In Chemical & Engineering News’ (C&EN) latest Global Top 50, the 50 largest chemical firms surveyed brought in a combined $775.2 billion in sales in 2015, a 10.8% decrease. However, profits increased 15.1%, or $96.7 billion, and profit margins climbed almost three percentage points to 13.5%, indicating that none of the 50 companies surveyed recorded losses in 2015. Low oil prices of approximately $49/barrel, a 47% decrease, and a strong US dollar influenced the rankings. Shell Chemicals, BP, Tosoh and Siam Cement were not included in the Top 50 due to decreases in sales, while Covestro, Lubrizol, Honeywell and Potash were new additions to the list. BASF topped the list in both R&D investment and capital with $63.7 billion in sales, with Dow Chemical following with $48.8 billion, Sinopec with $43.8 billion, SABIC with $34.3 billion and Formosa Plastics with $29.2 billion.

Source: C&EN