The two primary commodities offered by the alkalies and chlorine industry are chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), together representing about 82 percent of all shipments. Soda ash, an alkali product used in glassmaking, water treatment, pulp bleaching, and detergent manufacturing, accounts for only 14 percent of shipments.
In the United States, industrial gases touch virtually every facet of life. The three major atmospheric gases—oxygen, nitrogen, and argon—are used in steel production.
Inorganic pigments serve the purpose of imparting color to various compounds. They also add properties such as rust inhibition, rigidity, and abrasion resistance.
This category includes establishments primarily involved in manufacturing industrial inorganic chemicals not elsewhere classified. A few examples are alum, ammonium compounds (except for fertilizer), industrial bleaches (sodium or calcium hypochlorite), chemical catalysts, hydrazine, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, inorganic sodium compounds, and sulfuric acid.
Synthetic plastic was invented late in the eighteenth century and did not reach widespread use in the United States until the 1900s. Swift advances in chemical and manufacturing technologies during the twentieth century, however, made plastic one of America's most important manufacturing materials.
Production of synthetic rubber on a commercial scale began in the United States during the 1930s, though natural rubber has been used since the early 1800s for multiple applications. The United States assumed an early lead in the development and production of vulcanizable elastomers—a position that it maintained throughout the twentieth century.
Cellulose fibers are made from modified wood pulp that has been dissolved in a liquid and treated with chemicals. The solution is forced through small holes called spinnerets; the extrusion dries into a hard filament.
Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing noncellulosic, or synthetic, fibers comprise the manmade organic fibers industry. The fibers are created in the form of monofilament, yarn, staple, or tow suitable for further manufacturing on spindles, looms, knitting machines, or other textile processing equipment.
This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing bulk organic and inorganic medicinal chemicals and their derivatives, as well as processing—grading, grinding, milling—bulk botanical drugs and herbs. Included in this industry are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing agar and similar products of natural origin, endocrine products, manufacturing or isolating basic vitamins, and isolating active medicinal principals from botanical drugs and herbs.
This industry includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing, fabricating, or processing drugs in pharmaceutical preparations for human or veterinary use. The greater part of the products of these establishments are finished in the form intended for final consumption, such as ampoules, tablets, capsules, vials, ointments, medicinal powders, solutions, and suspensions.
This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing in vitro ("in glass," such as a test tube) and in vivo ("in the body") diagnostic substances, whether or not packaged for retail sale. These materials are chemical, biological, or radioactive substances used in diagnosing or monitoring the state of human or veterinary health by identifying and measuring normal or abnormal constituents of body fluids or tissues.
According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, establishments classified in this industry shipped products valued at $6.6 billion in 2000, compared to $5.6 billion in 1997.
The soap and detergents industry's marketplace in the United States—valued at $15.6 billion in 2001—faced increasing competition during the early 2000s. By the turn of the century, liquid detergents were outpacing powders, capturing nearly three quarters of the overall market by 2003.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in the late 1990s a total of 728 establishments manufactured products in this category.
This industry classification includes establishments primarily involved in making compounds that, when dissolved in water, reduce the water's surface tension. Products include preparations such as wetting agents, emulsifiers, and penetrants.
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing perfumes, cosmetics, and other toilet preparations. Manufacturers of shampoos, shaving products, personal deodorants, hair preparations, suntan lotions and oils, talcum powders, toothpastes and powders, mouthwashes, and premoistened towelettes are included.
This industry category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing paints (in paste and ready-mixed form); varnishes; lacquers; enamels; shellac; dry powder coatings; putties, wood fillers, and sealers; paint and varnish removers; paintbrush cleaners; and allied paint products.
The gum and wood chemicals industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing hardwood and softwood distillation products, natural dyes, tanning materials, and related products. Companies that make synthetic organic tanning materials and synthetic organic dyes are classified in SIC 2869: Industrial Organic Chemicals, Not Elsewhere Classified and SIC 2865: Cyclic Organic Crudes and Intermediates, and Organic Dyes and Pigments, respectively.
This industry covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing cyclic organic crudes and intermediates and organic dyes and pigments. Important products of this industry include (1) aromatic chemicals such as benzene, toluene, mixed xylenes, and naphthalene;(2) synthetic organic dyes; and (3) synthetic organic pigments.
This industry includes companies primarily engaged in the production of organic chemicals used by other manufacturing industries. It encompasses the majority of U.S.
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizer materials or mixed fertilizers from nitrogenous materials produced in the same establishment.
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing phosphatic fertilizer materials, or mixed fertilizers from phosphatic materials produced in the same establishment.
This category covers establishments primarily engaged in mixing fertilizers from already-processed fertilizer materials. In the industry, "fertilizer materials" refers specifically to fertilizers that have no more than one of the three primary plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in the formulation and preparation of ready-to-use agricultural and household pesticides from technical chemicals or concentrates, and the production of concentrates that require further processing before use as agricultural pesticides. This industry also includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing or formulating agricultural chemicals, not elsewhere classified, such as minor or trace elements and soil conditioners.
The adhesives and sealants industry includes two chemically similar but functionally different groups of formulated products, adhesive and sealants. Adhesive products are used to create a bond between two different or similar materials.
Historically, the explosives industry has been closely aligned with the coal mining industry. According to The Institute of Makers of Explosives (IME) the coal industry consumed 67 percent of explosives manufactured in the United States in the late 1990s and remained the largest application for explosives use in the United States.
During the recession at the beginning of the 1990s, raw material prices stabilized considerably. Purchasing experts in the ink industry found that there were only a few areas where upward price pressure could continue throughout 1990.
Carbon black is essentially an oil by-product used to strengthen rubber. It is made by shooting a hot mist of oil particles into a flame, a very expensive process that has limited the number of competitors in the industry.
As the specialty chemical industry entered the 1990s, many corporations implemented organizational restructuring coupled with cost reduction measures. Based on these management decisions, the industry appeared to be in the beginning of a business recovery from the cyclical downturn experienced during the last portion of the 1980s.