2023 Top 50 Chemical Companies in the United States

Recently, Chemical and Engineering News released the 2023 Top 50 U.S. Chemical Companies report based on 2022 financial results. Among them, Dow, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell occupy the top three. According to the report, the combined sales of the top 50 U.S. chemical producers totaled $376.7 billion in 2022, up 11.4% from the previous year and a new record for the annual survey.

Of the 43 companies reporting profit figures, total chemicals operating profit fell 4.8 per cent year on year to $55.2 billion. Earnings fell at 16 companies, with only Trinseo Posting a loss. Large petrochemical producers such as Dow, ExxonMobil, Leander Basell and Westlake also saw earnings decline in 2022. In recent years, the petrochemical industry has added a lot of capacity, making the industry in a cyclical downturn. Also, a sharp increase in energy prices in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with oil prices surging 33% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2021, squeezed corporate earnings.

Fertilizer makers, by contrast, had a stellar 2022. Sales at Legg Mason, a phosphate fertilizer maker, rose 54.8 per cent to rank fourth in the top 50 US chemicals companies. CF Industries, a nitrogen fertilizer maker, saw sales jump 71.1 per cent to rank eighth in the top 50 US chemicals companies. Abco, a leading supplier of lithium for electric car batteries, grew even more, doubling its sales and pushing its ranking from 24 last year to 15 this year.

U.S. chemical companies are mixed about future spending. The 42 companies that reported capital expenditure data reported a 22.2% increase in total capital expenditure to $20.1 billion. About 26 companies reported R&D spending, with total R&D spending at $3.2 billion, a decrease of 1.0%. Some companies dropped out of this year's top 50, mainly because of mergers and acquisitions. For example, Coten was acquired by South Korea's DL Chemical for $2.5 billion, and CMC Materials was acquired by Entegris.

The ranking is only for companies that publicly report chemical sales, so some companies with chemical operations that do not disclose their results separately, such as Invista and Procter & Gamble, were not included, CPEC said.