Nearly every industry—agriculture, energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, consumer and retail implement the use of chemicals. Factors such as market volatility, regulatory pressures, geopolitical risk, distribution and consumer demand has a big impact on chemical industry. The global chemical industry is a $3 trillion market, out of which most of the share comes from the US and the EU. Chemicals being the exhaustible resources required to be managed efficiently as it will play a key role in the transition towards an inclusive Green Economy and the realization of a sustainable twenty-first century. A wide range of near about 70000 products are available in the market that are produced from chemicals. Governments across the globe recognize that the chemicals play a pivotal role in production of medicine and agriculture products. Chemicals are necessary for the manufacture of goods used in industries such as construction and agriculture along with consumer goods and services. Apart from these industries, a large chunk of chemical industry includes the output from petrol refiners, and the textile and primary metals industries.

Global chemical and materials market exceeded $51.5 billion in 2015 as a result of a yearly growth in excess of 12.5% for the five-year period ending 2015.Global chemical output was valued at US$ 171 billion in 1970; by 2010, it had grown to US$ 4.12 trillion. Industries producing and using these substances have a significant impact on employment, trade and economic growth worldwide. While there are positive effects on the economy, the substances can have ecological and physical adverse effects. That is why the chemical and material production need to be regulated to avoid the potential harm to people and the environment involved. A variety of global economic and regulatory forces influence changes in chemical production, transport, import, export, use and disposal over time. To cater to the rising demand for chemical-based products and processes, the international chemical industry has grown radically in past four decades. Materials and Chemicals is an interdisciplinary heavy industry sector. The worldwide market for electronic chemicals and materials was worth $28.5 billion in 2010.

Key Market Segments:

The global chemical industry since last few decades has been concentrated in three world regions that are North American region, Western Europe and Japan. According to global chemical and materials market analysis, Europe was the major chemical producers, which was followed by USA and Asia. In past 10 years, Asia’s global chemical production rose from 13% to 23%. Needless to say that Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for chemical and materials market. The annual chemical output in US alone is around $750 billion. That is near about 20% of the overall global chemical production. There are 170 chemical companies in the US that claims a dominant presence in the industry. Primarily Rubber, plastics and chemical industries are major source of employment in Europe employing over 3 million people across 30,000 companies.

Key Categories of Chemicals and Materials:

Chemicals: Bulk Chemicals compose the first tier of production. These include both organic chemicals and inorganics. The bulk chemicals are sold within the chemical industry and to other industrial sectors, and are used to make an enormous variety of downstream products.

Materials: Material industry products are more of manufacturing and building centric. Various materials such as steel, cement, concrete, synthetic fibres, textiles, plastic, glass and ceramic are notably used in the construction industry. The data derived from market research analysis forecasts the combined material market for metal, glass and plastic packaging was worth almost $370 billion in the year 2015, representing a near 4% annual growth in the five-year period from 2010.