Aceto Corporation is a global leader in the distribution and marketing of Pharmaceutical and Specialty Chemicals used principally in the agricultural, color, pharmaceutical, surface coating/ink and general chemical industries.

Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) is India’s leading manufacturer of inorganic chemicals. It also manufactures fertilisers and food additives. It has been continuously raising the bar in technological competence and gaining recognition as a leader and innovator. The company has an enduring commitment to protecting and enhancing the environment, serving and improving the communities in which it functions, and adhering to the highest ethical standards of corporate behaviour. TCL operates the largest and most integrated inorganic chemicals complex in India, at Mithapur in Gujarat, a state in western India. A pioneer and market leader in the branded, iodised salt segment, the company manufactures salt that has a purity percentage of 99.8 per cent, the highest in the country.

Univar N.V. is one of the world’s leading independent distributors of industrial chemicals and providers of related specialty services, operating throughout both North America and Europe. Univar operates a network of 164 distribution centers, spread across the United States, Canada and 14 European countries.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. The scope of its business mainly covers oil and gas exploration, development, production and marketing; oil refining; production and sales of petrochemicals, chemical fibers, chemical fertilizers and other chemical products; storage and pipeline transportation of crude oil and natural gas; import, export and import/export agency business of crude oil, natural gas, refined oil products, petrochemicals, chemicals, and other commodities and technologies.

Kuraray Co., Ltd. is the first company in the world to commercialize vinylon, and has consistently followed a policy of contributing to society through highly original technology. It offers many products that command the top shares of the markets, born of polymer chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and high-precision processing expertise developed through original research

Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology manufacturing.

Agrium Inc. is a leading global producer and marketer of agricultural nutrients and industrial products and a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in both North and South America. Agrium produces and markets three primary groups of nutrients: nitrogen, phosphate, potash as well as micronutrients.

UBE Industries produce a wide array of chemicals, specialty materials, plastics and synthetic rubber, each encapsulating the essence of the company’s technologies and traditions.

Tosoh Corporation is a multinational corporation that generates an array of products to suit modern lifestyles and that contribute to the development of cutting-edge products and technologies. Tosoh is a global supplier of inorganic chemicals, petrochemicals, and specialty materials.

Celanese is an integrated global producer of value-added industrial chemicals. It is also the world’s largest producer of acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) and polyacetals (POM) and a leading global producer of high-performance engineered polymers used in consumer and industrial products and designed to meet highly technical customer requirements.

Rhodia is a global specialty chemicals manufacturer organized around eight Enterprises. It holds leadership positions in key technologies in applications chemistry, with surfactants, polymers, high-performance silicas and rare earth-based specialties; in specialty materials and services, with adipic acid, polyamide engineering plastics and sulfuric acid regeneration; and in fine chemicals, with pharmaceutical active ingredients and ingredients for flavors and fragrances.

Orica is an Australian-owned, publicly-listed global company that primarily serves the mining, quarrying, and construction industries. Additionally, it produces chlor-alkali chemicals, paints, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, and mining chemicals.

Dainippon Ink and Chemicals Incorporated (DIC), is one of Japan’s most diversified chemical companies and the core of the DIC Group, which comprises approximately 300 subsidiaries and affiliates, including Sun Chemical Corp. and Reichhold, Inc., in more than 60 countries worldwide. The operations of the DIC Group are divided into five segments: graphic arts materials; packaging materials; electronics & information materials; industrial materials; and performance chemicals.

Clariant is a global leader in the field of specialty chemicals. Clariant, which is represented on five continents with over 100 group companies, employs about 25,000 people. Headquartered in Muttenz near Basel, it generated sales of around CHF 8.5 billion in 2004. Clariant’s businesses are organized in five divisions: Textile, Leather & Paper Chemicals, Pigments & Additives, Masterbatches, Functional Chemicals and Life Science Chemicals .

LG was established in 1947 as Korea’s first chemical company, also becoming the nation’s first electronics company with its expansion into home appliances in 1958. On March 2003, LG introduced the holding company structure and on July 1st 2004, the demerger of two holding companies - LG Corp. and GS Holdings Corp. took place to separate the manufacturing and technology related businesses from the service and retail operations. The separation is meant to maximize profits of LG shareholders by boosting business specialization of key LG companies.

Teijin produces polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films used in packaging and magnetic media. The company also makes polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) film used in videocassettes, and it makes pharmaceuticals and medical products, as well as textile and industrial machinery such as spinning machines. Teijin serves customers in Asia, Europe, and the Americas through about 200 subsidiaries and affiliates.

Braskem figures as the largest petrochemical operation in Latin America and among the three largest private companies in Brazil. With a verticalized structure integrating the first and the second petrochemical generations, Braskem reports annual earnings of R$ 14,3 billion (2004). The company employs directly 3.000 people and indirectly 5.000 people, achieving a production of 5,7 million tons of primary base, secondary and intermediate petrochemical products.

Eastman Chemical Company is a global company whose products touch the lives of people around the world every day. Headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S.A., Eastman manufactures and markets more than 1,200 chemicals, fibers and plastics products.

The company is the world’s largest supplier of polyester plastics for packaging; a leading supplier of coatings raw materials, specialty chemicals and plastics; and a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers and basic chemicals. Eastman is one of the top 10 global suppliers of custom-manufactured fine chemicals for pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and other markets.

Ecolab is the leading global developer and marketer of premium cleaning, sanitizing, pest elimination, maintenance and repair products and services for the world’s hospitality, institutional and industrial markets.It was founded in 1923, when M.J. Osborn recognized a need for an offering that combined premium products and service to the hospitality industry. Over the years, it expanded the horizons to serve restaurants, hospitals, food and beverage plants, laundries, schools, retail and commercial properties, and beyond.

From a standing start a little more than two decades ago, NOVA Chemicals is now among the fastest growing producers of petrochemicals and plastics in the business.

The history reflects the dynamic nature of the chemical industry. It’s a history filled with challenge and change, demanding exceptional performance and forward-thinking strategies. The following tracks our evolution from our beginnings in the Alberta natural gas business to our current standing as a world-class commodity chemical company.

LG Chem is a vertically integrated chemical company that manufactures a wide range of products from petrochemical goods to high-value added plastics, and high performance industrial materials. It also expands its chemical expertise to high-tech materials for electronics such as rechargeable batteries and TFT-LCD display materials. LG Chem’s business is comprised of three major areas: chemicals and polymers, industrial materials, and information & electronic materials. It conducts global management through its manufacturing affiliates, research centers, and marketing branches in major countries around the world.

Nitto Denko Corporation is Japan’s first manufacturer of electrical insulation materials. Capitalizing particularly on the Group strengths in polymer synthesis, application and processing technologies, Nitto Denko has constantly stayed at the leading edge in the development and implementation of an expanding range of advanced technologies that offer customers in countless fields the products they need when they need them. Consisting of 109 companies in 23 countries, the Nitto Denko Group is a continually evolving business organization that strives to enrich the quality of life worldwide through better products and technology.

Hanwha Chemical Corporation emerged, along with its home country’s industrial economy, in the early 1960s. Today the diversified chemical company manufactures polyethylene (for industrial films and packaging products), PVC (pipes, cable insulation, and hoses), and caustic soda (used by the pulp and paper and petroleum industries).

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Mitsui Chemicals), one of the leading companies in the chemical industry, has increasingly expanded its business in the United States by offering state-of-the-art technology and products through Mitsui Chemicals America, Inc.

Mitsui Chemicals America, Inc. is headquartered in Purchase, New York, and, with its affiliates, produces and supplies high value added chemical products to the North and South American markets.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of commodity and differentiated chemicals. Its operating companies manufacture basic products for a variety of global industries including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, textiles, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

Originally known for pioneering innovations in packaging, and later, rapid and integrated growth in petrochemicals, Huntsman today has revenues of $11.5 billion, 11,300 employees and 62 operations in 22 countries.The world’s most significant and essential industries rely on Huntsman businesses to manufacture basic products for a variety of end-use applications.

PotashCorp is the world’s largest integrated producer of those three essential nutrients. It is a publicly traded Canadian corporation with all of the shares listed and traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges (symbol POT). It had 53.1 million shares outstanding at December 31, 2003, and following a stock split on August 17, 2004, the number of shares outstanding approximated 107 million. Shares are widely held and have been publicly traded since 1989.

As a three-nutrient company, PotashCorp is one of the world’s largest producers of fertilizer products, serving global agriculture. With the most animal feed production capacity in the world, it supplies feed ingredients that help animals grow. PotashCorp is also a major industrial supplier as the world’s largest producer of industrial nitrogen products and one of only two North American industrial phosphate producers.

Lyondell Chemical Company engages in the manufacture and marketing of various intermediate and performance chemicals. It operates through four segments: ethylene, co-products, and derivatives; propylene oxide and related products; inorganic chemicals; and refining. Its ethylene, co-products and derivatives segment produces ethylene; ethylene co-products, including propylene, butadiene, benzene, and toluene; and derivatives, including polyethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, EO derivatives, and ethanol, vinyl acetate monomer, and polypropylene. This segment also produces methyl tertiary butyl ether, alkylate, acetic acid, and methano. Lyondell’s propylene oxide (PO) and related products segment produces PO and its co-products, PO derivatives, and toluene diisocyanate. PO’s co-products include styrene monomer and tertiary butyl alcohol. The company’s inorganic chemicals segment produces titanium dioxide (TiO2). This segment also produces titanium tetrachloride, titanyl sulfate, ultra-fine TiO2, and silica gel and cadmium-based pigments. Lyondell’s refining segment produces refined petroleum products, including gasoline, low sulfur diesel, jet fuel, aromatics, and lubricants. The company also produces fragrance and flavors chemicals. The company’s products are used in the food, cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, aircraft manufacturing, paints, fibers, engineering plastics, furniture, packaging, and transportation industries.

Yara is a leading global company in its sector of activity. Yara, the ex subsidiary of the international oil and natural gas giant Norsk Hydro are active in a unique and specialist field: they develop and supply mineral fertilizer, which is mainly nitrogen based, but also with phosphate and potassium. The Norwegian company’s objective is to improve land productivity and to make food products better and more abundant.That is not all: the group also focus on industrial gases (argon, carbon dioxide, helium, oxygen and propane) and chemical products (ammonia, urea) used for multiple purposes from metal fusing, the treatment of wastewater, to the production of explosives and beverages.With the important ecological aspect to consider, Yara develops components aimed at environmental preservation such as Nutriox which reduces sulphur emissions and Reduktan, a chemical compound which prevents or at least decreases nitric acid pollution.

Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corporation (FCFC) was founded on March 5, 1965. At the time of our inception, Taiwan was in great shortage of natural fibers due to the lack of resources. In support of a rapidly developing textile industry, we decided to build an integrated fiber plant that made wood pulp from small broadleaf woods or twigs grown along the paths of forests in mountainous regions of Taiwan for the production of rayon and engaged in textile processing. After years of rapid expansion, the company now has seven business divisions, namely First Chemical Division, Petrochemicals Division, Third Chemical Division, Plastics Division, Textile Division, Nylon Division, and Engineering & Construction Division, as well as a carpet project team. In recent years we have diversified into petrochemical and power generation businesses with plants in Changhwa, Ilan, Dongshan, Chiayi Hsin Kang, and Yunlin Mailiao, turning ourselves into a major manufacturer of chemicals, fibers, petrochemical and plastic materials in Taiwan.

Degussa is the largest specialty chemicals company in the world, ahead of the likes of Ciba, Clariant, and ICI. The company has 21 units that are grouped in five divisions: coatings and advanced fillers, fine and industrial chemicals (for pharmaceuticals, water treatment, paper, and mining), construction chemicals (concrete additives), performance materials (superabsorbents, food activities, additives for personal care products, and paints), and specialty polymers. The world’s largest maker of specialty chemicals, Degussa’s best-known brand is Plexiglas plastic sheet. German coal mining firm RAG owns a majority of Degussa.

Nan Ya Plastics Corporation USA’s (NPCUSA)-A subsidiary of the Taiwanese company Nan Ya Plastics — a unit itself of Formosa Plastics Corporation — NPCUSA produces rigid PVC film that is used in the making of fake trees, food packaging, and shrink wrap. Based in New Jersey, it has a manufacturing plant in Texas.

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI) is a specialty products and paints company that develops products and ingredients for a range of consumer and industrial markets. The Company’s specialty products and paints businesses (the International Businesses) consist of National Starch, Quest, Performance Specialties and Paints. These businesses serve diverse consumer and industrial markets through approximately 80 strategic business units, which make up approximately 180 operating units. In addition, ICI has a number of Regional and Industrial businesses in its portfolio, which consist of the Company’s operations in India, Pakistan and Argentina.

Asahi Kasei has the right chemistry for Japanese markets, so right in fact that it is Japan’s #2 chemical company (behind Mitsubishi Chemical). The diversified company operates in seven segments. Its chemicals (basic chemicals, plastics, fertilizers) and construction materials (concrete panels, residential construction, and artificial fish reefs) groups together account for substantially more than half of Asahi Kasei’s sales. The company’s fibers unit, once Japan’s largest rayon maker, stopped rayon production in 2001 but still makes nylon. Asahi Kasei also makes items ranging from artificial fish reefs to electronic materials and medical products. Almost all of its sales are in Japan.

Boc Group is the number 2 worldwide in the industrial and specialty gas sector. From design, to transformation in the Group’s own plants, through distribution, Boc manages the whole manufacturing chain. Boc gas products - oxygen, nitrogen and argon, amongst others, have multiple uses in a variety of sectors, from automobiles to the manufacture of glass, and including metals, the food industry and semi-conductors. Among its products are combustion equipment for glass-blowing, food refrigeration, not forgetting metals such as aluminum, steel and iron, to develop welding products, for example, industrial gases to control air and water pollution and specialty gases for pipelines and refineries. But it should be pointed out that BOC also operates in the hospital sector, as a parts manufacturer. It designs and produces tools (oxygen therapy, monitoring and anesthesia to name but a few) downstream from its gases, like its vacuum pumps in the semi-conductor sector. There remains one of its most original operations, the subsidiary, Gist (formerly BOC Distribution Services), for optimizing tight flow logistics in mass distribution.

Monsanto is all about bioengineered crops. Monsanto helps farmers grow more crops by applying biotechnology, genomics, and molecular breeding technology to herbicides and seeds. Its flagship product, Roundup, is the world’s #1 herbicide. Monsanto also produces genetically altered seeds (cotton, corn, soybean, and canola) that tolerate Roundup and resist bugs; it estimates that more than 70% of the world’s insect- and herbicide-resistant crops bears its stamp. It also produces Asgrow, Hartz, and DEKALB seeds. Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant announced in June 2003 a restructuring of the company, the goal of which is increased public acceptance of bioengineered crops.

DSM wants to be more specialized. The company sold its commodity petrochemicals business and is in turn focusing on the more specialized businesses of life sciences and performance materials. DSM’s life sciences unit makes feedstocks used by pharmaceutical and food companies; its pharmaceutical chemicals are used in cardiovascular, AIDS, and asthma medications. The life sciences unit also produces sweeteners and food enzymes. The company’s performance materials unit makes synthetic fibers, plastics, and resins used in coatings. DSM also produces fiber intermediates, melamine, and agrochemicals.

The inorganic chemicals division of Kerr-McGee Corporation manufactures titanium dioxide pigment (TiO2 ), the primary whitener for paints, plastics, and paper. Kerr-McGee produces enough of the stuff to bring in nearly a third of its parent company’s total; it is the world’s third-largest TiO2 producer, behind DuPont and Lyondell’s Millennium Chemicals. The remaining 15% or so of the company’s business is involved in manufacturing electrolytic chemicals like manganese dioxide and sodium chlorate.

Sumitomo Chemical,Japan’s #3 chemical producer, makes chemicals for almost everything made and grown under the sun. About one-third of the company’s sales come from petrochemicals such as polypropylene, ethylene, and elastomers. Sumitomo’s other major units make pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers), and basic chemicals such as caustic soda and methanol. The company also makes chemicals for electronics and fine chemicals. The company is part of Japan’s Sumitomo Group.

Syngenta, the world’s largest agrochemical company (ahead of Bayer CropScience) produces crop protection products (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), field crop seeds (soybeans), vegetable seeds (corn, beans, tomatoes), and flowers. Syngenta and Myriad Genetics have mapped the rice genome, which could make rice crops more resistant to disease and lead to the genetic mapping of other cereals like wheat and corn. As part of the spin-off, Novartis and AstraZeneca received 61% and 39% of Syngenta, respectively.

Praxair, Inc. is an industrial gases company with operations in North and South America, Asia and Europe. The primary products for its industrial gases business are atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon and rare gases) and process gases (carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases and acetylene). The Company also designs, engineers and builds equipment that produces industrial gases for internal use and external sale. Praxair’s surface technology segment, operated through Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc., supplies wear-resistant and high-temperature, corrosion-resistant metallic and ceramic coatings and powders. Praxair serves approximately 25 industries as diverse as healthcare, petroleum refining, computer chip manufacture, beverage carbonation, fiber optics, steel making, aerospace, chemicals and water treatment.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) is Japan’s largest chemical company. Heading a list of subsidiaries and affiliates longer than a complex chemical formula, MCC is a major player in petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, carbon, and pharmaceuticals. Roughly a third of its sales come from petrochemicals such as ethylene, vinyl chloride, and raw materials for synthetic fibers. The company’s functional materials segment produces plastics and films. The electronics segment makes chemicals for semiconductor manufacturing and storage products such as floppy disks.

PPG Industries, Inc. makes protective and decorative coatings, flat and fabricated glass, continuous-strand fiber glass products, and chlor-alkali and specialty chemicals. For the 3 months ended 3/31/05, sales rose 10% to $2.49B. Net income decreased 20% to $95M. Revenues reflect strengthening of foreign currencies and improved coating selling prices. Net income was offset by a $150M nonrecurring legal settlement charge.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Air Products) is a supplier of industrial gas and related industrial process equipment, and a producer of certain chemicals. The Company operates in three segments: gases, chemicals and equipment. The gases business segment recovers and distributes industrial gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, helium, argon and hydrogen, and a variety of medical and specialty gases and also includes the Company’s healthcare business. The chemicals business segment produces and markets performance materials and chemical intermediates. The equipment business segment supplies cryogenic and other process equipment and related engineering services.

Rohm and Haas operations are divided among six segments, the largest of which is the coatings group, which makes additives and binders used by paint makers. The performance chemicals unit makes plastics additives and antimicrobials, while the electronic materials division manufactures photoresists and materials for making printed wiring boards. Acrylates make up most of its Monomers division, and Rohm and Haas’ salt group markets salt for road ice control, table salt (Morton Salt), and water softening. The smallest unit manufactures adhesives and sealants. The Haas family controls almost 30% of the company.

Solvay has changed radically over the past five years, into a group focused on competitiveness, leadership and high added value activities, aiming at sustained and profitable growth and fed by a passion for innovation.Solvay has evolved into an international chemical and pharmaceutical group which today holds worldwide leadership positions in most of its activities.

In 2004 the Group decided to launch itself ambitiously into the future, with an unambiguous priority to growth.This strategic development commits the Group on three fronts:
-priority to growth in selected pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics areas;
-innovation, the key to growth and to constantly improving competitiveness;
-increased presence in Asia, the Americas and Eastern Europe.

In the high-tech and industrial materials kitchen, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. is a master chef. The company’s organic and inorganic chemicals unit (over half of sales) makes polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and more than 4,000 types of silicone, while its electronics materials unit makes semiconductor silicon, epoxy molding compounds, and rare earth magnets. Shin-Etsu also produces synthetic quartz used for fiber-optic communications and in LCD panels. Shin-Etsu has entered into a joint venture with TOSHIBA Corp. and GE Silicones to make silicone monomers. In 2003, hoping to strengthen its European business, Shin-Etsu bought the cellulose ethers unit of Clariant for about $275 million. It operates in the US as Shintech.

Founded in 1902, Air Liquide is the world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services.Its core business is to supply oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and many other gases and services to most industries (for example: steel, oil refining, chemicals, glass, electronics, healthcare, food processing, metallurgy, paper and aerospace).The global presence (130 subsidiaries in more than 70 countries) allows the Group to combine the resources and expertise of a global enterprise with a powerful local presence based on independent customer-focused teams.

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities.