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why we exist

chemicals are in everything.

and the way we make them is breaking.

01the foundation of everything we make

$6Tannual revenue
96%of manufactured goods
25%of us gdp
medicinessemiconductorsbatteriesautomotivedefense systemsfood and fertilizertextileswater treatmentconstructionFEEDSTOCKSBASE CHEMICALSINTERMEDIATESSPECIALTIESEVERYTHING WE MAKECONCENTRATING IN CHINAFEEDSTOCKSBASE CHEMICALSINTERMEDIATESSPECIALTIESCONCENTRATINGIN CHINAEVERYTHING WE MAKEmedicinessemiconductorsbatteriesautomotivedefense systemsfood and fertilizertextileswater treatmentconstruction

source · CISA, chemical sector profile

02the 20th century model is breaking

built for scale, and fragile because of it.

one site serves everyone
chokepoints

a small number of massive facilities

capacity vs demand
boom-bust

invest in billion-dollar increments and wait for demand to catch up

steam cracker age
aging assets

an american cracker is nearly three times older than a chinese one

new processes, by year
no pipeline

steel in the ground discourages innovation

sources · process dates: ACS, Grace · cracker age: Cefic / Advancy, figure 5.3

03and china now dominates

china took six of every ten dollars of new chemical sales since 2004.

NEW CHEMICAL SALES SINCE 2004, BY REGION$3.9tn total
$2.3tn
$0.4tn
$0.4tn
$0.3tn
$0.5tn
china $2.3tneurope $0.4tnrest of asia $0.4tnusa $0.3tneveryone else $0.5tn

it went from 10% to 46% of world chemical sales. the us fell to 12%.

China · 2004: 10% ($152 bn) · 2024: 46% ($2,488 bn) EU27 · 2004: 27% ($417 bn) · 2024: 13% ($686 bn) USA · 2004: 22% ($333 bn) · 2024: 12% ($675 bn) Rest of Asia · 2004: 9% ($140 bn) · 2024: 10% ($566 bn) Rest of Europe · 2004: 7% ($102 bn) · 2024: 4% ($218 bn) Japan · 2004: 9% ($140 bn) · 2024: 3% ($169 bn) Latin America · 2004: 4% ($65 bn) · 2024: 3% ($180 bn) South Korea · 2004: 3% ($50 bn) · 2024: 3% ($152 bn) India · 2004: 2% ($32 bn) · 2024: 3% ($152 bn) Rest of the world · 2004: 5% ($70 bn) · 2024: 2% ($109 bn) Africa · 2004: 1% ($20 bn) · 2024: 1% ($49 bn) china 10% 46% usa 22% 12% eu27 27% 13%
SHARE OF GLOBAL CHEMICAL SALES2004
china 10%europe 27%usa 22%everyone else 41%

each square is one percent of world sales

SHARE OF GLOBAL CHEMICAL SALES2024
china 46%europe 13%usa 12%everyone else 29%

each square is one percent of world sales

hover any region for its share, then and now.china · 2004 10% · 2024 46%united states · 2004 22% · 2024 12%eu27 · 2004 27% · 2024 13%rest of asia · 2004 18% · 2024 14%rest of europe · 2004 6% · 2024 4%japan · 2004 9% · 2024 3%latin america · 2004 4% · 2024 3%south korea · 2004 3% · 2024 3%india · 2004 2% · 2024 3%rest of the world · 2004 5% · 2024 2%africa · 2004 1% · 2024 1%

source · Cefic Facts & Figures 2025

04the way out

the old model can’t be patched. new technology is the only way to make chemicals investable again.

see the technology →