According to a survey conducted by Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) on the global top 50 chemical companies, the chemical industry is continuing its strange pattern from the last couple years: declining sales, yet increasing profits. Combined, sales for the top 50 companies dropped 4.4% to $744.3 billion in 2016, including decreases for 38 of the companies. For the 47 public companies, however, combined profits grew 2.6% to $98.2 billion in 2016. Out of the 50 companies, 17 reported decreases in their earnings, while no company suffered losses. This pattern is similar to 2015, when sales decreased 10.8%, yet profits increased 15.1%. This unusual pattern is explained by falling oil prices and a robust economy.

The global top 50 list is similar in structure to last year, with changes including the removal of Honeywell, which fell from the ranking due to spinning off its chemical business, and of PotashCorp, which was also taken off the list due to declining sales. The leading global chemical companies in the world are BASF, with $60.6 billion in sales in 2016; Dow Chemical,  with sales of $48.2 billion; and Sinopec, which had sales of $42.8 billion and was the only company to post an increase in sales out of the top 10 chemical companies.
Source: C&EN