ene; PVC; PET; polystyrene; masterbatches; Managing Director: Tim Griffiths
vinyl chloride monomer; compounds; P-life Products: Acids and alkalis; animal feed raw PVS CHEMICALS
biodegradable plastics materials; fatty acids; alcohols and esters; 72 DISTRIBUTION GROUP
Services: Trading and distribution of plastic food ingredients; flavours and fragrances; 2021 SALES: $310M
raw materials and chemicals general chemicals; Greenox AdBlue; personal Detroit, Michigan, US
Assets: Building; inventory; motor vehicles care ingredients; pharmaceutical products; www.pvschemicals.com
Trading Sales: 39% resins; solvents; specialty products; sur- COO PVS Chemicals: Timothy F Nicholson
factants; water treatment chemicals; white Products: Organic chemicals and inorganic
SOLVENTIS oils and petroleum jelly chemicals
65 2021 SALES: $342.4M (€301.0M) Services: Warehousing and storage; repack- Services: Full line chemical distribution; mini
Guildford, Surrey, UK aging; blending; formulating; relabelling bulk; warehousing; transportation
www.solventis.net Assets: 20 sites (including warehousing and Assets: Company owned fleet; company
CEO: David Lubbock storage); own vehicles owned warehouses; terminals
Products: Alcohols; antifreeze; brake fluids; Trading Sales: 2% Trading Sales: 100%

North American chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)

1 Univar Solutions 6,954 26 SMC Global 224 53 SolvChem 80
2 Brenntag 5,832.7 27 Omya 175.5 54 Continental Industries 80
3 HELM 1,963.6 28 Pride Chemical Solutions 153 Group
4 Kolmar Group 1,697.7 29 The Chemical Company 146.7 55 TER Group 79.6
5 Tricon Energy 1,580 30 GreenChem Industries 135 56 ALAC International 79.3
6 Azelis 1,324.2 31 Sea-Land Chemical 123 57 Rierden Chemical 76
7 IMCD 1,055 32 Tanner Industries 121.5 58 Walsh & Associates 75.9
8 Barentz 893.1 33 Whitaker Oil 117.6 59 Buckley Oil 75.8
9 NAGASE & CO 768.4 34 Cellmark 111.4 60 Coast Southwest 73.4
10 Hydrite Chemical 752 35 Saconix 111 61 Tennants Distribution 71.7
11 Hawkins 698 36 Webb Chemical Service 106 62 Rowell Chemical 69.5
12 Quadra Chemicals 545.6 37 Mays Chemical 105 63 Skyhawk Chemicals 68.6
13 LBB Specialties 526.2 38 Chemsolv 105 64 Silver Fern Chemical 66.9
14 EMCO Chemical 512.5 39 ClearTech Industries 104.3 65 Brainerd Chemical 64.8

Distributors 66 Chem One 63.1
40 Harwick Standard 100.2
15 Tilley-Phoenix Group 385.4 Distribution 67 Tarr Acquisition 63
16 Shrieve Chemical 370.4 41 Astro Chemicals 100 68 Stavian Chemical 60
17 K-Solv Group 346.1 42 Miles Chemical 98.6 69 Hubbard-Hall 55
18 Wego Chemical Group 322.8 43 TRINTERNATIONAL 98.5 70 GJ Chemical 55
19 PVS Chemicals Distribution 310 44 Connection Chemical 96 71 Vivion 53.3
Group
45 TCR Industries 96 72 Independent Chemical 53
20 The Plaza Group 297
46 H.M. Royal 95.2 73 TransChemical 51.5
21 Superior Industrial 290
47 Andino Chemical Group 95 74 KH Chemicals 50.1
Solutions
48 TRiiSO 92 75 Veckridge Chemical 50
22 Ravago Chemicals 258.2
49 George S. Coyne Chemical 87.9 76 McCullough & Associates 50
23 Colonial Chemical 250.4
Solutions 50 Chemisphere 85.2 77 Chemical Distributors Inc 50
24 ChemGroup 250 51 Petrochem Middle East 82.4 78 Research Solutions Group 48.2
25 Barton Solvents 234 52 Safic-Alcan 82 79 Radchem Products 46.4
GUANGZHOU LIFLY CHEMICALS er specific mixtures; bulk transport; technical www.quimtia.com

73 2021 SALES: $308.5M support; technical service President: Diego Collard Bovy
Tianhe, Guangzhou, China Assets: 26 local offices in 15 countries; 50 Products: Mining chemical products; water
www.liflychem.com warehouses; 300 professionals treatment products; paper chemical blends;
President and CEO: Lily Tian oil and gas chemical products; basic industri-
Products: Solvents and monomers including RAMNIKLAL S GOSALIA & CO al chemicals; feed aditivies and specialties;
MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), MMA (methyl meth- 75 2021 SALES: $305M poultry pigments; feed premixes; animal
acrylate), acetone, IPA, ethanol, toluene, xy- Mumbai, India health products; food ingredients and blends;
lene, PTA, etac, butac, MIBK, BA, EA, VAM, MAA www.rsgchemicals.com food flavours; plastic sacks and bags; human
Services: Petrochemicals trading and distri- Director: Hiren Gosalia health and pharma products
bution; bonded product re-export; profes- Products: Chlor-alkali; aromatics; glycols; fibre Services: Packaging and storage; picking
sional product knowledge; efficient logistics intermediates; solvents; polymers; methanol; and bulk; blending and dilutions; feed pig-
and delivery monomers; pigments and specialty chemicals ments production; animal vaccine produc-
Assets: Warehouses; trucks and tank trucks; (paints, coatings, inks, pharmaceuticals) tion; food flavour production; feed premixes
office building Services: Storage of bulk and drums; blend- production; techincal application support;
Trading Sales: 33% ing; packaging; tanks for leasing; logistics; total chemical management programmes;
marketing; customer centric ideology; techni- quality control
TELKO cal sales; sampling; just-in-time delivery; in- Assets: 13 warehouses in Latin America (Peru,
74 2021 SALES: $305.8M (€268.8M) ventory management and risk management Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico); 8
Espoo, Finland for commodity price and foreign exchange production facilities; 8 quality control labs; 5
www.telko.com Assets: 8 offices across India; over 45,000 application labs
CEO: Mikko Pasanen square feet of warehouse space; 2 drumming Trading Sales: 2%
Products: Solvents; specialty chemicals; life lines; highly qualified and trained sales force
science chemicals; thermoplastics; engineer- Trading Sales: 40% NORKEM HOLDINGS
ing plastics; plastics additives; masterbatch- 77 2021 SALES: $301.6M
es; bioplastics; plastics machinery; industrial QUIMTIA Knutsford, Cheshire, UK
lubricants; marine lubricants; car chemicals 76 2021 SALES: $303M www.norkem.com
Services: Warehousing; packaging; custom- Peru and Argentina Group Managing Director: Alan Nicholson

SPECIAL REPORT
North American chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)
80 Min-Chem/Lawrason’s/CK 44.6 106 Brisco do Brasil 27 130 Arkem Kimya 6
Ingredients Group 107 Guangzhou Lifly Chemicals 26 131 HARKE Group 5.5
81 Ideal Chemical & Supply 43.6 108 Novasol Chemicals Group 25 132 Behn Meyer Group 4.8
82 Comet Chemical 43.2 109 Gadot Chemical Terminals 23.4 133 Cornelius Group 4.7
83 JNS-Smithchem 42.4 110 Jebsen & Jessen Group 22.8
134 Norkem Holdings 4.3
84 Acid Products 42 111 Seacole 22.6
85 PHT International 40.7 135 Bodo Moller Chemie 3.3
112 ChemCeed 22
86 Industrial Chemicals Corp 39.9 136 BDV Behrens 3.2
113 Redox 20.8
87 RAHN Group 38 137 DutCH2 3.1
114 Boehle Chemicals 20.5
88 Seeler Industries 37 138 Same Chemicals 2.8
115 Gulf Coast Chemical 19.1
89 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 36.4 116 Schibley Solvents & 18 139 Jobachem Group 2.5
90 BassTech International 36.3 Chemicals 140 Penpet Petrochemical 2.3
91 Connect Chemicals Group 36 117 SMA Collaboratives 17.9 Trading
92 Eagle Alcohol 36 118 Custom Chemical Services 15.6 141 Quimidroga 2.3
93 Producers Chemical 35.8 119 Faravelli 12.5 142 Quimdis 1.8
94 Mitsubishi Shoji Chemical 34.6 120 ProChema 12.3 143 KPL International 1.8
95 TZ Group 34.3 121 Classic Distributing 12 144 Arpadis Benelux 1.7
96 Chemical Strategies 32.5 Company
145 Aug. Hedinger 1.6
97 InterAtlas Chemical 32.3 122 Manuchar 11
146 Sinochem Plastics 1.5
98 RE Carroll 31.9 123 Lehmann & Voss 10.6
147 Lake 1.4
99 ECEM European Chemical 31.3 124 Snetor 9
148 Sunrise Group 1.3
Marketing 125 Metafrax Trading 8
100 ECHEMI Group 31 International 149 Nesstra Services 1.1
101 Montachem International 30.3 126 Biesterfeld 7.2 150 Life Supplies 1.1
102 CJ Chemicals 30 127 Nordmann, Rassmann 6.8 151 Eigenmann & Veronelli 1.1
103 Verquimica 30 128 Prakash Chemicals 6.8 152 Solventis 1.1
International
104 Gehring Montgomery 29 Note: Sales are in the specific region and may differ
129 Taj Al Mulook General 6.7 from total company slaes. Sales $1m and above are
105 DKSH Holding 28.5 Trading included
Products: Zinc oxide and zinc salts; man- ed brands and own production; application DISAN LATINOAMERICA
ganese compounds; copper salts; barium laboratory services for personal care, pig- 80 2021 SALES: $280.9M
carbonate; citric acid; potassium carbon- ments, food and textiles; microbiological lab- Colombia
ate and hydroxide; iodine salts; food chem- oratoriy services www.disanlatinoamerica.com/es
icals; pharmaceutical intermediates; feed Assets: 5 in-house logistics, manufacturing, CEO: Mateo Leon
chemicals R&D and application centers; more than Products: Chemical specialties; enzymes;
Services: Blending; packaging; manufactur- 115,000 square metres of surface; commer- additives; silicones; soluble and foliar fertiliz-
ing; liquid suspensions; liquid solutions cial network with presence in 16 countries ers; feed and food nutrition ingredients;
Assets: 12 locations worldwide chemical commodities; textile auxiliaries; vita-
SUPERIOR INDUSTRIAL mins; hydrocolloid systems; fragances
COMERCIAL QUIMICA 79 SOLUTIONS Services: Long-term relationships; reliable
78 MASSO 2021 SALES: $290M supply; specialised advisory; logistics efficien-
2021 SALES: $295.9M (€260.1M) Indianapolis, Indiana, US cy; one-stop shop portfolio
Barcelona, Spain www.relyonsuperior.com Assets: 16 warehouses; 14 R&D laboratories; 2
www.cqmasso.com President: Kurt Hettinga fertilizer premix plants; 1 natural gum systems
President and CEO: Isidro Masso Torello Products: Solvents; water-based cleaners; plant
Products: Pharmaceutical ingredients; cos- paint pre-treatment products; paint purge; Trading Sales: 100%
metics and related products; agricultural thinners; heat transfer fluids; pressroom
chemicals; food ingredients; technical poly- chemicals; fiberglass reinforcements; resins; KH CHEMICALS
mers; industrial colours; ceramics and con- catalysts; gel coats; corrosion inhibitors; sur- 81 2021 SALES: $275.3M (€242M)
struction materials; animal health ingredients; factants; plasticizers Zwijndrecht, Netherlands
home chemicals; garden and allotment prod- Services: Solvent recycling; blending; cus- www.khchemicals.com
ucts; environmental hygiene products; trans- tomer manufacturing; private labelling; waste Managing Director: Daan Doomen
port and energy additives; glass and environ- disposal; acetone replacement systems; ven- Products: Acrylates; acetates; alcohols; an-
ment materials; electronic chemicals; textile dor managed inventory; regulatory consult- hydrides; aromatics; chlorinated solvents; gly-
chemicals; paper chemicals ing; bulk and package delivery cols; glycol ethers; hydrocarbons; ketones;
Services: Manufacture, formulation and dis- Assets: 10 operating locations; 55 trucks; 150 monomers; oxo alcohols; plasticizers; propyl-
tribution of chemical specialties of represent- trailers; 250 bulk tanks; 55 blend tanks ene glycol ethers; vegetable oils

SPECIAL REPORT
Services: Trading; packaging; drumming; lo- North Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia; di- CEO: Franz Christ
gistics services verse truck fleet; multimodal distribution net- Products: Industrial chemicals (inorganics,
Trading Sales: 3% work; multiple bulk tanks; blend tanks organics, liquids and solids); ethanol; hygiene
Trading Sales: 15% and surface cleaning products; activated car-
GRUPO RNM bon; intermediates; high purity solvents and
82 2021 SALES: $273M (€240M) CHEMGROUP reagents; electronic grade chemicals; indus-
Vila Nova de Famalicao, Portugal 85 2021 SALES: $250M trial and automotive lubricants; marine and
www.grupornm.pt Cincinnati, Ohio, US aviation lubricants; automotive fluids; carcare
General Manager: Ricardo Machado www.chemgroup.com products; AdBlue; wastewater treatment
Products: Caustic soda; hydrogen peroxide; President and CEO: Marty Wehr chemicals; wastewater treatment installa-
sulphuric acid; hydrochloric acid; sodium hy- Products: Acids; alkalis; hydrogen peroxide; tions; plating solutions
pochloride; polymers (PE; PP; PVC; PS); sol- sodium hypochlorite; solvents and intermedi- Services: Storage; blending; mixing; packag-
vents; surfactants; silicones; sulphonic acid; ates; glycols; glycol ethers; amines; sur- ing; laboratory services; quality and control
SLES; AdBlue factants; alcohols; water treatment chemi- tests; waste management services; Optitank
Services: Storage of liquid and packaged cals; caustic; bleach; nitrogen products; white tank farm management by telemetry
products; blending; tailor-made packaging; oils; borates; lime; specialty chemicals includ- Assets: 8 dedicated sites for chemicals and
logistics and operations consulting ing gas-to-liquid (GTL) fluids and solvents hazardous waste handling; tank farms and
Assets: Logistics complex at Tarragona, Fa- Services: Chemical and inventory manage- warehouses for chemicals and hazardous
malicao, Santo Tirso, Madrid, Valencia, Carta- ment; blending; warehousing; technical and waste; blending; mixing and filling installa-
gena, Vigo, Lisboa with capacity of 50,000 safety training; customised billing tions; waste treatment installations; 57 road
tonnes for packed products and 8,000 cubic Assets: 10 warehouses with over 500,000 tankers and trucks for general cargo; 114 rail
metres for liquids; 5 tank terminals for liquid square feet; Over 2,000,000 gal bulk storage; tank cars
bulk; own fleet with 60 trucks; 55 cisterns; 65 28 tractors; 18 straight trucks; 38 trailers; 12
isotainers tankers BANG & BONSOMER
Trading Sales: 10% 89 2021 SALES: $238.9M (€210M)
KTM Helsinki, Finland
DONAUCHEM 86 2021 SALES: $243.6M www.bangbonsomer.com
83 2021 SALES: $253.4M (€222.7M) Istanbul, Turkey CEO: Mikko Teittinen
Vienna, Austria www.ktm.com.tr/en Products: Coatings; building materials; com-
www.donauchem.com CEO: Keyan Zulfikari posites; adhesives and sealants; polyure-
Member of the Board: Mathieu de Krassny Products: Polyolefins (PE, PP, PVC); oxo alco- thanes; beauty products; cleaning chemicals;
Products: Commodities and specialty chemi- hols; plasticizers; monomers; polyurethane food taste preparations; food functional prep-
cals used in food, pharmaceuticals, paints raw materials; solvents; TiO2; organic and in- arations; food ingredients; packaging; perfor-
and construction, cosmetics and detergents, organic chemicals mance polymers; environmental chemicals;
metal, printing, water treatment, customer Services: International marketing; logistics; oilfield chemicals
specific compositions packaging; storage; inventory management; VMI Services: Manufacturing; blending; R&D; ap-
Services: Mixing; blending; environmentally and JIT; blending; financing; risk management plication labs; warehousing
friendly consultancy and planning; technical Assets: Pan-European coverage and offices; Assets: Factories; warehouses; laboratories
consultancy; training sessions on safety and shore tanks and bulk storage facilities; numer-
the law; waste disposal; consultancy on ous warehouses covering Europe and Turkey; KPL INTERNATIONAL
chemical law and Reach truck fleet and road tankers 90 2021 SALES: $238.8M (RS17.8BN)
Assets: 12 warehouses Trading Sales: 30% New Delhi, India
Trading Sales: 40% www.kplintl.com
PROCHEMA Managing Director: Surinder Kumar Kak
COLONIAL CHEMICAL 87 2021 SALES: $242.1M Products: Bulk and essential chemicals; poly-
84 SOLUTIONS Vienna, Austria mers; paper and allied chemicals; specialty
2021 SALES: $250.4M www.prochema.com chemicals; paints and coatings chemicals; in-
Savannah, Georgia, US CEO: Werner Figlhuber dustrial and specialty gases; engineering con-
www.colonialchemicals.com Products: Additives and hardeners; acrylates sumables; Darjeeling teas
President: Rob Roberts IV and methacrylates; binders and resins; mono- Services: Development of markets for new
Products: Comprehensive line of organics, mers; organic acids; polymers and biopoly- products and applications; investment in val-
inorganics, aromatics, aliphatics, alcohols, mers; polyurethane feedstocks; flame retard- ue-added services such as repackaging facili-
acids, chlor-alkali, oleochemicals and special- ants; reactive diluents; UV curing monomers ties for greater market coverage; continuous
ty chemicals Services: Pan-European sales network; mar- market intelligence; technical and after-sales
Services: Bulk liquid transloading; AIB certi- ket research; financing; storage; supply chain support; sourcing from India, China and Mid-
fied food grade warehousing; kosher repack- management; deliveries to multinational cus- dle East; exports; procurement and auditing
aging facility; temperature controlled storage; tomers worldwide services; repackaging services; warehousing
on-site quality control and assurance labora- Assets: 15 sites in Europe and Asia and logistics; facilitating technical support for
tory services; repackaging of solvents and Trading Sales: 25% quality control; testing and plant audits
flammables; supply chain flexibility; on-time Assets: 11 warehouses; 2 bottling facilities for
delivery; logistics warehousing; exceptional THOMMEN-FURLER refrigerant and industrial gases; 8 wind tur-
customer service 88 2021 SALES: $241.2M (€212M) bines with generation capacity of 15.35MW;
Assets: Warehouse space located in Savan- Ruti bei Buren, Switzerland tea garden
nah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, www.thommen-furler.ch Trading Sales: 69.6%

Shutterstock
BARTON SOLVENTS South Carolina; Kansas City, Kansas; 50 www.propartners.ru
91 2021 SALES: $234M trucks; 85 iso containers CEOs: Gaurav Sood, Constantin Rzaev
Des Moines, Iowa, US Trading Sales: 10% Products: Polyolefins (thermoplastic poly-
www.barsol.com olefins, polyolefin elastomers); recycled
President: David Casten TAJ AL MULOOK polymers; PVC and polymer processing ad-
Products: Aliphatics; aromatics; alcohols; 93 GENERAL TRADING ditives; adhesives and bonding systems
glycol ethers; acetates; ketones; glycols; 2021 SALES: $222.5M (epoxy, polyurethane); solvents; MCAA;
epoxy resins; surfactants; distilled spirits; spe- Dubai, UAE water treatment chemicals; animal feed;
cialty chemicals; USP/NF pharmaceutical in- www.tajchem.com synthetic fibers; chemicals and blends for
gredients; oils; lubricants Chairman and CEO: Irfan Siddique Mulla the oil and gas industry; disinfection chemi-
Services: Custom packaging; custom blend- Products: Polyols; isocyanates; fabrics; PU cals; food ingredients; flexible packaging;
ing; delivery to customer job site; waste ser- hardeners; lubricant additives; synthetic base paints and construction chemicals; mining
vices; laboratory services oils; plastics (polymers); epoxy resins and chemicals
Assets: 7 stocking locations; 84 power units; hardeners; titanium dioxide; inorganic pig- Services: Blending; packaging; vendor man-
167 trailers ments; zinc dust; emulsion binders; food ad- aged inventory; international logistics; local
ditives; flavors; solvents; plasticizers; cellulose logistics; sourcing services; surveying servic-
SMC GLOBAL ethers; redispersible polymer powder es; market research; studying center
92 2021 SALES: $224M Services: Distribution in Middle East and Afri- Assets: 24 warehouses (rented); 1 owned
New York, New York, US ca; customised technical solutions; infinite warehouse
www.smc-global.com uptime; supply chain management Trading Sales: 15%
CEO: Adam Feldman Assets: Head office (Dubai branch); ware-
Products: CASE; oil and gas chemicals; water house in Umm al Quwain; TAM house (Saudi ANDINO CHEMICAL GROUP
treatment chemicals; electronic chemicals; Arabia branch) 95 2021 SALES: $215M
agricultural chemicals; mining chemicals; tex- Houston, Texas, US
tile chemicals CHEMPARTNERS www.andinochemical.com
Services: Tolling; trucking; financing 94 2021 SALES: $220.7M CEO: Peter Staartjes
Assets: Sites in San Angelo, Texas; Kershaw, Moscow, Russia Products: Alcohols; acids and lyes; solvents;

SPECIAL REPORT
Middle East and Africa chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)
1 Petrochem Middle East 1,318.7 26 Biesterfeld 47.3 53 EMSA Technologia Quimica 7.2
2 Snetor 1292 27 KH Chemicals 45.5 54 DYM Resources 6.3
3 Tricon Energy 1241 28 Montachem International 43.3 55 RAHN Group 6
4 Manuchar 437 29 Stavian Chemical 40.3 56 Unipex 5.9
5 Gadot Chemical Terminals 405.5 30 Jebsen & Jessen Group 36.4 57 Interallis Holdings 5.9
6 Solevo 359.3 31 Skystep Trading 36.2 58 Arpadis Benelux 5.7
7 Kolmar Group 292.1 32 Bodo Moller Chemie 32.7
59 Grolman Group 3.5
8 Ravago Chemicals 182 33 Pon Pure Chemicals Group 28.7
60 Life Supplies 3.4
9 Rakha Al Khaleej 182 34 El Fil International SAL 28
International Offshore 61 TOP Solvent 3.4
10 Taj Al Mulook General 178 35 BDV Behrens 27 62 NEO Chemical 3.3
Trading 36 Solventis 20.7 63 2M Group 3
11 Quimidroga 154.7 37 KLJ Resources 19 64 Same Chemicals 2.8
12 Omya 153.5 38 ECEM European Chemical 18.1 65 WISTEMA 2.4
13 Nesstra Services 131.3 Marketing
66 Thommen-Furler 2.3
14 Al Nahda International 131.2 39 Safic-Alcan 17
(Anichem Group) 67 Sunrise Group 2.2
40 RishiChem Mideast 15
15 Continental Industries 130 68 Lehmann & Voss 1.8
41 Newtrac Trading 15
Group 69 BloomchemAG 1.5
42 Grupo RNM 13.7
16 Transmare Chemie 129.6 70 Hawkins 1.2
43 Audiche Trading 13.1
17 Mitsubishi Shoji Chemical 124.7 71 Metafrax Trading 1.1
44 Arkem Kimya 11 International
18 Azelis 124
45 Norkem Holdings 9.9
19 Cellmark 109.8 72 PHT International 1.1
46 Barentz 9.7
20 Prakash Chemicals 87.7 73 Lavollee 1.1
International 47 Wego Chemical Group 9.2
74 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 1.1
21 ECHEMI Group 82.5 48 Penpet Petrochemical 9.1
Trading 75 Will & Co 1.1
22 Guangzhou Lifly Chemicals 72
49 DutCH2 8.9 76 Kemat 1.1
23 Linkers Chemicals and 57.9
Polymers 50 Sinochem Plastics 8.5 77 SolvChem 1
24 Venus Chemicals Group 56.3 51 Grup Barcelonesa 8.5 Note: Sales are in the specific region and may differ
25 Kale Kimya 50 52 Quimdis 7.8 included
mining specialties; food and feed specialties; HARKE GROUP www.revada-group.com

oil and gas chemicals 97 2021 SALES: $209.9M (€184.5M) CEO: Vasiliy Cherenkov
Services: Sourcing and procurement; bulk Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany Products: Chemical raw materials
chemical marine transportation and storage; www.harke.com Services: Supply chain
last mile delivery services President: Thorsten Harke Assets: 14,500 square metres total space; up
Assets: Bulk chemical marine terminal in Tux- Products: Home care and I&I chemicals; to 30,000 EUR-pallets; 2 areas with mobile
pan, Mexico coatings; electronics/high purity chemicals; shelves; 12 multifunctional loading docks;
Trading Sales: 21% food ingredients; health and functional food 2x35 square metres low-temperature con-
ingredients; industrial chemicals; cosmetics/ trolled area; 10-layers storage; 30% of total
TRANSMARE CHEMIE personal care ingredients; pharmaceutical space could be used for ADR products; area
96 2021 SALES: $212.6M (€186.8M) excipients; plastics; rubber chemicals; spe- for flammable materials; 2 offices in Moscow
Antwerp, Belgium cialty plastic films; specialty chemicals; poly- (total about 1,200 square metres)
www.transmare.com mers; water soluble films; water treatment Trading Sales: 10%
CEO: Patrick Van Ende chemicals
Products: Chemicals and blends for the oil Services: Reformulation; development; regu- BANDEIRANTE QUIMICA
and gas industry; fine chemicals for health, latory advice; blending; mixing; contract en- 99 2021 SALES: $204M
personal care and home care as well as food capsulation; contract packaging; refilling; Maua, Sao Paulo, Brazil
and feed applications; industrial and high pu- sandblast gravure; pre-print www.bbquimica.com.br
rity solvents; chemicals and pigments for Assets: Warehouses in different European CEO: Carlos Eduardo Marin
paints and adhesives; reference fuels; plastics countries; 3 production sites (Germany, Hun- Products: Aromatics; aliphatic solvents; oxy-
additives gary, UK); 10 packaging and encapsulation genated solvents; ethanolamines; titanium
Services: Personalised blends and formula- lines; filling stations dioxide (TiO2); surfactants; specialty resins;
tion support; drumming; packaging Trading Sales: 10% carbon black; aromatics; tailor-made blends;
Assets: Class 2 storage facilities; 11 warehous- UV monomers/oligomers; household and per-
es (Antwerp, Hamburg, Singapore, Malaysia, REVADA GROUP sonal care chemicals; silicas; amines; agricul-
Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Kenya) 98 2021 SALES: $204.8M (€180M) tural chemicals; epoxy resins; glycols; mining
Trading Sales: 50% Moscow, Russia chemicals

SPECIAL REPORT
Services: Blending; formulation; technical as- fragrances; plant extracts; feed additives; Managing Partners: Gerard de Waal, Willem
sistance; storage; packaging food additives; natural products Augustinus
Assets: 5 branches; 102 tanks; 3 warehouses; Services: Customising; global supply chain; Products: Specialty chemicals and raw materi-
truck fleet; 2 laboratories; 3,500 intermediate storage als for coatings, inks, plastics, rubber, adhesives,
bulk containers (IBCs) Assets: 13 offices worldwide; several ware- sealants, construction, personal care, food,
houses worldwide feed, pharmaceuticals and other applications
JULIUS HOESCH Trading Sales: 10% Services: Technical sales and marketing;
100 2021 SALES: $202.6M (€178.1M) local and central stockholding; sampling
Duren, Germany GRUP BARCELONESA Assets: Offices and warehouses in 9 Europe-
www.julius-hoesch.de 104 2021 SALES: $182.7M (€160.6M) an countries
CEOs: Gisela Braun, Stephan Andreas Barcelona, Spain Trading Sales: 10%
Products: Solvents; acids; leaches; sur- www.grupbarcelonesa.com
factants; chelating agents; preservatives; CEOs: Albert Collell, Enric Collell WWRC HOLDING
plasticizers; defoamers; silicones; emulsifiers; Products: Formulated and tailor-made 107 2021 SALES: $179.3M
polymers; cosmetic additives; solids; water blends for food and feed; food and feed addi- Singapore
treatment chemicals; special fuel tives; agrochemicals and micronutrients; spe- www.wwrc.com
Services: Blending; toll production; applica- cialty additives for oil drilling and completion; CEO: Teoh Weng Chai
tion support; regulatory support; product de- mining chemicals; resins; curing agents and Products: Resins/intermediates; additives/
velopment; laboratory services; labelling; composites; metalworking formulations; spe- catalysts; pigments/fillers/extenders; other
safety data sheets; formulation; customised cialties and commodities for detergents, dis- chemicals/solvents; grinding media
packaging sizes infection, home care, personal care and phar- Services: Technical service; storage; delivery
Assets: 86,000 square metres of production maceuticals; textiles and leather chemicals; Assets: 8 warehouses
and warehouse space; laboratory; own logis- materials for coatings, inks, adhesives, con-
tics service provider struction, lubricants and paper; pool chemi- BODO MOLLER CHEMIE
Trading Sales: 15.6% cals; environmental services chemicals; poly- 108 2021 SALES: $178.5M (€156.9M)
ols and polyurethanes; chlor-alkalis; acids and Offenbach am Main, Germany
SELECTCHEMIE bases; metallic salts; solvents; amines; gly- www.bm-chemie.com
101 2021 SALES: $201.8M (SWFR184M) cols; basic inorganic and organic chemicals Chairman of the Board : Frank Haug
Zurich, Switzerland Services: Blending and formulating; custom Products: Adhesives and bonding systems
www.selectchemie.com and toll manufacturing; contract manufactur- (epoxy, polyurethane, MMA, hotmelts); seal-
CEO and Delegate of the Board of Direc- ing; labelling; drumming; packaging develop- ants; silicones; resins (basic, epoxy, alkyd,
tors: Oliver P Kuhn ment; technical assistance; environmental acrylic); casting and potting resins for elec-
Products: FDF (finished dosage forms, medi- assistance; VMI (telemetry); agency services; tronics (polyurethane, epoxy and silicone
cine); generics; pharmaceutical active sub- bond warehousing for third parties; full ser- based); hardeners and curing agents; com-
stances (APIs) (narcotics, antibiotics, cancer, vice in logistics; specialised warehousing for posites (resins, gelcoats, reinforcements);
CNS, CVS); pharmaceutical excipients; nutri- dangerous goods and transportation mould-making (boards, pastes, casting res-
tional ingredients Assets: Warehouses with palletised storage ins); additives for coatings (pigments, light
Services: Regulatory support; development capacity: 70,000 square metres, 56,000 pal- stabilisers, dispersing agents, thickeners); ad-
of generic dossiers; storage; lab trials lets located in Southwest Europe and North- ditives for plastics and rubber (pigments, sta-
Assets: 3 warehouses (Hamburg, Germany; ern Africa; distribution and sea tanks of 17,000 bilizers, masterbatches, stearates); additives
Zurich and Eiken, Switzerland) cubic metres; 3 trucks for lubricants (corrosion protection, antioxi-
Trading Sales: 20% dants, metal deactivators); chemicals and
GROLMAN GROUP dyes for textiles; packaging and labelling ad-
102 2021 SALES: $198M (€174M) DOLDER GROUP hesives; additive manufacturing
Neuss, Germany 105 2021 SALES: $182M (€160M) Services: Packaging; filling; testing; modifi-
www.grolman-group.com Basel, Switzerland cation; blending and formulating; education
Managing Directors: Dirk Grolman, Florian www.dolder.com and training; application labs for adhesives,
Grolman, Mike Dorsam CEO: Bruno Crippa coatings and textile chemistry
Products: Pigments and dyes; binders; Products: Plastic granules; special com- Assets: Headquarters in germany; affiliates in
additives; mineral fillers; performance ma- pounds; masterbatches; resins and binders; Europe, Africa, Asia and US; local warehous-
terials; personal care raw materials; active additives; inorganic chemicals; pigments; es; adhesive competence center and labora-
ingredients elastomers; crosslinkers; fillers; filter media; tory facilities; production plant for polymer
Services: Lab services filter systems formulations
Assets: Laboratories; warehouses Services: Laboratory services and analysis;
technical training; environmental services; NEO CHEMICAL
ATLANTIC CHEMICALS business intelligence; market share analysis; 109 2021 SALES: $175M
103 TRADING digital marketing; logistics services Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod,
2021 SALES: $193.4M (€170M) Assets: 80 employees; 7 subsidiaries Russia
Hamburg, Germany Trading Sales: 5% www.neochemical.ru
www.act.de General director/CEO: Vladimir Fedyushkin/
CEO: Ramin Ghaffari KEYSER & MACKAY Andrey Lipovetskiy
Products: Vitamins; amino acids; sweeten- 106 2021 SALES: $179.7M (€158M) Products: Epoxy resins; titanium dioxide; per-
ers; energy ingredients; sports nutrition ingre- Amsterdam, Netherlands oxide compounds; oil additives; food ingredi-
dients; preservatives; acidifiers; flavours and www.keysermackay.com ents; polyisobutylenes; silanes; hardeners;

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solvents; fuel additives; flame retardants; base ucts; Pigmentan (anti-corrosive environment ELTON GROUP
oils; 1-hexene; PVC additives; raw materials for friendly pigments); oilfield chemicals; spe- 113 2021 SALES: $172.4M (€151.5M)
cosmetics and household chemicals cialty personal care and cosmetics ingredi- Athens, Greece
Services: Packaging; storage; shipping ents; hydrocarbons and oxygenated solvents; www.elton-group.com
Assets: Wholesale warehouses in Russia – Niz- home care and I&I ingredients; pharmaceuti- CEO: Nestor Papathanasiou
hegorodskiy region, Dzerzhinsk, Lermontov cal excepients and APIs; precision cleaning Products: Industrial raw materials and spe-
Trading Sales: 62% solutions; wide range of environment friendly cialties for coatings, adhesives, construction,
solvents; phosphating chemicals (metal pre- detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals,
THE CHEMICAL COMPANY treatment) food, feed, beverages, water treatment, metal
110 2021 SALES: $174.7M Services: Blending; packing; storage; formu- treatment, PU systems, textiles, paper, agro-
Jamestown, Rhode Island, US lation and technical support with laboratory chemicals, rubber, plastics, refrigerants
www.thechemco.com facilities; sample management; techni- Services: Local warehousing; storage; full
President: Robb Roach cal, regulatory and legislative expertise; toll coverage of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ser-
Products: Plasticizers; acids; alcohols; oxo- blending; water treatment; pigment disper- bia, Turkey, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedo-
alcohols; agrochemicals; solvents; PVC/plas- sion; development and formulation nia, Cyprus and Ukraine; technical promotion
tic additives Assets: Application laboratories; warehous- and business development; inventory man-
Services: Global chemical sales and procure- ing in UK, Poland, Brazil, Nordics, Benelux; agement
ment; import/export; global warehousing; blending and storage facilities; own trucks Assets: 9 warehouses (four privately owned);
railcar management; transloading (tankers, storage tanks; 2 laboratories; privately owned
totes/drums) CONNECT CHEMICALS GROUP trucks and tank trucks
112 2021 SALES: $173M
2M GROUP Ratingen, Germany PENPET PETROCHEMICAL
111 2021 SALES: $173.2M www.connectchemicals.com 114 TRADING
Runcorn, Cheshire, UK CEOs: A Basar Karaca, Dirk Otmar 2021 SALES: $171M (€150.3M)
www.2m-holdings.com Products: Household and industrial care Hamburg, Germany
Chairman and CEO: Mottie Kessler chemicals; cosmetics and personal care ingre- www.penpet.com
Products: Triklone and Perklone; Samsol; dients; water treatment chemicals; lubricants Managing Directors: Christoph Meister, Tim
chlorine gas (cylinders and drums) for and metal working chemicals; paper chemi- Meister
water treatment and chemical synthesis; sur- cals; coatings, adhesives and sealants; plastics Products: Maleic anhydride; melamine;
factants/rheology modifiers; AdBlue (emis- Services: Custom manufacturing; produc- 2-ethylhexanol; DINP; n-butanol; isophthalic
sions reduction); aerospace approved prod- tion; storage; blending acid; isobutanol; butyl acetate; butyl acrylate;

Latin America chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)

1 Tricon Energy 1,878.4 27 Henry Hirschen 53.2 53 Ricardo Molina 5.5
2 Brenntag 1,075.1 28 Wego Chemical Group 52.4 54 Grupo RNM 5.5
3 Manuchar 741 29 Quelaris (now with IMCD) 52 55 Equilex 5.1
4 Snetor 720 30 ECHEMI Group 51.6 56 Arkem Kimya 5
5 Univar Solutions* 610 31 Carbono Quimica 51.4 57 Safic-Alcan 5
6 HELM 594.4 32 Biesterfeld 47.8 58 Grup Barcelonesa 4
7 MCassab 400 33 Morais de Castro Produtos 41 59 Same Chemicals 4

Quimicos 60 Metafrax Trading 3.4
8 IMCD 318
34 The Plaza Group 35 International
9 Montachem International 305.5
35 Guangzhou Lifly Chemicals 34.5 61 Harwick Standard 3.2
10 Quimtia 303 Distribution
36 Sulatlantica Importadora e 31
11 Disan Latinoamerica 280.9 Exportadora 62 WISTEMA 3.1
12 Jebsen & Jessen Group 250.3 37 Assuncao Distribuidora 26.2 63 SMA Collaboratives 3
13 Bandeirante Quimica 204 38 Brisco do Brasil 24 64 Sunrise Group 2.6
14 Indukern 200.2 39 ECEM European Chemical 21.6 65 Lehmann & Voss 2.5
Marketing 66 Hawkins 2.5
15 Kolmar Group 164
40 The Chemical Company 20.3 67 Penpet Petrochemical 2.3
16 Stavian Chemical 146
41 Mitsubishi Shoji Chemical 18.4 Trading
17 Continental Industries 140
42 DYM Resources 16.3 68 Taj Al Mulook General 2.2
Group
Trading
18 Petrochem Middle East 140 43 SolvChem 15
69 Solventis 1.7
19 Andino Chemical Group 120 44 Quimidroga 13.7
70 2M Group 1.7
20 Omya 109.7 45 DutCH2 12.7
71 TZ Group 1.4
21 Metachem Industrial e 96 46 Prakash Chemicals 11 72 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 1.1
Comercial International
73 Arpadis Benelux 1.1
22 Barentz 81.9 47 Sinochem Plastics 10
74 Lavollee 1.1
23 Solven Solventes e 79.8 48 Transmare Chemie 9.2
Quimicos 75 Mays Chemical 1
49 Tilley-Phoenix Group 9
76 RAHN Group 1
24 BDV Behrens 67.8 50 Nesstra Services 8.3
*Latin America and Asia
25 Skystep Trading 65.5 51 Norkem Holdings 6.5 Note: Sales are in the specific region and may differ
26 Cellmark 63.6 52 PHT International 6.2 included
trimethylolpropane; HHPA; sebacic acid; CEO: Laurent Abergel NOVASOL CHEMICALS GROUP
PMA; acetone; neopentylglycol Products: Solvents; glycols; isocyanates; 118 2021 SALES: $165M
Services: Storing; blending; repacking; polyols; acrylates and monomers; adipic acid; Brussels, Belgium
drumming HMD; HDO; BDO; specialty acrylates www.novasolchemicals.com
Trading Sales: 10% Services: Drumming ; blending CEO: Francois-Xavier Coiffard
Products: Resins and coatings; pharmaceuti-
RAINOLDI METAFRAX TRADING cal ingredients and agrochemicals; personal
115 2021 SALES: $170.6M (€150M) 117 INTERNATIONAL and hair care ingredients; construction chem-
Bergamo, Italy 2021 SALES: $170.6M (€150M) icals; industrial chemicals
www.rainoldi.it Lugano, Switzerland Services: Sourcing; tailor-made services;
President: Claudio Bombardieri www.metafraxtrading.com 98% OTIF delivery; local salesforce; flexible
Products: Industrial chemicals (acids; caus- Executive Director: Marina Sivkova packaging capabilities; filling and repacking
tic; solvents; solids); specialty chemicals for Products: Methanol; hexamine; pentaerythri- Trading Sales: 20%
industrial and home care, coatings, con- tol and dipentaerythritol (including micron-
struction, cleaning products; peracetic acid; ised grades); melamine; paraformaldehyde; FARAVELLI
textile auxiliaries; AdBlue; water treatment phthalic anhydride 119 2021 SALES: $158.4M (€139.2M)
chemicals Services: Storage of liquid and solid chemi- Milan, Italy
Services: Warehousing; blending; logistics cals; trans-shipment; blending; toll manufac- www.faravelligroup.com
Assets: 2 existing warehouses and new plant turing; warehousing; packaging; deliveries by CEO: Luca Benati
(60,000 square metres, 4,000 tonnes liquid vessel, rail container, truck and silo-truck Products: Chemicals and raw materials for
storage, 10,000 square metres covered) Assets: Head office in Switzerland; branch of- food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and indus-
fice in Austria; 2 manufacturing/warehousing trial applications
ARPADIS BENELUX sites in Russia, 1 in Austria; third party ware- Services: Logistics and storage; regulatory
116 2021 SALES: $170.6M (€150M) houses in Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain support; formulation support through our
Antwerp, Belgium and US labs; blending and repackaging
www.arpadis.com Trading Sales: 10% Assets: 1 production plant; 2 application labs;

SPECIAL REPORT
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14 warehouses worldwide Services: Storage; technical support; techni- PRIDE CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS
Trading Sales: 25% cal sales 123 2021 SALES: $153M
Trading Sales: 6% Holtsville, New York, US
RAHN GROUP www.pridesol.com
120 2021 SALES: $157M NESSTRA SERVICES President: Art Dhom Jr
Zurich, Switzerland 122 2021 SALES: $154.6M Products: Alcohols; amines; esters; glycols;
www.rahn-group.com Slough, Berkshire, UK glycol ethers; hydrocarbon solvents; ketones;
CEO: Marcel Gatti www.nesstra.com mineral oil; oleochemicals; petrolatum; plasti-
Products: Raw materials for inks, coatings CEO: Alwan Hitti cizers; silicones; sorbitol; surfactants; vegeta-
and adhesives; personal care ingredients; fla- Products: Polyurethane chemicals (polyols; ble oils
vours and fragrances; food ingredients TDI; MDI; additives); basic chemicals (calci- Services: NF USP kosher; repackaging; sol-
Services: Application support; R&D/custom- um carbonate, caustic soda, glycerine, hex- vent blending; DSP ethanol denaturing; flam-
ised products; regulatory affairs; guide formu- ane, hydrogen peroxide, methylene chloride, mable packaging
lations; international logistics; analytics MPG, sulphuric acid, titanium dioxide (TiO2), Assets: 3 warehouses; 500,000 gal bulk tank
Trading Sales: 50% toluene, xylene); polyurethane foam plants; farm; multiple tank trucks; tractor trailers and
cutting machines and spare parts; construc- box trucks
AEGEAN FIRST COMPANY tion, mining and electrical equipment and
121 (AFCO) consumables TILLMANNS
2021 SALES: $156M (€137.1M) Services: Storage and drumming of bulk 124 2021 SALES: $152.4M (€134M)
Athens, Greece chemicals; blending; technical support; sup- Milan, Italy
www.afco.gr ply chain management; maintenance www.tillmanns.it
President and CEO: Christos Spanos Assets: Tanks and warehouse space for stor- CEO: Stefano Vollmer
Products: Polymers; specialty chemicals; or- age of bulk and packaged chemicals in Rot- Products: Organic and inorganic pigments;
ganic and inorganic chemicals; pharmaceutical terdam, Netherlands binders; resins; waxes; preservatives; special-
ingredients; agrochemicals; food ingredients Trading Sales: 15% ty chemicals and additives for coatings, plas-

Europe chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)

1 Brenntag* 6,756.5 32 Gamma Chimica 311.7 61 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 153.6
2 HELM 3,457.3 33 Nortex 305.5 62 Tillmanns 152.4
3 Tricon Energy 2,161.8 34 Telko 285.1 63 Metafrax Trading 151.3
4 Univar Solutions* 1,971 35 Indukern 273 International
5 IMCD* 1,897 36 ECEM European Chemical 264.8 64 Haeffner 147.9
6 Stockmeier Holding 1,803.2 Marketing 65 IMPAG Group 147.9
7 Biesterfeld 1,460 37 Tennants Distribution 257.2 66 Algol Chemicals 147.9
8 Kolmar Group 1,312.9 38 Norkem Holdings 256.2 67 Arpadis Benelux 145.1
9 Azelis 1,277.6 39 Grupo RNM 253.9 68 Faravelli 144.1
10 Quimidroga 1,104.7 40 Donauchem 253.4 69 CSC Jaeklechemie 136.9
11 Barentz 1,068.3 41 Petrochem Middle East 243.7 70 NEO Chemical 134.5
12 Omya 877.4 42 KTM 243.6 71 STAUB & CO – SILBERMANN 132
13 TER Group 870.3 43 Thommen-Furler 238.9 72 Life Supplies 130.8
14 Hromatka Group 819.1 44 Bang & Bonsomer 238.9 73 Atalant 129
15 Solvadis Group 770 45 ProChema 229 74 Connect Chemicals Group 128
16 Safic-Alcan 740 46 ChemPartners 220.7 75 Ilario Ormezzano 126.5
17 Nordmann, Rassmann 568.8 47 Revada Group 204.8 76 Novasol Chemicals Group 122
18 Ravago Chemicals 541.5 48 HARKE Group 203.6 77 Bodo Moller Chemie 120.1
19 Eigenmann & Veronelli 510.8 49 Julius Hoesch 202.4 78 C.H. Erbsloeh Group 120
20 Snetor 484 50 Grolman Group 191.1 79 URAI 119.5
21 Lehmann & Voss 417.4 51 Cellmark 183.7 80 MOGoil 114.9
22 DKSH Holding 399.2 52 Dolder Group 182 81 Gadot Chemical Terminals 112.4
23 NAGASE & CO 371.7 53 KH Chemicals 180.9 82 Will & Co 112.1
24 Febo 352.7 54 Keyser & Mackay 179.7 83 Quimdis 109.1
25 Ruskhimset 350 55 ELTON Group 172.4 84 Unipex 107.3
26 Jebsen & Jessen Group 342.4 56 Rainoldi 170.6 85 CHIMPEX Industriale 105
27 KRAHN Chemie 341.3 57 Grup Barcelonesa 165.6 86 Wego Chemical Group 104.8
28 Arkem Kimya 340 58 2M Group 161.8 87 Chem International (Chem 103.4
29 United Trading System 340 Trading, Chem Distribution)
59 Aegean First Company 156
(UTS/ETC) (AFCO) 88 RAHN Group 99
30 HSH Chemie 327.6 60 Penpet Petrochemical 153.9 89 Same Chemicals 93.9
31 Solventis 317.2 Trading 90 Manuchar 89
tics, adhesives and construction chemicals; ing of hazardous goods; just-in-time-delivery ALGOL CHEMICALS
specialty chemicals for water treatment; func- and application advice by highly skilled tech- 127 2021 SALES: $147.9M (€130M)
tional additives and ingredients for food and nical sales team; single sourcing Espoo, Finland
feed; specialty casings and packaging for Assets: 6 facilities across Europe with tank www.algolchemicals.com
food applications farm for acids, lyes, solvents and hazard anal- CEO: Kalle Kettunen
Services: Technical expertise and field ser- ysis and critical control points (HACCP); filling Products: Chemicals for life sciences, food,
vice; marketing; product formulation and and blending area; 1 laboratory; 30 trucks feed, coatings, construction, roads, rubber,
blending; custom packaging; product devel- Trading Sales: 10% plastics, adhesives, metal treatment, water
opment and testing in own laboratory; green treatment, environmental
chemistry product solutions; warehousing and IMPAG GROUP Services: Packaging; toll manufacturing; bulk
supply chain management; vendor managed 126 2021 SALES: $147.9M (€130M) breaking; tailor-made products; mixing;
inventory; fire class 4.1 category certification Zurich, Switzerland HSEQ
for storage of highly flammable products www.impag.com/www.impag.ch Assets: Warehouses; production plants
CEO: Remo Bernardi
HAEFFNER Products: Coatings additives; anhydrides; PRAKASH CHEMICALS
125 2021 SALES: $147.9M (€130M) acrylates; polyols; flame retardants; polyure- 128 INTERNATIONAL
Asperg, Germany thanes; green solvents; detergents; base 2021 SALES: $140.6M
www.hugohaeffner.com chemicals; cosmetic functionals and active Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
CEOs: Jurgen Martin, Thomas Dassler ingredients; food ingredients; pharmaceuti- www.pciplindia.com
Products: Water treatment chemicals; paints, cal/APIs; oleochemicals Managing Director: Manish K Shah
ink, coatings, adhesive and resin additives; Services: Global logistics; global sourcing; Products: Caustic soda flakes; TDI; benzyl al-
paint, textile and leather auxiliaries; food addi- storage; technical support; regulatory sup- cohol; ethyl acetate; sodium sulphate anhy-
tives; feed additives; metal treatment chemi- port; financing; packaging drous; cinnamic aldehyde; SLES; chlorinated
cals; household and personal care ingredi- Assets: 6 sales offices across Europe; 1 tank paraffin wax; benzyl chloride; liquid glucose;
ents; lubricant additives farm for liquid goods; filling line for chemicals; DEP; dextrose monohydrate; hydrochloric
Services: Mixing; blending and formulating; own applications lab acid; white oil; hydrogen peroxide; color
repackaging; contract packaging; warehous- Trading Sales: 20% speckles; liquid chlorine

SPECIAL REPORT
Europe chemical distribution leaders (2021 sales, $m)
91 Montachem International 88.7 121 Eurosyn 41.9 151 Sinochem Plastics 18
92 POLYSTYLEX 87.9 122 Stavian Chemical 40.5 152 Prakash Chemicals 17
93 Opes International 86.5 123 Kadion 38.7 International
94 Newport Industries 85.4 124 MY-CHEM 37.5 153 Biachem 17
95 Meade-King, Robinson & Co 83.7 125 Barrettine Holdings 35.8 154 Tecnosintesi 16.9
96 Lavollee 83 126 Monarch Chemicals 35.2 155 DutCH2 16.8
97 ECHEMI Group 80.3 127 SIP Speciality Oils and 35 156 BloomchemAG 16.1
98 Kale Kimya 80 Fluids
157 Nesstra Services 13.4
99 Aug. Hedinger 79.6 128 ANTALA 34.9
158 Chemcom 12.6
100 Behn Meyer Group 77.7 129 Attilio Carmagnani 34
159 A-Gas Electronic Materials 11
101 EMSA Technologia Quimica 73.6 130 GB-Chemie 32.7
160 BDV Behrens 9
102 Airedale Group 72.4 131 CB Chemie 31.7
103 Continental Industries 70 161 Taj Al Mulook General 8.9
132 Jaber 31.4
Group Trading
133 Lake 31.1
104 Rakha Al Khaleej 69.6 162 Skystep Trading 7.1
134 Lumar Quimica 30.7
International 163 The Chemical Company 6.6
135 WhitChem 27.5
105 Guangzhou Lifly Chemicals 66 164 BassTech International 5.3
106 National Chemical 65.6 136 Resource Chemical 27.1
165 Transmare Chemie 4.2
107 PHT International 65 137 Kemat 25.8
138 Mitsubishi Shoji Chemical 25.7 166 KPL International 4.1
108 Interallis Holdings 59.3
139 Cor Quimica 25.7 167 Sunrise Group 3.7
109 Jobachem Group 55.4
140 Polyhimkomplekt-M 24.7 168 Saconix 3
110 Ricardo Molina 54.5
111 Stera Chemicals 51.2 141 Alliance-Energy 23.9 169 Hawkins 2.5
112 Tilley-Phoenix Group 50.9 142 Prime Surfactants 23.6 170 Rierden Chemical 2.5
113 WISTEMA 50.3 143 Comercial Godo 22.8 171 Sea-Land Chemical 2.5
114 Solvachem 48.2 144 Stort Chemicals 22.5 172 SolvChem 1.5
115 Drogas Vigo Group 47.7 145 CFI World 22.3 173 SMA Collaboratives 1.4
116 Milano Colori 47 146 Comindex 22.2 174 Pon Pure Chemicals Group 1.1
117 Sinpro 45.5 147 Shrieve Chemical 22 175 Independent Chemical 1
118 Cornelius Group 44.6 148 The White Sea & Baltic Co 20.1 *EMEA = Europe, Middle East & Africa
119 Equilex 44.5 149 DYM Resources 20 Note: Sales are in the specific region and may differ
120 A.+ E. Fischer-Chemie 42.1 150 Klaus F. Meyer 19.3 included
Services: Blending; packaging; storage; la- Assets: Storing, filling and trans-shipment PHT INTERNATIONAL
belling; logistics and supply chain service, ex- site; 2 warehouse laboratories for quality as- 132 2021 SALES: $132.7M
works to DDP; quality assurance; inspection; surance; 6 tank wagons for chemicals; 5 Charlotte, North Carolina, US
country specific documents compliance; trucks; 26 company vehicles www.phtinternational.com
Reach registration; FAMI-QS certification; ISO CEO: Andreas Winterfeldt
9001:2015; ISO 14001:2015 LIFE SUPPLIES Products: Pharmaceutical ingredients; agro-
Assets: 2 manufacturing plants; 1 R&D lab; 3 130 2021 SALES: $136.5M (€120M) chemicals; electronic chemicals; consuma-
warehouses; 4 fully owned subsidiaries out- Olen, Belgium ble/personal care chemicals; textile chemi-
side India www.life-supplies.com cals; construction chemicals
Trading Sales: 100% Managing Director: Chantal Voets Services: CDMO, CRO; quality control and
Products: Additives for animal nutrition and regulatory support; green chemistry; flow
CSC JAEKLECHEMIE human food chemistry; procurement; logistics
129 2021 SALES: $138.8M (€122M) Assets: PHT pharmaceutical – CDMO; PHT
Nuremberg, Germany GREENCHEM technology – CRO; samples lab; import/ex-
www.csc-jaekle.de 131 INDUSTRIES port offices in China; procurement team in
President/CEO: Robert Spaeth/Michael 2021 SALES: $135M China; global administrative offices and sales
Spehr West Palm Beach, Florida, US representatives
Products: Acids; alkaline solutions; solids; www.greenchemindustries.com
specialties; coatings, adhesives and sealants CEO: John Lagae AL NAHDA INTERNATIONAL
raw materials; high quality industrial parts Products: Acetates; acids; acrylates; alco- 133 (ANICHEM GROUP)
cleaning chemicals; life science chemicals; hols; amines; aromatics; chlorinated solvents; 2021 SALES: $132.3M
water and environment chemicals glycols; glycol ethers; ketones; nonyl phenols; Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Services: Technical expertise and field ser- plasticizers; voc exempt solvents www.alnahda.group
vice; warehouse distribution; direct distribu- Services: Logistics/transportation; ware- Group Managing Director: TR Vijayan
tion; inventory management; blending and housing; import/export; re-packaging; small Products: Solvents; acetates; acrylates; alco-
repackaging; proper disposal of chemical packaging; ecommerce hols; aromatics; cellulose ethers; coating ad-
wastes; worldwide shipment; trucking Assets: 35 public warehouses ditives; glycols; pigments; polymer emul-

SPECIAL REPORT
Alamy
sions; thinners; ethanol; IPA; LABSA Products: Detergent additives; disinfectant President and CEO: Giancarlo Ormezzano
Services: Terminal storage for bulk liquid and protection chemicals; emulsifiers; poly- Products: Solvents; phenol; acrylates; base
chemicals; drumming facility; 3PL warehous- mers; surfactants; pool chemicals; actives chemicals; pharmaceutical intermediates; hy-
ing; custom blending and antioxidants; paints; oils and esters; con- drocarbons; cosmetic ingredients; acids
Assets: 25,000 cubic metre tank terminal ditioners; protectives; perfume; silicones; UV Services: Storage of liquid and solid prod-
with dedicated berth access (<500m away) at filters; fatty alcohols; adhesives ucts; storage for third parties; blending; cus-
the Jebel Ali port; 12 warehouses; 4 produc- Services: Storage; transport; production; tomised handling (packaging, mixing, filling
tion facilities (including a 15,000 tonne sul- blending; packaging and labelling); quality control; technical after
phonation plant); 3 laboratories Assets: Warehouses; trucks; production facil- sales support; Reach support
ity; laboratories; packaging facility; bulk stor- Assets: 2 owned warehouses with a total of
STAUB & CO – SILBERMANN age facility 85,000 square metres and a storage capacity
134 2021 SALES: $132M (€116M) Trading Sales: 30% for liquid products of more than 7,000 cubic
Nuremberg, Germany metres; 1 warehouse for rent; 3 offices; 2 labo-
www.staub-silbermann.de ATALANT EUROPE ratories; 5 trucks
Managing Directors: Andreas Frank, Peter 136 2021 SALES: $129.0M (€113.4M)
Stockmeier San Vicente del Raspeig, SEA-LAND CHEMICAL
Products: Industrial and specialty chemicals; Alicante, Spain 138 2021 SALES: $125.5M
acids and lyes; solvents; solid chemicals; www.atalant.com Westlake, Ohio, US
cleaning agents; products for food/feed/phar- CEO: Efren Carbonell Sirvent www.sealandchem.com
ma/cosmetics; water treatment chemicals; Products: Polyethylene; polypropylene; PVC; President and CEO: Jennifer Altstadt
thermal transfer agents; ammonium; AdBlue PS; PA Products: Specialty amines; biocides/pre-
Services: Storage; mixing; blending; filling; Services: Logistics; financing; market infor- servatives; corrosion inhibitors; esters; fatty
packaging; polymerisation mation; polymers supply by contract acids; surfactants; extreme pressure addi-
Assets: 2 warehouses; 20 trucks Assets: Warehouses; trucks; silo trucks; con- tives; chelating agents; lubricity aides; antioxi-
Trading Sales: 30% tainers dants; sodium sulfonates; poly alpha olefins;
Trading Sales: 15% normal alpha olefins; rheology modifiers; in-
KALE KIMYA dustrial and transportation lubricants and ad-
135 2021 SALES: $130M ILARIO ORMEZZANO ditives
Istanbul, Turkey 137 2021 SALES: $126.5M (€111.2M) Services: Warehousing; repackaging; prod-
www.kalekimya.com Gaglianico, Biella, Italy uct sourcing; market development; technical
President: Birgen Kaleagasi www.ilarioormezzano.it expertise; laboratory testing; domestic and

SPECIAL REPORT
international logistics; small package to bulk ents; food ingredients; laboratory equipment solutions; global sourcing; financing; quality
deliveries; consolidation of orders; regulatory Services: Technical sales and marketing; ap- managment
support plication development; quality assurance; Assets: Sales offices in Brazil, Mexico and US
Assets: 9 warehouse locations in North warehousing; regulatory services; formulation Trading Sales: 100%
America and Europe; 6 repackaging facilities; support; supply chain management; after
1 testing laboratory sales services; repacking; blending UNIPEX
Assets: Office building; application and qual- 147 2021 SALES: $114.3M (€100.5M)
QUIMDIS ity control laboratories: warehouse France
139 2021 SALES: $123.7M (€108.7M) www.unipex.com
Levallois-Perret, France SKYSTEP TRADING President and CEO: Patrice Barthelmes
www.quimdis.com 143 2021 SALES: $119.3M Products: Active and functional personal
President and Managing Director: Benoit Limassol, Cyprus care ingredients; active pharmaceutical ingre-
Fritz www.skystep.eu dients (APIs) and excipients; enzymes; amino
Products: Raw materials for food and feed, Director: Oksana Spyrou acids; lactose; sweetneers; sugar; starch; fib-
nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and veteri- Products: Acrylates; oxo-alcohols; sulphur; ers; plasticizers; surfactants; additives; sili-
nary, flavours and fragrances, and cosmetics sodium tripolyphosphate; soda ash; sodium cones; titanium dioxide (TiO2); dyes and pig-
industries; full range of ingredients of chemi- sulphate; caustic soda; potassium hydroxide; ments; sports grounds polymers and resins
cal or natural origin potassium carbonate; potassium sulphate; Services: Tailored services; technical exper-
Services: Sourcing; specific regulatory and sodium lignosulphonates; chromium com- tise; formulation assistance; repackaging;
documentation departments pounds; acetone; methylene chloride; rub- storage; CSR; regulatory monitoring; quality
Assets: 35 years of experience; expert teams; bers; phenol; isopropyl alcohol control; ISO, analytical reference standards
logistics and quality departments Services: Sales and marketing; financing; ex- Assets: 2 warehouses
Trading Sales: 57% tensive technical and customer support; lo- Trading Sales: 5%
gistics and documentation; transportation
TANNER INDUSTRIES and forwarding of dry and tank containers; SACONIX
140 2021 SALES: $121.5M bulk shipping; handling; storage and invento- 148 2021 SALES: $114M
Southampton, Pennsylvania, US ry management Roswell, Georgia, US
www.tannerind.com Assets: 2 offices in Limassol, Cyprus www.saconix.com
President and CEO: Brad Tanner Trading Sales: 80% CEO: Wes Martin
Products: Anhydrous ammonia; aqua ammo- Products: Sulphuric acid; hydrochloric acid;
nia; urea solutions WHITAKER OIL caustic soda
Services: Storage; pump out services; tank 144 2021 SALES: $117.6M Services: Marketing; logistics; procurement;
maintenance; safety training Atlanta, Georgia, US supply chain; storage; transloading
Assets: 13 distribution locations; full fleet of www.whitakeroil.com Assets: Sites in Dunphy and Carlin, Nevada;
tractors and trailers; highly trained drivers Charirman and CEO: Bart Whitaker Etter and Beaumont, Texas; Sucarnoochee,
Products: Solvents; resins; process oils; alco- Mississippi; and Brake, Germany
C.H. ERBSLOEH GROUP hols and ketones
141 2021 SALES: $120.9M (€106.3M) Services: Packaging; trucking; blending; WILL & CO
Krefeld, Germany warehousing 149 2021 SALES: $113.2M (€99.5M)
www.cherbsloeh.com Assets: Large 3m gal facilities in Atlanta, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
CEO: Christopher Erbsloh Georgia; facility in Ocoee, Florida (Orlando); www.will-co.eu
Products: Specialty chemicals for coatings, 150,000 square foot warehouse in Spartan- Managing Director: Jacques van Lindonk
adhesives, construction, lubricants, pharma- burg, South Carolina Products: 1,4-butanediol and derivatives
ceutical, cosmetics, personal and home care, (THF; GBL); bio-succinic acid; plasticizers and
rubber, plastics, electronics, water treatment, MOGOIL flame retardants; pigments; proteins; cosmet-
food and beverage 145 2021 SALES: $114.9M (€101M) ic and personal care ingredients; coatings res-
Services: Technical sales and marketing; ap- Berlin, Germany ins and additives; bio-based solvents and
plication development; analytical testing and www.mogoil.com binders; impact modifiers for plastics; foam-
quality control; warehousing; regulatory ser- Managing Director: Miroslav Pribyl ing agents for plastics; additive masterbatch-
vices; supply chain management; after sales Products: Base oils; process oils; low-vis oils; es; sulfamic acid; ferric chloride; engineering
services slackwaxes; white oils; rubber processing oils plastics and compounds
Assets: 11 office locations; application and Services: Storage; customs clearance; logis- Services: Storage management; logistics
quality control laboratories; fully owned and tics; financing management; sales and marketing
operated warehousing and tank farm Trading Sales: 35% Trading Sales: 10%
URAI BDV BEHRENS MAYS CHEMICAL

142 2021 SALES: $119.5M (€105M) 146 2021 SALES: $114.5M (€100.6M) 150 2021 SALES: $107M
Assago, Milan, Italy Hamburg, Germany Indianapolis, Indiana, US
www.urai.it www.bdv-behrens.de www.mayschem.com
President and CEO: Roberto Giuliani Managing Partner: Raul Valente President: Kristin Mays-Corbitt
Products: Specialty chemicals; pigments; ad- Products: Industrial chemicals; pharmaceuti- Products: Acidulents; alkalis; citrates; hu-
ditives; resins; paints and coatings chemicals; cal ingredients; food and feed chemicals; mectants; flavours; gums; salts; glycerine; gly-
plastic and rubber chemicals; lubricant chem- paper and packaging chemicals cols; phosphates; solvents; stearates; sur-
icals; personal care and cosmetics ingredi- Services: International trade; supply chain factants; sorbates;

Shutterstock
Services: Shipping; warehousing; liquid and tical ingredients; surfactants; silicones; metal CLEARTECH INDUSTRIES
dry blending; repacking; reformulation working fluids; chloro-alkali; oils; lubicants; 154 2021 SALES: $104.3M
Assets: 2 warehouses; 1 warehouse/blending plasticizers; fine chemicals Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
facility; 5 liquid tank trucks; 2 liquid tank trail- Services: Blending; packaging; transporta- Canada
ers; 14 forklifts/related equipment tion; solvent distillation and purification; www.cleartech.ca
technical support; safety and environmental President: Randy Bracewell
WEBB CHEMICAL SERVICE consulting Products: Water treatment chemicals;
151 2021 SALES: $106M Assets: Multiple locations; large bulk storage caustic soda; hydrochloric acid; chlorine;
Muskegon Heights, Michigan, facilities; large fleet of trucks and trailers; chem- sodium hypochlorite; coagulants; floccu-
US solv.com and chemisphere.com websites lants; acids; alkalis; sulfites; defoamers; acti-
www.webbchemical.com vated carbon; phosphates; surfactants;
CEO: Brad Hilleary CHIMPEX INDUSTRIALE chemical feed systems
Products: Organic solvents; inorganics; 153 2021 SALES: $105M (€92.3M) Services: Blending; packaging; transloading;
chlor-alkali; acids; surfactants; aromatics; ali- Pascarola, Caivano, Italy storage
phatics; ethanolomines; alcohols www.chimpex.it Assets: 10 buildings in 7 cities across Canada
Services: Blending; inventory management; President: Salvatore Romano; CEO: Rossella
on-time delivery Romano HARWICK STANDARD
Assets: 40 tankers; 6 warehouses; 25 bulk Products: Resins; gelcoats; base chemicals; 155 DISTRIBUTION
tanks; 100 customer focused employees; water treatment; solvents; composite materi- 2021 SALES: $103.9M
company owned fleet and drivers als; detergents and cosmetics ingredients; Akron, Ohio, US
food additives; AdBlue www.harwick.com
CHEMSOLV Services: Infusion systems; re-packaging; di- President and CEO: Ernie Pouttu
152 2021 SALES: $105M lutions; mixing; laboratory services; kit for in- Products: Polymers; rubber chemicals; plasti-
Roanoke, Virginia, US fusion systems; personalised gelcoats; prod- cizers; process oils; flame retardants; activa-
www.chemsolv.com uct development tors; chemical and colour dispersions; pro-
President: Jamison G Austin Assets: 3 warehouses in Italy – Naples, Bari, cessing aids; organic peroxides; resins;
Products: Organic and inorganic solvents Parma vulcanising agents; colourants; adhesives;
and chemical products; food and pharmaceu- Trading Sales: 40% stabilizers; dry liquid concentrates

YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN CONCIERGE
thechemco.com
401.360.2800
SPECIAL REPORT
Shutterstock
Services: Warehousing; bulk break; logistics; Services: Logistics support; intermodal solu- struction, metalworking, textiles, lubricants,
storage; import; export; technical support; tions; warehousing; storage; customised ser- household cleaning, industrial cleaning, water
regulatory support vices and solutions; technical support treatment, oil and gas, food and beverage,
Assets: 2 company owned warehouses; 7 feed, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics
public warehouses. ASTRO CHEMICALS and personal care products
Trading Sales: 5% 158 2021 SALES: $100M Services: Marketing; logistics; technical ser-
Springfield, Massachusetts, US vices; custom manufacturing; blending; con-
SAME CHEMICALS www.astrochemicals.com tract packaging
156 2021 SALES: $103.5M (€91M) President: Chris Diamond Assets: 1 office building; 3 company vehicles
Barendrecht, Netherlands Products: Solvents; chlor-alkali; pharmaceu- Trading Sales: 32%
www.samechemicals.com tical-grade chemicals; food-grade chemicals;
Managing Director: Cees-Jan Crezee adhesives; activated carbon; water treatment SHANGHAI SAIFU CHEMICAL
Products: Styrene; acrylates; glycols; aromat- chemicals; wastewater treatment chemicals; 160 DEVELOPMENT
ics; de-aromatised solvents; glycol ethers; ke- mineral oils and petrolatums; acetates; heat 2021 SALES: $98.8M (CNY628M)
tones; alcohols; plasticizers; DCPD transfer fluids; alcohols; citrates; phosphates; Shanghai, China
Services: Trading; salvage trading; inventory silicates www.saifu.cn
stock management; warehousing; blending Services: Blending; packaging; storage; lo- President/CEO: Feng Yimin
Assets: Offices in the Netherlands, Denmark gistics Products: Home and personal care chemi-
and Poland Assets: 2 warehouses; 15 trucks; 5 tankers; 13 cals; emulsions for polymerisation; paint and
Trading Sales: 10% storage tanks of 12,500 gal; 10 positions for ink materials; industrial and household clean-
rail unloading ing chemicals
CHEM INTERNATIONAL Services: Raw material purchasing and sup-
157 2021 SALES: $103.4M TRINTERNATIONAL ply; distribution; logistics; marketing and
Warsaw, Poland 159 2021 SALES: $99M sales; technical services
www.chem.international Edmonds, Washington, US Assets: 1 technical application centre; 4 size-
CEO: Cezary Mielczarek; Board Member: www.trichemicals.com able storage bases
Paweł Tomaszkiewicz CEO and Owner: Megan E Gluth-Bohan
Products: VAM; styrene monomer; IPA; BA; Products: Industrial, specialty and fine chem- MILES CHEMICAL COMPANY
phenol; glycols; solvents; anhydrides; poly- icals for paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, 161 2021 SALES: $98.6M
mers; EPS; caustic soda inks and dyes, polymers, composites, con- California, US

SPECIAL REPORT
Assets: 9 trucks; 24 trailers; 15 tankers
www.mileschemical.com gas chemicals; metal finishing and flux chemi-
CEO: Michael Miles cals; phosphates; mineral acids UNION PETROCHEMICAL
Products: Acids; esters; lubricants; adhesives Services: Logistics; importing; inventory 169 2021 SALES: $95M
& sealants; fatty chemicals; pigments; alco- management; supply chain solutions; repack- Bangkok, Thailand
hols; flavours & fragrances; plasticizers; alde- aging; dilutions; blending; outsourcing unionpetrochemical.com
hydes; food additives; polyglycols; amines; Assets: 12 stocking locations nationwide; Managing Director: Perapol Suwannapasri
glycol ethers; resins; catalysts; hydrogen per- strategic deep draft storage Products: Alcohols; aromatics; esters; gly-
oxide; solvents; chelating agents; industrial cols; gylcol ethers; hyrocarbon solvents; ke-
gases; specialty quats; chlor-alkali; inorganics; TCR INDUSTRIES tones; monomers; PP and PE
surfactants; chlorinated solvents; institutional 165 2021 SALES: $96M Services: Blending; packaging; repackaging;
maintenance; thickening agents; ketones La Palma, California, US storage; delivery; inventory management
Services: Manufacturing; blending; contract www.tcrindustries.com Assets: 7 warehouses; 35 trucks
packaging; solvent reclamation; technical President and CEO: Gary Glaviano
training; safety training; hazardous waste re- Products: Chemicals for paints, coatings, AUG. HEDINGER
moval; customer product research; 3PL (third plastics, inks, composites, building materials, 170 2021 SALES: $91.7M (€80.6M)
party logistics) warehousing food, personal care, nutritional, nutraceuti- Stuttgart, Germany
Assets: Total estimated bulk storage capaci- cals, wine and beverage www.hedinger.de
ty 1,390,000 gal; total estimated warehouse CEO: Johann-Ludwig Raiser
space 470;000 square feet; total size of de- METACHEM INDUSTRIAL E Products: Raw materials for technical indus-
livery fleet (vehicles that transport chemi- 166 COMERCIAL tries such as coatings/paints, lubricants,
cals) – 32 trucks, 33 trailers, 26 vans, 21 tank- 2021 SALES: $96M cleaning, adhesives, construction, life sci-
ers, six Bobtails Sao Paulo, Brazil ences
www.metachem.com.br Services: Sampling; analytical testing (phar-
OPES INTERNATIONAL President: Ricardo do Rego Freitas macopoeia standards and customised test
162 2021 SALES: $97.7M Products: Coatings additives; food ingredi- methods); batch certification; labelling; re-
Caddington, Bedfordshire, UK ents; lubricant additives; lubricant base oils; packaging and mixing (aqueous solutions)
www.opeslimited.com chemicals for feed formulations; flame retard- Assets: 2 GMP laboratories; 8 cleanrooms
CEO: Neil Dudman ants; acids; salts; fat oil derivatives class 100,000; 16 trucks; dedicated tank
Products: Monomers specialising in Services: Distribution and agency farms; warehouses
acrylates, methacrylates, hydroxy monomers, Assets: Offices; warehouses
acetyls, styrene and oxo alcohols Trading Sales: 64% GEORGE S. COYNE CHEMICAL
Services: Global market knowledge of 171 2021 SALES: $90.4M
acrylate and methacrylate monomers with H.M. ROYAL Croydon, Pennsylvania, US
complimentary products to support strategic 167 2021 SALES: $95.2M www.coynechemical.com
shore tank storage; sustainable, EcoVadis Trenton, NewJersey, US President CEO: Thomas H Coyne
Gold certified and EU Reach registered sourc- www.hmroyal.com Products: Acids; alcohols; amines; chelating
ing and importing of stock with heating and President: Joseph Royal agents; chlor-alkai; chlorinated solvents; food
repacking facilities Products: Rubber polymers; resins and dilu- additives; glycol ethers; hydrogen peroxide;
Assets: Head office in UK; 1 office in the Neth- ents; curing agents; processing aids; plasticiz- inorganics; ketones; polymers; specialty
erlands; chemical storage shore tank facilities ers; rubber to substrate bonding adhesives; quats; surfactants; potable and waste water
flame retardants; smoke suppressants; films; chemicals
TRIISO wrapping tapes; performance additives; func- Services: Blending; technical training; con-
163 2021 SALES: $97M tional fillers; reinforcing fillers tract packaging; terminal rail to truck trans-
Del Mar, California, US Services: Market development; sales; order loading
www.tri-iso.com fulfilment Assets: Over 300,000 square feet of storage
President: Jason Scott Assets: New Jersey based distribution site; in 5 warehouses; 28 trucks and over 50 trailers
Products: Polyurethanes; paints and coat- California based distribution site; 18 regionally or tankers; 0ver 275,000 gal bulk storage
ings; metalworking fluids and lubricants; deployed salespeople
greases and oils; adhesives and sealants; Trading Sales: 40% MAHA CHEMICALS
epoxies; composites and advanced materials 172 2021 SALES: $90M
Services: Logistics; warehousing; importing SOLVCHEM Singapore
and exporting 168 2021 SALES: $95M www.mahachem.com
Pearland, Texas, US Managing Director: Chew Chin Seong;
CONNECTION CHEMICAL www.solvchem.com Executive Chair: Tan Seow Hoon
164 2021 SALES: $96M CEO: Jean-Pierre Baizan Products: Additives; pigments and colorants;
Newtown, Pennsylvania, US Products: Solvents; organic and inorganic resins and polymers; functional fillers; bioc-
Connectionchemical.com chemicals; epoxies; silicones; silicone emul- ides; surfactants; plant extracts and cosmetic
President: Frank Farish sions; hydrocarbon resins; hydroxyl ethyl cel- ingredients; additive printing machines and
Products: Caustic soda (liquid and dry); caus- lulose; titanium dioxide; acrylates laboratory equipment
tic potash (liquid and dry); industrial and insti- Services: Custom packaging; custom blend- Services: Sales and marketing; stocking and
tutional chemicals; compounding chemicals; ing; toll manufacturing; container manage- distribution; packaging; laboratory set-up and
agricultural products; water treatment chemi- ment programs; export services; technical equipment maintenance
cals; food and beverage ingredients; feed in- support; green chemistry product solutions; Assets: Warehouses; offices and trucks
gredients; pulp and paper chemicals; oil and small container filling Trading Sales: 1%

POLYSTYLEX resins; castor oil; malic acid; waxes; base oils; RIERDEN CHEMICAL
173 2021 SALES: $87.9M (€77.3M) process oils; ethanol; solvents; esters and 182 2021 SALES: $78.5M
Riga, Latvia food ingredients Libertyville, Illinois, US
www.polystylex.com Services: Logistics; blending; formulating; www.rierdenchemical.com
CEO: Antons Viderkers repacking; warehousing and bulk storage Vice President: Jonathan Rierden
Products: Polyethylenes (LDPE, LLDPE, MPE, Assets: Warehouse; blending and bulk stor- Products: Glycerine; fatty acids; potassium
HDPE, EBA, EVA); polypropylenes (HPP, ICP, age facilities hydroxide; potassium carbonate; maleic an-
RCP); polycarbonates; ABS; SAN; PA; master- Trading Sales: 21% hydride; acrylic acid; diglyme
batches (colours, additives); PVC additives; Services: Import; export; domestic ware-
PU; industrial and speciality chemicals UCG (UNITED CHEMICAL housing; rail logistics
Services: Customer service; technical sup- 178 GROUP) Trading Sales: 20%
port; product development; logistic solutions; 2021 SALES: $82.2M
storing; financing Moscow, Russia WALSH & ASSOCIATES
Assets: Warehouses in Baltics, Russia, www.ucgrus.com 183 2021 SALES: $75.9M
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Poland and Serbia Chairman of the Board: Gennady Tolstobrov St Louis, Missouri, US
Trading Sales: 8% Products: ABS; ASA; SAN; HIPS; PC/ABS; PBT; www.walsh-assoc.com
PMMA; PC; POM; SBS; SEBS; SIS; POE; EVA; President and CEO: Ellen M Murphy
NEWPORT INDUSTRIES HDPE; PPCOPO; PA and AIM; road construc- Products: Raw materials for CASE, HI&I, inks,
174 2021 SALES: $86.1M (£63.6M) tion materials; oil additives and modifiers; personal care, oil and gas, agriculture, food
Richmond, Surrey, UK base oils; fertilizers; liquid chemicals; alcohols and beverage, metal working, pharmaceuti-
www.newport-industries.com Services: Logistics; packaging; storage; cals, plastics, green chemistry
Managing Director: Raj Patel technical support Services: Manufacturing; blending; formula-
Products: Soda ash; sodium bicarbonate; hy- Assets: 9 offices; 11 warehouses; 3 interna- tion assistance; technical assistance and EHS
drocarbon resin; calcined bauxite; l-carnitine; tional offices Assets: 6 warehouse locations; 1 tractor trailer
resins; mineral animal feed materials Trading Sales: 5%
Services: Supply chain management; distri- BUCKLEY OIL
bution and sourcing EMSA TECNOLOGIA QUIMICA 184 2021 SALES: $75.8M
Assets: Industrial chemicals 179 2021 SALES: $82.1M (€72.2M) Midlothian, Texas, US
Trading Sales: 100% Barcelona, Spain www.buckleyoil.com
www.emsaquimica.com President: Robert Rice
LAVOLLEE CEO: Jorge Grima Products: Solvents; alcohols; aliphatics; aro-
175 2021 SALES: $85.3M (€75M) Products: Melamine; chromium oxide; titanium matics; glycols; glycol ethers; ketones; base
Paris, France dioxide; caustic soda; sodium tripolyphosphate; oils; finished lubricants
www.lavollee.com carbon black; ammonium chloride; expandable Services: Blending; packaging; toll blend-
President: Herve Ory-Lavollee polystyrene; sodium thiocyanate; copper sul- ing; storage; delivery; custom packaging;
Products: IFL; coatings; polymers; industrial phate pentahydrate; aromatic and aliphatic iso- transloading
chemicals; pharma, food and cosmetic ingre- cyanates; sodium nitrite functional kaolins Assets: 4 warehouses; 20 trucks
dients; F&F; agrochemicals (dorkafil); sulphactants and naphthenic acid
Services: Outsourcing; repacking; VMI; Services: Technical advice; mixtures; com- COAST SOUTHWEST
sourcing paction; re-packing; formulation; uncaking; 185 2021 SALES: $73.4M
Assets: 2 labs dispersions; dissolutions and granulate Arlington, Texas, US
Trading Sales: 5% Trading Sales: 30% www.coastsouthwest.com
President: Joseph C Cimo
CHEMISPHERE SOLVEN SOLVENTES Products: Surfactants; silicones; personal
176 2021 SALES: $85.2M 180 E QUIMICOS care specialties; anti-aging ingredients; pre-
St Louis, Missouri, US 2021 SALES: $79.8M servatives; oleochemicals; lubricants
www.chemispherecorp.com Hortolandia, Brazil Services: Liquid blending; liquid bulk; stor-
President: Matthew Schwent www.solven.com.br age; packaging; transportation; formulation
Products: USP food and beverage grade eth- CEO: Paulo Sergio Moreira Assets: 10 locations; 11 trucks; applications
anol; alcohols; aliphatics; aromatics; ketones Products: Aliphatic solvents; aromatic sol- laboratory
Services: Toll manufacturing; custom blend- vents; hydrogenated solvents; thinners; lubri-
ing; packaging; USP packaging; storage; rail- ficants; oils; waxes AIREDALE GROUP
car transloading Services: Mixing and blending; formulation; 186 2021 SALES: $73.1M (£54M)
Assets: 1.4m gal tank farm storage; 14 car rail packing; storage; bulk distribution; chemical Keighley, North Yorkshire, UK
spur; 60,000 square feet warehouse space; analysis www.airedale-group.com
bulk tanker fleet Assets: 4 warehouses – 2 in Sao Paulo, 1 in Rio Group CEO: Chris Chadwick
de Janeiro, 1 in Bahia; laboratory for product Products: Industrial chemicals; phosphates;
MEADE-KING, development and quality control surfactants; disinfectants; phosphonates; an-
177 ROBINSON & CO tifoams; polymers; ingredients; metal surface
2021 SALES: $84.5M (£62.4M) ALAC INTERNATIONAL treatment chemicals
Liverpool, UK 181 2021 SALES: $79.3M Services: Chemical contract manufacturing;
www.mkr.co.uk New York, US small pack chemical filling; chemical waste
Managing Director: Philip Tarleton www.alacinternational.com management
Products: Oleochemicals; glycerine; epoxy CEO: Lily Frishman Assets: 5 acre chemical manufacturing facili-

SPECIAL REPORT
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ty; fully owned transport fleet; extensive on- NATIONAL CHEMICAL Services: Shipments to worldwide destina-
site R&D lab facilities; 15 mixing and reactor 189 2021 SALES: $68.5M (€60.2M) tions on CIF, CFR, FO/LO, DDP, CIP/CPT, FOB;
vessels; chemical storage across both bulk Dublin, Ireland mono- and multi-modal transportation with
and temperature controlled packed goods www.ncc.ie; www.nccingredients.com; and without trans-shipment by sea, rail,
Trading Sales: 50% www.ipcpolymers.ie truck and air; cargos in bulk and packed,
CEO: Alan Looney hazardous (IMO) and non-hazardous, full
ROWELL CHEMICAL Products: Specialty chemicals; food ingredi- and part loads
187 2021 SALES: $69.5M ents; technical polymers and compounds Assets: Owner of Chemiola Kimya San, a
Hinsdale, Illinois, US Services: Full supply chain solutions includ- modern disposal efficient production facility
www.rowellchemical.com ing risk assessment, sourcing, accreditation, in Turkey with sales in over 100 countries;
President: Tom Harris regulatory support, logistics and supply qualified sales, trading and logistics team
Products: Industrial and water treatment Assets: ISO 13485 medical polymer com- Trading Sales: 100%
chemicals pounding plant with JV Innovative Polymer
Assets: 3 plants; 20 trucks; 30 trailers compounds (IPC) WISTEMA
Trading Sales: 70% 191 2021 SALES: $67.2M (€59.1M)
SKYHAWK CHEMICALS Dielheim, Germany
188 2021 SALES: $68.6M INMATRADE www.wistema.de
Houston, Texas, US 190 2021 SALES: $68.3M General Manager: Winfried Friedel
www.skyhawkchemicals.com Lucerne, Switzerland Products: Catalysts; chemical intermediates;
President: Jill Knickerbocker www.inmatrade.com contract and toll manufactured products;
Products: Caustic soda; methanol; calcium Vice-President: Sandro Amrein cosmetics and personal care ingredients;
chloride; sulphuric acid; anhydrous/aqua am- Products: Non-ferrous mining and metallurgy; food ingredients; industrial chemicals; phar-
monia; KOH; propylene glycol; hydrochloric petrochemicals; feed additives; chemicals; ma ingredients; plastic additives; polymers;
acid; xylene; bleach; polyphosphoric acid; base and minor metals; copper sulphate pen- reprographic chemicals/ink chemicals; sol-
benzoic acid; ethylene glycol tahydrate; grinding balls; ammonium nitrate; vents/distilled solvents; water treatment
Services: Blending; packaging; storing zinc sulfate monohydrate; aluminium alloys; chemicals; waxes
Assets: Totes sodium cyanide; xanthates; activated carbon Services: Storage; waste management

SPECIAL REPORT
(waste disposal certified); salvage recovery ing/engineering services; contract packag- cols; glycol ethers; ketones; alcohols; aromat-
and re-sale; Reach consultation; import and ing; toll manufacturing; logistic services; ics; other specialty chemicals
export administration warehousing; translating Services: Toll blending; warehousing; drum-
Assets: Warehouse; laboratory Assets: Five production locations in Oklaho- ming; transport
Trading Sales: 60% ma, Illinois, North Carolina and Mississippi; Assets: 3 sites in Singapore
tank farms; rail terminals; extensive company-
SILVER FERN CHEMICAL owned truck, trailer, tanker fleet RICARDO MOLINA
192 2021 SALES: $66.9M 201 2021 SALES: $60M (€52.7M)
Seattle, Washington, US CHEM ONE Barcelona, Spain
www.silverfernchemical.com 196 2021 SALES: $63.1M www.ricardomolina.com
President: Sam King Houston, Texas, US CEO and President: Gemma Molina;
Products: Specialties; metallic stearates; www.chemone.com Managing Director: Remedios Marcos
fatty acid esters; glycol ethers; specialty sol- CEO and President: Terry Podlogar Products: Specialty chemicals for coatings,
vents (ACAC, EEP, TBAC, PC, PCBTF); glycols; Products: Fertilizer ingredients; water treat- building, adhesives, construction, lubricants,
amines; surfactants; plasticizers ment chemicals; food additives; feed addi- pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal and
Services: Manufacturer representation; tives; industrial home care, rubber, plastics, water treatment,
sourcing hard-to-find materials; importation; Services: JIT inventory; pallet quantities; food and beverage, agro chemicals
8 US stocking locations; tailored logistics and truckloads Services: Technical sales and marketing; ap-
storage options Assets: Houston, Texas headquarters and plication development; quality control; ware-
Assets: 2 US offices warehouse; independent facilities in Laredo, housing; regulatory services; supply chain
Trading Sales: 18% Texas and Tampa, Florida management; after sales services; repacking
Assets: 3 labs; 1 warehouse
INTERALLIS HOLDINGS TARR ACQUISITION
193 2021 SALES: $65.2M (€57.3M) 197 2021 SALES: $63M VAN HORN, METZ & CO
Nicosia, Cyprus Portland, Oregon, US 202 2021 SALES: $58M
www.interallis.com www.tarrllc.com Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, US
President: Nikos Kazantzis President: Skip Tarr www.vanhornmetz.com
Products: Raw materials for food, feed, HPCI, Products: Alcohols; ketones; transformer President: Barry Fisher
lubricants and tyres, coatings and construc- oils; racing fuels; glycols specialty blends Products: Resins; additives; pigments; dyes;
tion industry, polymers, agro supplies Services: Chemical distribution and blending fillers; chemical intermediates
Services: Logistics; repacking; blending Assets: Truck fleet; tank farms; production Services: Consultative selling; global sourcing
Trading Sales: 40% and warehousing facilities
LINKERS CHEMICALS AND
SOLTEX JOBACHEM GROUP 203 POLYMERS
194 2021 SALES: $65M 198 2021 SALES: $62M 2021 SALES: $57.9M
Houston, Texas, US Dassel, Germany Dubai, UAE
www.soltexinc.com www.jobachem.com www.lcp.ae
President: Glenn Bohny CEO: Julian Kahl Managing Director: Malik Pervez Zaman
Products: Polybutene; lubricant additive Products: UV-curing; special chemicals; plas- Products: Synthetic rubber; PVC; engineer-
packages and components; dielectric fluids; ticizers; heat transfer fluids ing plastics; plasticizers; latex; monomers;
transformer fluids; acetylene black; alkylate; Services: Refilling; melting; mixing construction chemicals; animal nutrition;
cable/telecom; paints and coatings (CASE); Assets: 10,000 square metre warehouse; coatings chemicals
fumed silica; PAO; refrigeration fluids; metal truck/container fleet; branch office in US and Services: Market expansion; technical; financial
carboxylates; and tackifiers China; mixing facilities Trading Sales: 100%
Services: In-house custom blending; pack- Trading Sales: 90%
aging; toll manufacturing; logistics solutions; VENUS CHEMICALS GROUP
technical support; global and domestic sup- DYM RESOURCES 204 2021 SALES: $56.3M
ply and distribution 199 2021 SALES: $61.6M (€54.2M) Cairo, Egypt
Assets: 2 plants and 4 warehouses in US and Berlin, Germany www.venuskim.com
Canada with rail and steaming capabilities www.dymresources.com CEO: Ahmed Alghoul
Managing Director: Denis Varaksin Products: Fragrance oil – Takasago brands;
BRAINERD CHEMICAL Products: Base oils; lubes; petroleum coke; surfactants – Oxiteno brands; maleic resin;
195 2021 SALES: $64.8M waxes; bitumen; biofuel feedstocks gum rosin derivatives - Grupo Resinas Brasil;
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US Services: Trading; logistics; financing; con- aluminium paste – Carlfors Bruk; glycerine;
www.brainerdchemical.com sulting; market research cellulose thickeners
President: Brian Miller Trading Sales: 60% Services: Fragrances filling; technical sup-
Products: Peracetic acid; hydrofluoric acid; port; formulation for detergents
sulphuric acid; nitric acid; high hazard acids; AIK MOH PAINTS & Assets: 20 jumbo cars; 8 warehouses; 5 offices.
formaldehyde; hydrogen peroxide; fluorine 200 CHEMICALS Trading Sales: 45%
derivatives; refrigerants; aromatics; aliphat- 2021 SALES: $60.6M (S$81.8M)
ics; glycols; color-alkali; alcohols; food pro- Singapore EQUILEX
cessing sanitation chemicals; water treat- www.aikmoh.com.sg 205 2021 SALES: $56.1M (€49.3M)
ment chemicals Chairman: Tan Kah Moh Schiedam, Nertherlands
Services: Packaging; blending; manufactur- Products: Solvents; surfactants; amines; gly- www.equilex.com

Managing Director: Cees Verdel www.independentchemical.com ethanol; denatured ethanol; alcohols; amines;
Products: Higher olefins; alkylphenols; alky- President: Jonathan Spielman aromatics; glycols; hydrocarbons; ketones;
lbenzenes; ethanolamines; ethylene glycols; Products: Cosmetics ingredients; food in- mineral acids and bases; food ingredients; fra-
solvents (MEK, MIBK, hexane, MIBC, IPA, ace- gredients; pharmaceutical ingredients; sea- grances; food grade oils; phosphates; sili-
tone, cyclohexanone); performance interme- food processing ingredients; industrial cones and surfactants
diates (AMS, maleic and phthalic anhydrides, cleaning chemicals; nutritionals; environ- Services: Food grade and industrial
DCPD); phenol; aromatics; tackifying resins; mental remediation chemicals blending; packaging and storage; white
isophorone; diacetone alcohol Services: Dry blending and bagging of food room packaging; custom blending and de-
Services: Marketing and distribution; stor- products; liquid filling and liquid blending naturing
age; packaging; sea, rail and road transpor- Assets: 5 power units; 4 tankers; 1 warehouse Assets: White room for USP, NF, FCC; organ-
tation; custom formalities, Reach regulation Trading Sales: 5% ic and kosher packaging; 125,000 square
Trading Sales: 5% feet warehouse space including food grade
VIVION warehouse; 1.2m gal tank farm; rail spur to
HUBBARD-HALL 210 2021 SALES: $53.3M accommodate 4 railcars; 20 tankers; 7 trac-
206 2021 SALES: $56M San Carlos, California, US tors; 3 boxes
Waterbury, Connecticut, US www.vivioninc.com Trading Sales: 5%
www.hubbardhall.com President: Michael Poleselli
President and CEO: Molly Kellogg Products: Humectants; sweeteners; miner- CARBONO QUIMICA
Products: Specialties for surface finishing; sol- als; vitamins; tabletting aids; personal care in- 214 2021 SALES: $51.4M
vents; solvent alternatives; caustic soda; hydro- gredients; industrial ingredients; fertilizers Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
gen peroxide; heat transfer fluids; waste treat- agricultural chemicals; food ingredients; pre- www.carbono.com.br
ment specialties; rust preventatives; cleaning servatives; acids President: Vera Maria Miraglia Gabriel
compounds Products: Hydrocarbonated solvents; oxi-
Services: Custom blending; plating analysis; CORNELIUS GROUP genated solvents; epoxy resins; alkyd resins;
warehousing; bulk delivery; liquid blending; 211 2021 SALES: $53.2M (£39.31M) paint dryers; coatings additives; glycols; tita-
dry blending; specialised storage Bishop’s Stortford, UK nium dioxide; ketones; catalyzers
Assets: Tank farm www.cornelius.co.uk Services: Bulk storage; repackaging; diluents
CEO: Phillip Gibbons formulation; paint dryers blends tailored; lab-
HENRY HIRSCHEN Products: Specialty chemicals; monomers; oratory analysis
207 2021 SALES: $55.2M food ingredients; personal care ingredients; pig- Assets: Self-owned trucks
Buenos Aires, Argentina ments; additives; resins; surfactants; minerals;
www.hirschen.com.ar adhesive materials; natural products; biomateri- STERA CHEMICALS
CEO: Miguel A Hirschen als; optical monomers; coatings ingredients 215 2021 SALES: $51.2M (€45M)
Products: Solvents; surfactants; oleochemi- Services: Global supply chain management; Jilava, Romania
cals; glycols; ethoxylates; amines; biocides; laboratory services; R&D; formulation; ware- www.sterachemicals.ro
food ingredients; specialties housing; regulatory and SHEQ; chemical CEO: Alecsandru Rasidescu
Services: Storage; packaging; drumming; manufacturing Products: Additives; biocides; solvents and
blending; trading; same day deliveries; financ- Assets: 9 warehouses with temperature reg- glycols; resins; pigments; surfactants; food
ing; tailor made solutions ulated storage; 5 laboratories; 2 manufactur- ingredients; masterbatches
Assets: Central warehouse in Buenos Aires ing sites; 7 offices; clean rooms Services: Production; mixing; drumming
industrial area fit for liquids and solids with Assets: 5 warehouses in Romania
pharma/food secluded area QUELARIS (PART OF IMCD) Trading Sales: 10%
Trading Sales: 3% 212 2021 SALES: $52M
Panama BRISCO DO BRASIL
GJ CHEMICAL www.quelaris.com 216 2021 SALES: $51M
208 2021 SALES: $55M CEO: Paul Vanhauw Sao Paulo, Brazil
Somerset, New Jersey, US Products: Polyurethanes; rubber; coatings; www.brisco.com.br
www.gjchemical.com personal and home care chemicals; adhe- CEO: Guillermo Castillo
President: Diana Colonna sives Products: Styrene; polystyrene; ABS; EPS;
Products: Acrylates and monomers; high purity Services: Technical sales and service; local acrylates; plasticizers
solvents; reagent chemicals; ketone monomers; warehousing; immediate dispatch; repacking Services: Drumming; blending; agency; im-
plasticizers; acids and anhydrides; aromatic sol- Assets: Network in 14 countries: Bolivia, port and export
vents; chlorinated solvents; cosmetic preservatives; Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Re- Assets: Tank storage; filling drum facility;
esters; glycol ethers; glycols; heat transfer fluids public, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, 4,000 square metres of warehouse space;
Services: Testing; bulk storage; repackaging; Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and own crew and 8 trucks
liquid bulk handling; custom blending; purify- Caribbean Islands Trading Sales: 40%
ing; stabilising Trading Sales: 18%
Assets: 3 locations in New Jersey; 8 trucks; 25 CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS INC
tankers; 15 dry vans TRANSCHEMICAL 217 2021 SALES: $50.1M
Trading Sales: 50% 213 2021 SALES: $51.5M Buffalo, New York, US
St Louis, Missouri, US www.cdibuffalo.com
INDEPENDENT CHEMICAL www.transchemical.com President: Mark Russell
209 2021 SALES: $54.2M President: Marilyn Stovall FitzGerald Products: Acids; alkalis; solvents; inorganic and
Glendale, New York, US Products: Beverage grade ethanol; organic organic chemicals; reagents, dry and liquid

SPECIAL REPORT
RESEARCH SOLUTIONS GROUP

220 2021 SALES: $48.2M
Pelham, Alabama, US
www.researchsolutionsgroup.com
CEO: Jeff Miller
Products: Full line solvents; solvent blends;
specialty chemicals; inorganics; cleaners;
metalworking lubricants
Services: Contract blending; toll blending
and packaging; lab services; waste disposal;
rail trans-loading
Assets: 4 bulk terminals and warehouses; 14
power units; 14 van trailers; 50 tank trailers
SOLVACHEM
221 2021 SALES: $48.2M (ZL194.6M)
Wroclaw, Poland
www.solvachem.pl
CEO: Elisabeth Luerenbaum
Products: Methanol; used cooking oil (UCO)
and vegetable oils; alcohols and other sol-
vents; regenerated solvents; polymers; base
oils; aerosols; inorganic chemicals; washing
agents and disinfectants; fillers and additives;
colourants; oils and greases
Services: Logistics
Assets: 1 methanol tank; 5 warehouses; 2 cus-
toms warehouses; production facilities (wash-
ing agents and disinfectants)
Trading Sales: 10%
DROGAS VIGO GROUP

222 2021 SALES: $47.7M
Porrino, Pontevedra, Spain
www.drovi.com
CEO: Enrique Casal Lareo
Products: Solvents; thinners and green sol-
vents; organic and inorganic chemicals;
paints, adhesives and sealants raw materials;
pharmaceutical, cosmetics and agrochemi-
cals raw materials; automotive chemicals; de-
tergents raw materials; fillers and pigments;
water treatment chemicals; food ingredients;
lubricants and waxes; ink raw materials; paper
chemicals; mining chemicals
Services: Storage and marine logs – vessel
reception; solvents recycling and reformula-
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tion; blending; packaging and bulk deliveries;

logistics and outsourcing; quality/lab analyti-
cal services to 3rd parties; JIT and telemetric
Services: LTL, TL, bulk deliveries; custom MCCULLOUGH & stock control; e-invoicing and e.B2B with cus-
blending; laboratory services; process 219 ASSOCIATES tomers’ platforms
equipment sales 2021 SALES: $50M Assets: 4 warehouses (bulk and pack); sea
Assets: Trucks; tankers; trailers; warehouses; Atlanta, Georgia, US terminal; solvents recycling unit; bulk tank
chemical process equipment www.mccanda.com and packed trucks
President: George L McCullough
VECKRIDGE CHEMICAL Products: Polyurethane resins and polyols; AKTOPA
218 2021 SALES: $50M silicas; micronized waxes; organic pig- 223 2021 SALES: $47M
Kearny, New Jersey, US ments; inorganic pigments; effect pig- Houston, Texas, US
www.veckridge.com ments; defoamers; hydrocarbon resins; www.aktopa.com
President: Mark Veca polyester polyols; dispersants; mineral President: Jose S Rodriguez
Products: Acids; alkali amines fillers Products: CASE; agricultural chemicals; lu-
Services: Filling; dilutions; kosher Services: Engineering design and process bricants; HI&I chemicals; automotive chemi-
Assets: Trucks; warehouse; rail consulting cals; chemical formulations

Services: Chemical products in bulk and LTL Services: Transport via rail, tanker, drums and Services: Associated with a forwarding
totes; blending; storage agent
MILANO COLORI Assets: Dedicated OTR compartment trailers
224 2021 SALES: $47M (€41.3M) and railcars MIN-CHEM/
Cusano Milanino, Italy 228 LAWRASON’S/
www.milano-colori.com MCKINN INTERNATIONAL CK INGREDIENTS GROUP
President: Antonio Cavazzana 226 2021 SALES: $46.3M 2021 SALES: $45M
Products: Pigments; resins and intermedi- Singapore Oakville, Ontario, Canada
ates; solvents; cosmetics and personal care www.mckinn.com.sg www.min-chem.com
ingredients; food and feed ingredients; con- CEO: Chau Tak Vui www.lawrasons.com
struction chemicals; plastic polymers and Products: Raw materials for lubricant addi- www.ckingredients.com
plasticizers; leather and textile chemicals; tives, adhesives, coatings, UPR, PU and President: David A Luciani
natural and bio ingredients TPU; plastics additives; flame retardants; Products: Composites – thermoset (roving,
Services: Technical support; R&D; formula- rubber additives; acids and anhydrides; resin and peroxides); composites – thermo-
tion and tailor-made products; storage (liquid plasticizers plastic; rubber additives; adhesives; waxes;
and solid); quality control Services: Sourcing flame retardants; Health Canada approved
Assets: Laboratories; warehouses for solid Assets: Office infectious control disinfectants; hand sani-
and liquid products Trading Sales: 90% tizers and other anti-bacterial solutions;
pharmaceutical ingredients; nutraceutical
RADCHEM PRODUCTS SINPRO ingredients; food ingredients; mineral and
225 2021 SALES: $46.4M 227 2021 SALES: $45.5M (€40M) industrial acids; water treatment chemicals;
Orland Park, Illinois, US Lausanne, Switzerland pool and spa chemicals; janitorial and sani-
www.radcheminc.com www.sinprosa.ch tation chemicals; industrial specialty chemi-
President: Will Radostits Director: Alfred Frankel cals; winter ice melting products
Products: Chemicals and solvents; alcohols; Products: Industrial chemicals; resins; poly- Services: Manufacturing; blending and
aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons; glycol esters; pharmaceutical ingredients; construc- compounding; logistics
ethers; process and base oils; reuse solvents; tion chemicals; paints; inks; food ingredients Assets: 3 warehouses in Ontario, Quebec
resins and ketones and additives and British Columbia, Canada

SPECIAL REPORT
BASSTECH INTERNATIONAL
229 2021 SALES: $44.2M
Fort Lee, New Jersey, US
www.BassTechintl.com
CEO: Ben Gutmann
Products: Inorganic chemicals; elastomers;
adhesives; polymers; metals and other indus-
trial raw materials
Services: Technical support; vendor man-
aged inventory
Assets: Offices in the US, China, India and Eu-
rope; strategically located warehouses in the
US, Canada and Europe
Trading Sales: 5%
A.+ E. FISCHER-CHEMIE
230 2021 SALES: $43.8M (€38.5M)
Wiesbaden, Germany
www.fischer-chemie.de
CEO: Manuel Fischer-Bothof
Products: Caustic soda; solvents; hydrochlo-
ric acid; citric acid; urea; phosphoric acid; mat-
ting agents; pyrogenic silicon dioxide; precipi-
tated silica; silicone oil; glycerine; caustic
potash; sodium bicarbonate; hydrogen perox-
ide; activated carbon; sodium persulfate
Services: Storage; packaging; mixing; ex-
porting
Assets: 4 warehouses for solid and liquid
products; 16 trucks
Trading Sales: 10%
IDEAL CHEMICAL & SUPPLY

231 2021 SALES: $43.6M
Memphis, Tennessee, US
www.idealchemical.com
CEO: Sam Block
Products: Acids; alcohols; amines; chelating
agents; chlor-alkali; food ingredients; glycol
ethers; hydrogen peroxide; inorganics; ke-
tones; personal care ingredients; polyglycols;
solvents; textile care ingredients; water treat-
ment chemicals
Services: Wholesale custom blending and
packaging (dry and liquid); in-house QC and
R&D labs; LTL and truckload quantities; single-
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and multi-compartment tanker deliveries; local

warehousing and logistics; returnable and one-
way containers; remote tank monitoring
Assets: 3 locations with a combined Services: Warehousing; regional distribution ACID PRODUCTS
150,000+ square feet of warehouse space; and logistics; product blending and private 234 2021 SALES: $42M
fleet of 14 tractors, 22 trailers and 6 tankers; label packaging; lab services Chicago, Illinois, US
1m gal liquid bulk storage; multiple sizes and Assets: 6 stainless steel bulk tankers; 5 van www.acidproducts.com
styles of blend tanks; distilled spirits plant trailers; 6 power units; 50+ bulk storage tanks; President: Jann Fisher
40,000 square foot warehouse and rail siding Products: Acids; caustics; dry chemicals;
COMET CHEMICAL surfactants; white oils; solvents; cleaning
232 2021 SALES: $43.2M JNS-SMITHCHEM chemicals
Innisfil, Ontario, Canada 233 2021 SALES: $42.4M Services: Contract packaging (all bottle sizes);
www.cometchemical.com Paterson, New Jersey, US toll blending liquids (cases, pails, drums, totes,
President: Jeff Stewart www.jns-smithchem.com bulk); powder blending (bags, fiber drums, su-
Products: Industrial solvents; aromatic Co-President: Michael Smith persacks); LTL chemical distribution
hydrocarbons; aliphatics; alcohols; ace- Products: Resins; additives; minerals; fillers; Assets: 2 locations; rail; 10 delivery trucks; 2
tates; ketones; glycols; glycol ethers; etha- colour pigments; chemical specialties tankers; large contract packaging facility;
nolamines Trading Sales: 10% homogenizer

EUROSYN Services: Custom, proprietary and toll blending tion chemicals; DIY chemicals; industrial sol-
235 2021 SALES: $41.9M (€36.9M) Assets: 27 tankers; 10 tractors; 5 vans; over vents; environmental health ingredients; pest
Milan, Italy 800,000 gal bulk storage; 3 warehouses rep- control and crop protection chemicals; ag
www.eurosyn.it resenting around 60,000 square feet of stor- chemicals
Chairman: Flavio Campana age; rail siding to accommodate 16 railcars Services: Manufacturing; bespoke formula-
Products: Surfactants; dispersing and chelat- tions and blending; contract manufacturing
ing agents; biocides; rheology modifiers; fra- KADION Assets: Chemical expertise, flexibility and
grances; actives; silicones; dyes and pigments; 239 2021 SALES: $39M (€34.3M) diversity
resins and dispersions; photoiniziators; UV ad- Barcelona, Spain Trading Sales: 85%
sorbers; antioxidants www.kadion.com
Services: Technical and regulatory support; CEO: Raul Florit RISHICHEM DISTRIBUTORS
application lab services; logistics service Products: Resins; additives; pigments; ex- 244 2021 SALES: $36.2M (RS2.7BN)
provider tenders Mumbai, India
Assets: Logistics assets; application lab Services: Trading www.rishichem.com
Trading Sales: 3.1% Director: Arvind Mahendra Kapoor
DUTCH2 Products: Acrylic based flow modifiers, mat-
236 2021 SALES: $41.6M (€36.6M) MY-CHEM ting agents and degassing agents; actives for
Purmerend, Netherlands 240 2021 SALES: $37.7M (€33.1M) personal care; anionic, nonionic, amphoteric
www.dutch2.com Buchholz, Germany surfactants; aromatic polyisocyanates; alkali
Managing Director: Steven Willekes www.my-chem.de water soluble resins; hydrocarbon resins; nat-
Products: Acetates; acids; acrylates; alco- Owner: Ralf Meinecke ural oils and extracts; fluoro surfactants; high
hols; amines; aromatics; chlorinated solvents; Products: Phthalic anhydride; maleic anhy- boiling alcohols; MDI and polyols; microcrys-
glycol ethers; glycols; hydrocarbons; ketones; dride; styrene; mono-/di-pentaerythritol; par- talline waxes; bees wax and specialty blends;
monomers; vegetable oils; propylene glycol aformaldehyde; purified isophtalic acid; puri- n-butyl chloride; specialty polyester resins;
ethers; plasticizers fied terephthalic acid; tall oil fatty acid; tall oil poly mercaptan fast cure epoxy hardeners;
Services: Trading; export; drumming; distilled; trimellitic anhydride; fumaric acid; rheological modifiers; rosins and rosin esters;
warehousing; logistics; blending; packag- heat transfer fluids silanes; silicone-based additives, resins and
ing; storage Services: Trading; storage; transport intermediates
Trading Sales: 20% Services: Technical application laboratory
ANKUSH ENTERPRISE services; blending; packaging; labelling;
MORAIS DE CASTRO 241 2021 SALES: $37M warehousing and inventory management
237 PRODUTOS QUIMICOS Mumbai, India Assets: Company premises
2021 SALES: $41M www.ankushenterprise.com
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil President, Sales & Marketing: Mukund Bhure SIP SPECIALITY OILS AND
www.moraisdecastro.com.br Products: Chemicals; food ingredients; per- 245 FLUIDS
CEO: Andre Guimaraes de Castro sonal care ingredients 2021 SALES: $36M
Products: Surfactants; glycols (EO/PO); min- Trading Sales: 2% London, UK
eral oils; caustic soda; sulfonic acid (LAB-S); www.sip.com
inorganic acids (H2SO4; HCl; HNO3); sodium SEELER INDUSTRIES Managing Director: Tobias Tasche
hypochlorite; personal care additives; food 242 2021 SALES: $37M Products: White oils and pharmaceutical oils;
ingredients and flavours; rheology modifiers; Joliet, Illinois, US drilling fluids; process oils; specialty fluids for
oxygenated solvents; chlorinated solvents; www.seeler.com automotive and industrial use; sustainable
biocides; sulfates (Al, NA, CU, NH3); silicones CEO: Steve Steeler and renewable base oils; lubricant additives
Services: Packaging and repackaging; stor- Products: Hydrogen peroxide; peracetic Services: Storage; logistics; blending; pack-
age; dilutions; imports (under contract); acid; glacial acetic acid; proplylene glycol; so- aging; formulation; technical support
transportation dium gluconate; caustic soda; hydrochloric Assets: Warehousing, blending and storage
Assets: 2 warehouses (Bahia and Pernambu- acid; soda ash; DDBSA; sodium chlorate; facilities in UK and EU (Belgium)
co); trucks; bulk storage facilities; laboratories phosphoric acid; quaternary compounds;
(quality control and food application); pack- other specialty chemicals EAGLE ALCOHOL
aging/repackaging facility (with white room) Services: Tank storage; railcar unloading; 246 2021 SALES: $36M
Trading Sales: 100% blending; liquid packaging; bagging; trans- Pekin, Illinois, US
loading; warehouse storage; property rental; VP and General Manager: Daniel Croghan
INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS CORP trucking services; laboratory services Products: Alcohols, pure and denatured; IPA;
238 2021 SALES: $39.9M Assets: 275,000+ square feet warehousing; 5 glycols; glycol ethers
Arvada, Colorado, US tractors; 10+ liquid and box trailers; 27 above Services: Packaging; transportation; ware-
www.industrialchemcorp.com ground storage tanks; 7 rail spurs of 2.5 miles housing; transloading
President: Jason Wilson of track for transloading; overhead rail trestle Assets: 80,000 square foot warehouse; segre-
Products: Acetates; acids; alcohols; chlor-al- gated bulk storage tanks; 4 tractors; 18 tankers
kali; aliphatic and aromatic solvents; amines; BARRETTINE HOLDINGS
biofuel chemicals; CBD extraction; chelating 243 2021 SALES: $36.5M (£27M) PRODUCERS CHEMICAL
agents; glycols and glycol ethers; heat trans- Bristol. UK 247 2021 SALES: $35.8M
fer fluids; hydrogen peroxide; ketones; metal www.barrettine.co.uk Sugar Grove, Illinois, US
finishing chemicals; phosphates; silicates; Group Managing Director: Steven Bailey www.producerschemical.com
surfactants Products: Woodcare chemicals; construc- President: Jeff Szklarek

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Products: Acids; alcohols; aliphatics; amines; Managing Director: Jon Hill Products: Calcium carbonate; clays; blowing
aromatics; chlor-alkali; esters; glycerine; gly- Products: Acetic acid; antifoams; caustic agents; alumina trihydrate; zinc oxides; plasti-
cols; glycol ethers; ketones; phosphates; plas- soda; citric acid; formic acid; feed additives; cizers; foaming agents; barium sulfate; petro-
ticizers; printing solutions; surfactants; VOC formates; glycerine; glycols; grain preserva- leum products (aromatic oils, naphthenic
exempt solvents tion chemicals; hydrochloric acid; nitric acid; oils); magnesium oxide; stearates; soybean
Services: Custom blending; contract pack- propionic acid; sodium hypochlorite; sodium oils; lubricants; ASTM reference oils
aging; bulk and mini bulk delivery; import sulphide Services: Repackaging; storage; capacity to
sourcing; USP packaging; waste disposal Services: Warehousing; liquid and powder efficiently repackage 6,000-12,000 gal/week
Assets: 2 warehouses; 58,000 square feet blending; dilutions; toll manufacturing; at several locations for aromatic, naphthenic,
storage; 174,000 gal bulk storage; 10 trucks packed and bulk UK distribution; inventory paraffinic base and process oils
Trading Sales: 3% management; supplier reduction; just-in-time Assets: Corporate offices; 3 warehouse facili-
delivery; global sourcing ties; distribution equipment; company cars
T.Z. GROUP Assets: 2 UK distribution locations with bulk
248 2021 SALES: $35.7M and packed storage; offices; 4 purpose built ATTILIO CARMAGNANI
Houston, Texas, US trucks 252 2021 SALES: $34M (€29.9M)
www.treza.com.mx, www.tzgroupusa. Trading Sales: 16% Genoa, Italy
com, www.tauchemicals.com www.carmagnani.com
President: Fernando J Zavala ANTALA General Manager: Emilio Carmagnani
Products: Acetic acid; HCl; sodium hy- 250 2021 SALES: $34.9M (€30.7M) Products: Aromatic solvents (SN100, SN150,
pochlorite; sulphuric acid; soda ash; sodium Barcelona, Spain SN150ND, SN200ND, xylene, toluene); ali-
bicarbonate; sodium chloride; sodium sul- www.antala.com phatic solvents (hexane, heptane); alcohols
phate; phosphoric acid; organic phospho- Director: Alberto Argudo (methanol, IPA); acetates (ethyl acetate, butyl
nates; chlorine; sodium hexametaphosphate Products: Adhesives and sealants (epoxies, acetate), PMA; MEK; DINP
Services: Druming dilution; packaging deliv- methacrylates, polyurethanes, silicones, SMP; Services: Trading chemicals; storage of bulk
ery in any quantity; hazard experts anaerobics and cyanoacrylates); lubricants chemicals; providing tanks for leasing; labora-
Assets: 43 tank trucks; 4 warehouses; 2 office (greases, oils, AFC, compounds, pastes); elec- tory analysis
buildings tronic protection materials; coatings Assets: Coastal terminal in Genoa, Italy with
Trading Sales: 18.3% dedicated berth access; 38 storage tanks
RE CARROLL with total capacity of 32,000 cubic metres
MONARCH CHEMICALS 251 2021 SALES: $34.3M
249 2021 SALES: $35.2M (£26M) Ewing, New Jersey, US LAKE
Sittingbourne, Kent, UK www:recarroll.com 253 2021 SALES: $33.8M (£25M)
www.monarchchemicals.co.uk President: Robert E Carroll III Redditch, UK

SPECIAL REPORT
www.lakecm.co.uk Services: Blending; development of formula- President: Cathy Lee

CEO: Steven Cartlidge tions; consulting; packaging; storage; stock Products: Specialty chemicals; monomers;
Products: IFL; coatings; polymers; industrial control; vendor management solvents; organics; inorganics; base oils; acids
chemicals; pharmaceutical ingredients; food Assets: Warehouse; R&D lab; offices Services: Warehousing and storage; ship-
ingredients; cosmetics ingredients; agro- Trading Sales: 5% ping; import/export; lab capabilities; packag-
chemicals ing; supply chain; chemical blending
Services: R&D; manufacturing; repacking; JABER
sourcing 258 2021 SALES: $31.4M (€27.6M) VERQUIMICA
Assets: Manufacturing facillity Mostoles, Madrid, Spain 262 2021 SALES: $30M
www.jabersa.com Sao Paulo, Brazil
GB-CHEMIE CEOs: Javier Jimenez, Joaquin Jimenez www.verquimica.com.br
254 2021 SALES: $32.7M (€28.7M) Products: Solvents and thinners; hydrocar- CEO: Patricia Caracyoli de Souza
Messel, Germany bons; acetates; ketones; ethers; glycol ethers; Products: Solvents
www.gb-chemie.com alcohols; mixtures with ethanol; chlorinated
Managing Director: Dirk Forler solvents; inorganics; resins; silicones; sur- GEHRING MONTGOMERY
Products: Amines; oxo alcohols; inorganic factants; white oils; flavours and fragrances 263 2021 SALES: $29M
and organic compunds; bromine derivatives; Services: Custom blending; custom packag- Warminster, Pennsylvania, US
solvents; complexing agents; phosphorus ing; food grade packaging; transportation www.gehring-montgomery.com
compounds; starch/starch derivatives (bulk and package); waste management; President and Managing Director: Mark S
Services: Technical service; sourcing; stor- analysis and laboratory services Bitting
age; downsizing; refilling; packaging; logistics Assets: Warehouses in Mostoles (Madrid) and Products: Additives; waxes; coatings; inorgan-
Assets: Several local warehouses; branch office Almansa (Albacete) – 14,000 square metres ics; surfactants; defoamers; hydrocarbon res-
Trading Sales: 20% for packaged products and manufacturing; ins; metal working additives; food ingredients
65 storage tanks with capacity of 1,800 cubic Services: Warehousing; inventory manage-
CHEMICAL STRATEGIES metres; 2 solvent recycling units; quality con- ment; repackaging; private fleet; technical
255 2021 SALES: $32.5M trol laboratory support
Phoenix, Arizona, US Assets: Warehouse facility – 60,000 square
www.chemicalstrategies.com SULATLANTICA IMPORTADORA feet; private fleet of trucks; food room; white
President: Chris Meagher 259 E EXPORTADORA room
Products: Industrial and specialty chemicals; 2021 SALES: $31M
solvents; semiconductor and aerospace chem- Rio de Janerio, Brazil KEMAT
istry; MRO supplies; production consumables www.sulatlantica.com.br 264 2021 SALES: $28.5M (€25.0M)
Services: Supply chain management; mar- President: Mario Grumach Brussels, Belgium
keting; storage; logistics; transportation; on- Products: Chemicals for oil and gas, mining, www.kematbelgium.com
site services; cleanroom packaging; contain- glass, agriculture, food and feed industries; Managing Director: Simon Mason
er fleet management organic chemicals; inorganic chemicals; sol- Products: Low molecular weight convention-
Assets: 2 company owned warehouses; 9 pub- vents; emuslifiers; viscosifiers al polybutenes; low molecular weight high re-
lic warehouses; cleanrooms; company-owned Services: Importing; exporting; packaging; active polyisobutenes; proprietary PIB emul-
fleet of trucks and trailers; high-purity packaging blending; transportation; storage sions; polyisobutene succinic anhydride;
equipment; QA lab with particle counter Assets: 4 warehouses; 25 tanks; 1 office medium and high molecular weight polyisob-
building utenes; low and high viscosity poly alfa olefins
INTERATLAS CHEMICAL (PAO); high viscosity metallocene poly alfa
256 2021 SALES: $32.3M LUMAR QUIMICA olefins (MPAO); lubricant auxiliaries – natural
St Catharines, Ontario, Canada 260 2021 SALES: $30.7M (€27M) oils, castor oil and linseed/flaxseed oil; molyb-
interatlaschemical.com Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain denum disulphide; 12-hydroxy stearic acid;
CEO: Alex van Zijl www.lumarquimica.com rubber auxiliaries; titanium dioxide; carbon
Products: Paraformaldehyde; hexamethyl- CEO: Lluis Ribera black; fuel additives
ene; phthalic anhydride; pentaerythritol; non- Products: Synthetic lube bases (PAO, PIB, Services: Blending; bulk storage; drumming;
ylphenol; para-tertiary butyl phenol; ethylben- PAG, esters, silcone); lubricant additives and outsourcing; packing; repacking; sourcing;
zyl chloride; cresylic acid; 2-ethylhexanol; packages (AW-EP, antioxidants, corrosion in- transport fleet; warehousing
maleic anhydride; bisphenol A; melamine hibitors, metal deactivators, friction modifiers, Assets: 180 iso containers; warehouses with
Services: Sales and marketing; logistics; secu- anti-foams, tackifiers); fatty acids; fatty alco- drumming; blending and repacking capabili-
rity of supply; partnerships; risk management hols; surfactants; viscosity index improvers; ty; 7 offices globally; internal laboratory
Assets: 14 trucks; 50 chassis; 7 forklifts pour point depressants; amines; solid lubri- Trading Sales: 7%
Trading Sales: 80% cants; wetting agents; food ingredients; bio-
additives and bases; antifreezes packages EL FIL INTERNATIONAL
CB CHEMIE Services: R&D; storage; logistics ; repackag- 265 2021 SALES: $28M
257 2021 SALES: $31.7M (€27.9M) ing; analysis; technical training Beirut, Lebanon
Siegendorf, Austria Trading Sales: 5% www.elfilinternational.com
www.cbchemie.at Owner and CEO: Hassan Elfil
CEO: Christian Braunshier CJ CHEMICALS Products: Soda ash dense and light; sodium
Products: Specialty chemicals for coatings 261 2021 SALES: $30M bicarbonate; sodium sulphate; caustic soda;
and construction; thickeners; binders; pig- Howell, Michigan, US sodium metabisulphite; LABSA; SLES; sodium
ments; additives www.cjchemicals.net silicate; aluminum sulphate; corn starch; con-

SPECIAL REPORT
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tainer glass; chromium sulphate; sodium feld- www.whitchem.couk financing; logistics; dangerous goods trans-
spar; dolomite Managing Director: Charles Hawley portation; technical support
Assets: Offices and warehouses Products: Resins/polymers, pigments, addi- Assets: 16 warehouses within Russia; 5 sales
Trading Sales: 95% tives, mineral fillers/filter aids, textile process- offices; own logistics company (17 trucks and
ing/finishing/coating products supplied for 3 road tankers designed for the transportation
S. KUSHALCHAND adhesives, sealants, construction/building of dangerous goods)
266 INTERNATIONAL materials, coatings, inks, plastics, rubbers, liq- Trading Sales: 50%
2021 SALES: $27.9M (RS2.08BN) uid/solid separation, agricultural formulations,
Mumbai, India feeds, horticulture, metallurgy, engineering RESOURCE CHEMICAL
www.skushalchand.com materials and refractories 269 2021 SALES: $27.1M (£20M)
Executive Director: Prasad Pawar Services: Local storage and supply of chemi- Brackley, Northamptonshire, UK
Products: Food and beverage ingredients; cals and minerals for customers across the UK www.resourcechemical.com
flavours and fragrances specialties; personal and Ireland; industrially trained personnel; Managing Director: Nicola Bradley
care ingredients; nutraceuticals; coatings and specialist technical support; project develop- Products: Chlor-alkali; chromic acid; water
adhesives; pharmaceutical ingredients; ment; formulation advice treatment and industrial chemicals
cleaning solutions and green solvents Assets: Sales office and warehouses located Services: Delivery in drums, bags, tankers
Services: Processing of orders; standard in the heart of the UK and iso containers; dosing in the water treat-
packaging and transportation; customs and Trading Sales: 100% ment sector
import services; inventory management;
tracking; planning of logistics and reverse lo- ALLIANCE-ENERGY ASSUNCAO DISTRIBUIDORA
gistics 268 2021 SALES: $27.4M 270 2021 SALES: $26.2M
Assets: 100 years of distribution experience; Moscow, Russia Alhandra, Paraiba, Brazil
24 principals; 1,100+ customers in 175 cities; www.alliance777.com www.assuncaodistribuidora.com.br
575+ products on shelf; 350 tonnes+ average CEO and Founder: Sergei Baranov CEO: Mauricio Assuncao
stocks; 675+ products offered; 60,000+ Products: Sodium hydroxide; citric acid; Products: TDI; polyether polyols; hydrogen
square feet of in-house warehousing space; soda ash; sodium tripolyphosphate; home peroxide; caustic soda flakes; sodium meta-
imports from 4 continents and 15+ countries care and I&I chemicals; composites; mining bisulphite; titanium dioxide; soda ash light;
Trading Sales: 2% chemicals; oil and gas chemicals; power methylene chloride; potassium permaga-
generation chemicals; water treatment nate; sulphonic acid; calcium hypochlorite
WHITCHEM chemicals; ceramics materials; food and 10% granulated; phosphoric acid; sodium
267 2021 SALES: $27.5M (£20.3M) feed ingredients nitrite; potassium hydroxide; sodium lauryl
Staffordshire, UK Services: Warehousing; custom clearance; ether sulphate

Services: Sales representation rite 15%; ammonia; urea; sodium bicarbonate; Assets: Laboratory; warehouse; office
sulphuric acid; nitric acid
COR QUIMICA Services: Solid repackaging; liquid repackag- CHEMCEED
271 2021 SALES: $25.7M (€22.6M) ing; solid mixtures; liquid mixtures 280 2021 SALES: $22M
Valdemoro, Madrid. Spain Trading Sales: 90% Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, US
www.cor.es www.chemceed.com
Administrator: Luis Javier Sanchez Cabrera COMINDEX President: Marimel Enderes
Products: Solvents and chemical products 276 2021 SALES: $22.8M (€20M) Products: Plasticizers; corrosion inhibitors;
Barcelona, Spain additives; solvents; fatty acids; alcohols;
ROYALE GROUP (AWSM INDUS- www.comindex.es specialty chemicals; industrial chemicals;
272 TRIES, ROYALE PIGMENTS & General Manager: Ana-Cristina Arp food additives
CHEMICALS, SHORECHEM) Products: Additives; acrylic dispersions; alkyd Services: Blending; packaging; labelling;
2021 SALES: $25M emulsions; castor and linseed oil and deriva- storage; consignment; just-in-time delivery
Bear, Delaware, US tives; corrosion inhibitors; epoxy resins; func- Assets: 1 warehouse
www.royalepigments-chem.com tional fillers; matting agents; molecular sieves; Trading Sales: 10%
www.awsmsolutions.com pigments; polyols; probiotics; PU dispersions;
CEO: John Logue reactive diluents; solvent-borne resins SMA COLLABORATIVES
Products: Alkali; fluoroborates; fluorides; Services: Technical assessment; technical vis- 281 2021 SALES: $21.3M
metal fluoroborates; nitrates/nitrites; borates; its with our principals; free customer training; Cincinnati, Ohio, US
ACS grades; specialty organics and inorganics free samples shipment; local warehousing www.smacollaboratives.com
Services: Manufacturing; supply chain man- Assets: 1 headquarters; 1 warehouse President: Saad Ashoor
agement; consulting; contract manufacturing Products: Clean beauty and microbiome
and formulating liquids; blending; break bulk SEACOLE products; vitamins and peptides; aroma chem-
wet and dry 277 2021 SALES: $22.7M icals; arrowroot powder; pentyele glycol; poly-
Assets: Manufacturing plant; 5 warehouse Plymouth, Minnesota, US hydroxy acids; nordic mushroom complexes;
locations www.seacole.com natural preservatives; texture emulsifiers; water
President, CEO: Gregg Elliott soluble CBD; natural glitters; Nordic berry oils
POLYHIMKOMPLEKT-M Products: Electronic processing chemicals and extracts
273 2021 SALES: $24.7M (printed and integrated circuit); agricultural Services: Formulations lab and technical
Moscow, Russia fungicides and nutrients; surface finishing/ support; in-house manufacturing; short lead-
www.phkomp-m.ru plating chemicals; industrial cleaning deter- time inventory in three warehouses and sales
Managing Director: Stanislav Zhilich gents; odour control chemicals; transportation coverage for North America
Products: Binders; latexes; dispersions; res- cleaning and maintenance; laboratory rea- Assets: 30,000 square foot manufacturing
ins; fillers; pigments; coalescents; rheological gents; fine chemical ingredients facility; 3 inventory warehouses around the
additives; biocides; antifoams; dispersants; Services: Custom and contract blending and US; applications formulations lab run by top
thickeners; PVC; functional additives for plas- packaging (dry and liquid); private label graduates from the University of Toldeo cos-
tics; textile additives; unsaturated PE resins blending and packaging; chemical distribu- metic science programme; sales office and
Services: Warehousing; logistics; transportation and logistics operation in Ohio and Florida; office in Bogo-
tion; customs clearance; marketing; adver- Assets: 100,000 square foot warehouse/ ta, Colombia
tisement; microbiological lab services manufacturing/headquarters; delivery trucks
Assets: 7 outsourced warehouses; 2 trucks. SAIPER CHEMICALS
STORT CHEMICALS 282 2021 SALES: $20.9M
PRIME SURFACTANTS 278 2021 SALES: $22.5M (£16.6M) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
274 2021 SALES: $23.6M (£17.4M) Bishop’s Stortford, UK www.saiper.com
Leeds, UK www.stortchemicals.co.uk Director: IBV Raghavan
www.primesurfactants.com Managing Director: Richard Gilkes Products: Additives (amine neutralizer, adi-
Managing Director: Nichole Hay Products: Resins; pigments and additives for pates, propionates); amines (ethanolamine,
Products: Alcohol ethoxylates; anionics; coatings; colourants for paint and thermo- ethyleneamines, isopropanolamines); C4
amine ethoxylates; biocides and preserva- sets; fluorosurfactants; synthetic and natural chemicals (BDO, NMP, THF, MPDiol glycol;
tives; blends and mixtures; cationics; chelat- raw materials for flavours and fragrances TBAC); glycol ethers (e-series and p-series);
ing agents; fatty acids and alcohols (palm Services: Technical sales; sampling; storage polyethylene glycols (PEGs); propylene gly-
free); rheology modifiers; RSPO MB; silicones; and distribution cols; pine oil based derivatives: TOR; TOFA;
specialties; sulphonic acid and their salts; sul- Assets: Incorporating Zanos LTD and Zanos DTO; rosin esters and rosin ester emulsions;
phosuccinates and sarcosinates Europe BV surfactants: Dowfax series; Tergitol series;
Trading Sales: 10% Triton series; NPEs; LAEs; EO-PO copolymers
COMERCIAL GODO Services: Registered with the FSSAI (for sup-
275 2021 SALES: $22.8M (€20M) CFI WORLD ply of chemicals to the F&B industries) and the
Barcelona, Spain 279 2021 SALES: $22.3M (€19.6M) FDA (for supply of chemicals and
www.comercialgodo.com Poznan, Poland intermediates to the pharmaceutical indus-
CEO: Xavier Bustos Ruiz www.cfiworld.pl try); custom blending and repacking; formula-
Products: AdBlue; ferric sulfate 43-45; liquid CEO: Klaudiusz Dominiak tions; drumming
casutic soda; aluminum polychloride 18%; Products: Cellulose ethers; RDP; tartaric acid; Assets: Two offices; three warehouses
phosphoric acid 75%; hydrochloric acida SBS; TIO2; NBR; EPDM (one owned); blending/formulation unit
33%; ferric chloride 40%; sodium hypochlo- Services: Laboratory tests; formulation Trading Sales: 2%

SPECIAL REPORT
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THE WHITE SEA & BALTIC CO Managing directors: Martina Magnie, Frank Elyria, Ohio, US
283 2021 SALES: $20.5M (£15.14M) Meyer www.schibley.com
Horsforth, Leeds, UK Products: Hydroxylamine sulfate; hydroxy- President: Reed Schibley
www.whitesea.co.uk lamine hydrochloride; triflic acid; MEKO; ni- Products: Organic peroxides; chelates; fatty
Managing Director: Alan Carradice tromethane; isocyanuric acid; BHT; p-toluene- acids; surfactants; UPR resins; fibreglass re-
Products: Surfactants – nonionics, anionics, sulfonic acid; n-isopropylhydroylamine; inforcements; FRP application equipment;
cationics, hydrotopes and green surfactants; anthranilic acid; agrochemicals; pharma- solvents; persulfates and mercaptans
fatty acids; oleochemicals; UV absorbers; chemicals; specialty chemicals; catalysts Services: Freight transportation; refrigerat-
pine tar; biocides and preservatives; person- Services: Door-to-door-service; refilling of ed transportation; packaging; warehousing;
al care ingredients; lactates; phenol blends triflic acid; handling of dangerous goods; chemical distribution; blending and training
and crystals stockholding; isotanks Assets: Trucking fleet; 4 warehouses; 2 tem-
Services: Storage; blending; sourcing perature controlled warehouses; hazardous
Assets: Head office GULF COAST CHEMICAL material storage; deluge; back-up and fire
Trading Sales: 20% 286 2021 SALES: $19.1M suppression systems
Abbeville, Louisiana, US
BOEHLE CHEMICALS www.gulfcoastchemical.com BLOOMCHEMAG
284 2021 SALES: $20.5M CEO: Jim Fusilier 288 2021 SALES: $17.9M (€15.7M)
Troy, Michigan, US Products: Glycols; methanol ;coolants; lubri- Mol, Belgium
www.boehlechem.com cants; antifreeze ;production chemicals; heat www.bloomchemag.com
President: Tedd Strobehn transfer fluids and wireline lubes CEO: Rajesh Sethi
Products: Surfactants; biocides; epoxy resins Services: Blending; storage; laboratory Products: Ethyl acetate; butac; PMA; PM; EP;
and diluents; epoxy curing agents; acrylic res- services; chemical treatment monitoring butyl acrylate; acrylates as MMA; acrylic
ins; colour dispersions; coatings additives; lu- programs acid; 2-EHA; 2-HEMA; propylene carbonate;
bricant additives; phenolic resins; hydrocar- Assets: Six company operated facilities; bulk triacetin; MEK; IPA; benzyl alcohol; benzyl
bon resins; TIO2; fumed silica; defoamers; methanol boat terminal; warehouse storage; benzoate; benzoic acid; 1;4-butanediol;
PEGS; emulsifiers 560,000 gal of bulk liquid storage; laboratory caustic soda; acetic acid; methylene chlo-
Assets: 5 warehouses facility; 22 delivery trucks; three tankers; four ride; calcium hypochlorite; VAM; triethyl-
Trading Sales: 15% service trucks amine (TEA); ethanolamines; low-aromatic
Trading Sales: 10% white spirit (LAWS); propylene glycol (MPG)
KLAUS F. MEYER Services: Global trading; imports into Ant-
285 2021 SALES: $20M (€17.6M) SCHIBLEY SOLVENTS & werp; storage and warehousing; drumming
Fussgoenheim, Germany 287 CHEMICALS in Antwerp; distribution to EU customers
www.klausfmeyer.de 2021 SALES: $19M Assets: 4,400 square feet fully owned corpo-

SPECIAL REPORT
rate office in Noida, India; leased/rented ware- Assets: 1 rented office and 1 owned office A-GAS ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
housing; shared workspace in Mol and UK in Dubai; 2 third party rented warehouses in 297 2021 SALES: $11M (£8.2M)
Trading Sales: 15% Dubai Rugby, UK
www.agasem.com
TECNOSINTESI NEWTRAC TRADING Managing Director: Jonathan Sellars
289 2021 SALES: $17.1M (€15M) 293 2021 SALES: $15M Products: Microfluidics; photonics; semi-
Bergamo, Italy Cairo, Egypt conductor materials; microlelectronics ma-
www.tecnosintesi.com www.newtrac.com terials; lab on chip; sensors; conductive inks;
COO: Michele Angius Managing Director: Patrick Ashba PCBs; metal finishing chemicals; electronics
Products: Ammonium polyphosphate Products: Textile dyes; pigments; binders chemicals
(APP); acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC); cy- and auxiliaries; epoxy resins and hardeners; Services: Laboratory services; chemical
clohexane-dimethanol (CHDM); diallyl opacity pigments for paints and plastics; ali- warehousing; technical sales support
phthalate (DAP); epoxy resins; hexanediol phatic and aromatic isocyanates; IPDA; Assets: 20,000 square foot warehouse with
(HDO); isophthalic acid (PIA); melamine; paints additives; PVC process aids; heat sta- non-temperature controlled racking, temper-
monobutyltin oxide (MBTO); monopropyl- bilisers; waxes; compatibilisers; silicones; ature and humidity controlled racking, cold
ene glycol (MPG); polyetherammine; p-tert amines and stannous octoate for the foam storage and refrigerated storage
butyl phenol (PTBP); tartaric acid; tin cata- industry; PCE dispersing agents for the ce- Trading Sales: 100%
lysts; trimethylolpropane (TMP) ment industry
Services: Trading; sourcing of specialties; Services: Technical consultancy; technical AN LOC PHAT INTERNATIONAL
storage; blending and repacking; full service sales; formulation support; trading; blending; 298 2021 SALES: $10M
from sourcing to DDP delivery, including storage Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
handling of emergencies Assets: 3 warehouses; 2 offices; 1 application www.anlocphat.com.vn
Trading Sales: 65% laboratory; 3 trucks CEO: Harry Nguyen
Trading Sales: 49% Products: Synthetic rubber; rubber chemi-
BIACHEM cals; chemicals and additives for adhesives,
290 2021 SALES: $17M AUDICHE TRADING construction and oil; plastics
London, UK 294 2021 SALES: $13.1M Services: Import and export
www.biachem.com Alexandria, Egypt Assets: Office; warehouse
CEO: Bob Beaumont www.facebook.com/Audiche- Trading Sales: 30%
Products: Caustic soda; sodium sulphate; Trading-Co-411445818957021
surfactants; chelates; magnesium chloride; President: Alain Audiche ABBEY CHEMICALS
salt; phosphates; percarbonates; potassium Products: Titanium dioxide; polyvinyl alco- 299 2021 SALES: $9.3M (£6.9M)
chloride; sodium hydrosulphite; chlorine; sul- hol; micaceous iron oxide; glass flakes; Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK
phamic acid hydrocarbon resin; methyl ethyl ketoxime; www.abbeychemicals.co.uk
Services: Repacking; blending; dilution compound ferro titanium; zinc phosphates; Director: Tyson Bonham
Trading Sales: 10% iron oxides; Denka CSA (calcium sulfo Products: Monoethylene glycol; monopro-
aluminate) pylene glycol; butyl diglycol; monoethanola-
CUSTOM CHEMICAL SERVICES Services: Trading mine; acetic acid; ferric chloride; caustic soda
291 2021 SALES: $15.6M Assets: 1 office; 2 warehouses; 2 trucks liquor and pearl; copper sulphate; magnesi-
Hitchcock, Texas, US Trading Sales: 25% um sulphate; potassium nitrate; calcium ni-
www.cchemicals.com trate; boric acid; zinc sulphate; manganese
President: Margaret Roff CHEMCOM sulphate; phosphates
Products: Ketones; glycols; alcohols; aro- 295 2021 SALES: $12.6M (€11.1M) Services: Storage; ISO 9001 and 14001 and
matics; hydrocarbons; aliphatics; acids; sur- Croatia UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme)
factants; amines www.chemcom.hr certification
Services: Toll blending; packaging; neutrali- CEO: Filip Rosandic Assets: 5 warehouses; 6 trucks and 7 trailers;
sation; warehousing; import/export; trans- Products: Food additives; feed additives; 6 ADR drivers; offshore marine base facility; 12
loading pharmaceutical additives; coating/construc- offshore tanks
Assets: Qualified and skilled employees; tion chemicals; lubricant additives Trading Sales: 10%
warehouse; blending equipment; packaging Trading Sales: 50%
equipment; bulk storage tanks QUIMICA MER
CLASSIC DISTRIBUTING 300 2021 SALES: $9M (€7.9M)
RISHICHEM MIDEAST 296 COMPANY Toledo, Spain
292 2021 SALES: $15M 2021 SALES: $12M www.quimicamer.es
Dubai, UAE Pacoima, California, US President and CEO: Javier Huerta Gonzalez
www.rishichem.ae www.classicdistrib.com Products: Solvents, thinners and green sol-
Director: Arvind Mahendra Kapoor President: Larry Helscher vents; paints and coatings raw materials; ad-
Products: Silicone polymer; synthetic rub- Products: Personal care ingredients; indus- hesives and sealants raw materials; aroma/
ber; styrene block co-polymer; glycerine; sili- trial cleaners; preservatives; esters; sur- perfumes and cosmetics raw materials; sof-
cone fluid; carbon black; epoxy resin; cetra- factants; specialty chemicals teners and detergents raw materals; emul-
monium chloride; sodium benzoate; calcium Services: Liquid blending; warehousing; sions and copolymers; antifreezing formu-
stearate product development; technical sales lated products; epoxy resins;
Services: Storage; warehousing; technical Assets: Owned facility; truck fleet pharmaceutical, cosmetics and agro chemi-
support Trading Sales: 5% cals raw materials; organic and inorganic

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chemicals; aeronautic and automotive raw textiles; pigment dispersions; carbon black; www.keironchemicals.com
materials; water treatment chemicals; inks polyurethane resins President: Javier Pique Punet
and printing chemicals raw materials; food Services: Blending; packing Products: Fibres; phenolic and CNSL resins;
chemicals Assets: Warehouse carbon products; rubber; inorganic-metallics;
Services: Bulk storage; blending and formu- Trading Sales: 75% lubricants; other raw materials
lations; packaging and bulk deliveries; logis- Services: Storage; logistics; repackaging;
tics and outsourcing; lab analytical services to A. S. PATERSON agency distributors
third parties; e-invoicing 303 2021 SALES: $7M Assets: Headquarters and warehouse in Bar-
Assets: 1 warehouse (bulk and packed stor- Concord, Ontario, Canada celona; other warehouse in Spain; sales office
age); blending facility; 1 bulk tank car; 2 www.aspaterson.com and warehouse in Mexico
packed trucks President: Rod Paterson Trading Sales: 30%
Products: Pigments; pigment dispersions;
ASCANIO QUIMICA dyes; micronised waxes; wax emulsions; CRISMACHEM
301 2021 SALES: $8.1M (€7.1M) acrylic emulsions; polyurethane dispersions; 306 2021 SALES: $4.9M (€4.3M)
Candelaria, Santa Cruz De Tener- amino acids; alkyd and polyester resins; de- Madrid, Spain
ife, Canary Islands, Spain foamers; UV stabilisers www.crismachem.com
www.ascanioquimica.com Assets: Sales office Founder and Managing Director: Marcelo
CEO: Luz Maria Ascanio Plasencia Montoro
Products: Sodium hypochlorite; caustic NIMAC Products: Specialty chemicals for construc-
soda; sulphuric acid; hydrochloric acid; nitric 304 2021 SALES: $7M tion and CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants
acid for water treatment; AdBlue; AUS 40 Birmingham, UK and elastomers); resins; cellulose ethers; addi-
Services: Blending and dilutions; packaging; www.nimacltd.co.uk tives; minerals; pigments
storage; manufacturing of AdBlue and AUS Managing Director: Nigel McDonald Services: Storage; custom blending and
40; consultancy service in facilities Products: Lubricant additives; rust protec- repackaging; sieving; formulation; drum-
Assets: 5 distribution and warehouses cent- tives; antioxidants; specialty oleochemicals; ming; training; project development
ers with presence in all the Canary Islands specialty petrochemicals and packages Assets: Headquarters; 2 warehouses; 1
Services: Industry specific personnel; spe- laboratory
CLARIQUIMICA cialist technical support; multi-location ware-
302 2021 SALES: $8M houses
Sao Paulo, Brazil Assets: Warehouses in the UK and Germany
www.clariquimica.com Note: Local currency sales convert-
CEO: Valne Lucas Vieira KEIRON CHEMICALS ed to US dollars based on 31
Products: Pigments and additives; paper and 305 2021 SALES: $6.3M (€5.5M) December 2021 exchange rates
textiles chemicals; iron oxide; dyes for paper Barcelona, Spain

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EUROPE CHEMICAL PROFILE For up-to-date information on more
Ethylene
Nel Weddle London
Uses but later moved into a more balanced to long Europe ethylene capacity
Ethylene is used to make polyethylene (PE), position after production issues were resolved. ‘000 tonnes/year
which accounts for just over 60% of world Europe’s high cost position relative to the rest of Company Location Capacity
ethylene demand. Other major uses are ethyl- the world has seen significant import of vol-
Dow Chemical Terneuzen, 1,825
ene oxide (EO), ethylene glycol (EG), and poly- umes ex-US and Middle East. The surge again in Netherlands
vinyl chloride (PVC). Other derivatives include energy costs at the start of the Ukraine conflict
SABIC Europe Beek, Netherlands 1,265
linear alpha olefins (LAO), detergent alcohols put cracker margins under extreme pressure
Total Olefins Antwerp, Belgium 1,190
and plasticizer alcohols, vinyl acetate mono- and operating rates were again reduced in miti-
Antwerp
mer (VAM), and various intermediates such as gation. Currently the spring maintenance slate
INEOS Dormagen, Germany 1,155
styrene, ethanol, and ethyl acetate. is underway. Demand is holding but there are
fears this will fade as Europe grapples with high BASF Antwerp, Belgium 1,080
Supply/demand costs and a worsening economic outlook. BP Gelsenkirchen-Buer, 1,065
Market fundamentals remained robust through Germany
2021. Supply was especially tight at the start of Pricing LyondellBasell Wesseling, Germany 1,040
Industries
the year on the back of unplanned cracker out- Contract prices steadily increased through
ages and strong demand as derivatives’ pro- 2021, finishing the year some 50% higher than Shell Chemicals Moerdijk, 971
Netherlands
ducers tried to rebuild inventory and prepare in January. Spot prices persisted at either con-
for planned Spring maintenances. tract price flat or at a small premium over the Fife Ethylene Mossmorran, United 830
Plant Kingdom
The balance eased by March but remained contract price having peaked at a 21% premi-
tighter than typical as the planned turnarounds um in January, until July where the market Naphtachimie Lavera, France 800
progressed – some maintenance had been flipped into double-digit discounts. The US A full list of plants and projects capaci-
postponed from 2020 into 2021 due to Covid. polar storm in February disrupted US imports ties, forecasts, production volumes and
Supply lengthened as turnarounds drew to a for a time but these resumed in the summer operating rates are available on the
close. Unplanned operational issues impacted leading to a two-tiered spot market depend- ICIS Supply and Demand database
on output but this was offset by problems on ing on product origin, US spot prices being
the derivative side. Disruptions to components considerably lower than those in Europe. European crackers, specifically in the UK and
flows due to global supply chain challenges Upstream developments put pressure on in Scandinavia, has increased.
helped to keep some consumption below margins and unplanned issues reduced incre-
plan. Demand was more cautious overall. mental supply and spot prices firmed in the Outlook
Towards year-end, energy costs soared put- latter part of the year. This tighter than expect- The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has contrib-
ting margins under pressure leading to some ed supply and demand balance prevailed uted to make the outlook uncertain and vola-
reductions in operating rates. Demand for key throughout the first quarter of 2022, and to- tile. Economic fundamentals will continue to
derivative polyethylene (PE) remained strong, gether with the strong gains in oil and gas be adversely impacted by the geopolitical
but offtakes were reduced in some sectors. partly driven by the Ukraine conflict, led to crunch throughout this year. Euro area annual
2022 started on a tighter than expected note both a record adjustment and a record high inflation, which is forecast to be 7.5% in March
contract reference price set for April. 2022, up from 5.9% in February, could remain
Europe ethylene At the time of writing, May contract refer- on an upward trend up to H1 2022.
ence discussions are around the corner. The On production, the planned closure of the
€/tonne, FD NWE Spot
Contract focus is shifting from concerns over upstream cracker at Porto Marghera, Italy, is due during
2,000
costs, to the consequences of transferring the second quarter. There are some talks about
those costs down the value chains. a potential closure of one of two crackers oper-
1,750
ated by Sabic at Geleen, Netherlands, by 2024.
Technology In contrast, OMV’s ethylene capacity at its
1,500 Ethylene is produced commercially by steam- Burghausen refinery in Germany is scheduled
cracking a wide range of hydrocarbon feed- to be enlarged in Q3 2022 during a planned re-
1,250 stocks. In Europe and Asia, ethylene is ob- finery maintenance. Orlen Unipetrol plans to
tained mainly from cracking naphtha, gasoil, expand its steam cracking capacity at Litvinov,
1,000 condensates and LPG (liquefied petroleum in the Czech Republic, in 2022, and SABIC’s
gases) with the coproduction of propylene, cracker at Wilton in the UK is expected to be
750 C4 olefins and aromatics – from pyrolysis gas- back onstream late 2022, early 2023. ■
oline (pygas). The cracking of ethane and pro- Access the archive of the Chemical
500 pane is mainly carried out in the Middle East, Profiles A-Z at icis.com/subscriber/icb/
Apr 2021 Apr 2022 the US and Canada, but the use of ethane in chemicalprofiles

US CHEMICAL PROFILE
PVC
Bill Bowen Houston
Uses the US Federal Reserve to lift interest rates US PVC capacity

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a rigid and durable and recession fears rise. ‘000 tonnes/year
thermoplastic with many applications tied to US PVC production cost advantages are ex- Company Location Capacity
the manufacture of construction materials pected to keep export arbitrage open. US
Shintech Freeport, Texas 1,450
(70% of US PVC production). PVC is used to PVC capacity of 8.32m tonnes/year in 2021 is
make rigid water pipe, but, with the addition up 4% from 2020. Of that, US producers typi- Shintech Addis, Louisiana 1,190
of plasticizers and other additives, PVC can be cally have exported a third of total output in OxyVinyls Pasadena, Texas 950
made clear and flexible enough to make clear recent years. Export volumes, though, Shintech Plaquemine, 600
film for food or for medical uses, including dropped by half in 2021 on production disrup- Louisiana
blood bags. tions and robust domestic demand. Westlake Vinyls Plaquemine, 750
It is also made into fibres used in clothing, US producers have targeted markets in de- Louisiana
upholstery, or vinyl floor covering and electri- veloping economies in Latin America, south Formosa Point Comfort, 690
cal wire insulation or to make artificial leather. Asia, Africa and the Middle East where con- Texas
It is the third-largest plastic produced in the struction and economic growth are rising fast- Westlake PVC Calvert City, 592
Kentucky
US by volume after polyethylene (PE) and er. Top US export markets include Canada,
polypropylene (PP). Mexico and other Latin American countries. Formosa Plastics Baton Rouge, 470
Louisiana
US producers continue to add capacity and
Supply/demand back-integrate operations to ethane feed- Westake Vinyls Aberdeen, 454
Mississippi
US and Canada PVC production in 2021 was stock to capitalise fully on the feedstock ad-
up 1.6% from 2020’s pandemic-suppressed vantage. Supply should grow in 2022 with in- Oxy Deer Park, Texas 307
output, but remained 5.6% below 2018’s re- cremental capacity expansions that came on
A full list of plants and projects capaci-
cent peak. Ongoing production problems re- line in late 2021, including at Shintech, which ties, forecasts, production volumes and
main a hangover from the 2021 mid-February added 290,000 tonne/year of PVC capacity operating rates are available on the
winter freeze in Texas and Louisiana and Hur- during Q3 2021. Westlake added 250,000 ICIS Supply and Demand database
ricane Ida in August 2021. tonnes/year of capacity in 2020.
US and Canada domestic sales were up Formosa Plastics is expected to start up sion polymerisation and mass polymerisation.
18% but export sales were down by 32% from 136,000 tonnes/year of new PVC capacity in In the US, most ethylene comes from
2020 and 47% off of the 2018 pace. late 2022 or early 2023. These additions will add ethane, a natural gas liquid (NGL), and gives
US housing starts began 2022 at the to producers’ ability to expand export sales. US producers a significant production cost
strongest rate since 2006. The US housing advantage. It has prompted capacity expan-
market is making up for years of slower-than- Prices sions and usually maintains an open arbitrage
historic growth following the 2007 downturn. Strong domestic and export demand against to Asia and Europe where producers derive
The US Conference Board has lowered its numerous production problems pushed US ethylene from naphtha from crude oil.
GDP growth forecast to 3% for 2022 and prices sharply higher starting in June 2020
down to 2.2% for 2023 as inflation prompts and lasting through 2021. The pandemic, Outlook
three hurricanes and a rare deep freeze in The demand outlook is expected fairly
US PVC February 2021 interrupted US production steady in 2022 at 2021’s robust levels. The
from Q2 2020 through Q3 2021. US contract ongoing recovery from the pandemic slow-
$/tonne, spot FOB US Gulf
prices rose more than 50% over the next 18 downs has brought new consumer demand
2,150
months and spot export prices more than tri- to renovate homes or to buy new ones. That
pled to $2,000/tonne before easing at the should meet a production recovery from the
2,020 start of 2022. disruptions in 2021.
Feedstock costs for ethylene were also Residential construction activity has al-
pressured by cracker outages, though the ready exceeded expectations but there are
1,890
higher prices for PVC avoided thinning pro- growing concerns about the impact of higher
ducer margins. interest rates on buying appetite.
1,760 Growth of US PVC exports is expected to
Technology accompany the return of production capacity,
Most PVC is produced through the polymerisa- though it will be tempered by the expected
1,630
tion of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in a liquid increase in domestic demand. ■
state. The so-called process of suspension poly- Access the archive of the Chemical
1,500 merisation accounts for almost 90% of PVC Profiles A-Z at icis.com/subscriber/icb/
May 2021 Apr 2022 manufacture. Other processes include emul- chemicalprofiles

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