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Introduction
The chemical industry creates an immense variety of products which impinge on virtually every aspect of our lives.
The chemical industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in all developed and emerging countries. This is a view of the largest site in the world devoted to the industry, at Ludwigshaven in Germany. While many of the products from the industry, such as detergents, soaps and perfumes, are purchased directly by the consumer, 70% of chemicals manufactured are used to ma e products by other industries including other branches of the chemical industry itself. The industry uses a wide range of raw materials, from air and minerals to oil. Chemical industry, comple! of processes, operations, and organi"ations engaged in the manufacture of chemicals and their derivatives. #lthough the chemical industry may be described simply as the industry that uses chemistry and manufactures chemicals, this definition is not altogether satisfactory because it leaves open the $uestion of what is a chemical. %efinitions adopted for statistical economic purposes vary from country to country. #lso the &tandard 'nternational Trade (lassification, published by the )nited *ations, includes e!plosives and pyrotechnic products as part of its chemicals section. +ut the classification does not include the man,made fibres, although the preparation of the raw materials for such fibres is as chemical as any branch of manufacture could be.
-igure .. There have been breath,ta ing changes in the chemical industry over the last /0 years or so, not only in 0urope and in the )& but particularly in (hina, 'ndia, the rest of #sia and +ra"il. This is a view of the chemical industry plant at %aya +ay in the south,east of (hina. With increasing competition worldwide, innovation remains crucial in finding new ways for the industry to satisfy its increasingly sophisticated, demanding and environmentally, conscious consumers.
&everal other categorisations are used but this one is simple and helpful in the conte!t of this web site. 2utputs range widely, with basic chemicals produced in huge $uantities 3millions of tonnes4 and some speciality chemicals produced in modest ilogramme $uantities but with very high value. #s e!plained in the unit on (hemical 5eactors, the choice of reactor is often goverened by the amount of chemical that is to be produced. The value of sales per category for both 0urope and the )& are broadly similar, as shown in
Europe +asic chemicals 7olymers 7etrochemicals +asic 'norganics &peciality chemicals (onsumer chemicals .: /; 6. .8 .8 /8 .8 /8 6/
US /9 .: /9