The US "Chemical Weekly" announced the latest ranking of the 2015 World Chemicals $1 billion club last weekend, based on the ranking of the 2014 chemical industry sales revenue of the finalists. Although European and American companies still dominate the list, Sinopec topped the list for the first time. The sales revenue of chemical companies shortlisted for this list generally increased, but the average growth rate was only 1%, much lower than the 6% of the previous year and 4.5% of 2012.

Sinopec summited for the first time

A total of 109 companies in this year's list of chemical business sales revenue of more than 3 billion US dollars, thus qualifying for entry. In the latest rankings, Sinopec replaced BASF for the first time with a chemical sales revenue of US$68.988 billion. BASF has been in the top spot for eight consecutive years. BASF ranked second with chemical sales revenue of US$67.771 billion. Chemie ranked third with $58.167 billion. ExxonMobil's ranking is still the fourth, last year, chemical sales revenue was 56.393 billion US dollars; Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranked fifth, chemical sales revenue was 50.166 billion US dollars; the sixth is Taiwan Plastics Group, chemical sales revenue of 50.473 billion US dollars; ranked seventh is Liande Basel, chemical sales revenue of 39.778 billion US dollars; ranked eighth is DuPont, chemical sales revenue of 34.723 billion US dollars; ranked ninth is INEOS, sales revenue was 27.193 billion US dollars; ranked 10th is Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical, chemical sales revenue of 26.01 billion US dollars.

In the past few years, Sinopec's ranking has steadily increased, ranking second in the past two years, and also ranked in the top five in the 2011 and 2012 rankings. The rise in Sinopec's ranking reflects the rise of chemical producers in Asia and the Middle East. In the new century, chemical producers in Asia and the Middle East have gradually grown into the world's leading chemical companies, competing with their counterparts in North America and Europe. In addition to Sinopec, Asia and Middle East chemical companies ranked among the top 10 in this year's list are SABIC and Formosa Plastics and Mitsubishi Chemical.

The rankings of most Asian and Middle Eastern shortlists have also risen in this year's list. For example, the UAE IPIC company's ranking rose from 19th last year to 14th this year. Thailand's PTT Chemical Company's ranking rose from 23rd to 17th, and Thailand's SCG Chemical Company rose from 71st to 49th. Indonesia's Indoma company rose from 69th to 50th.

Sales revenue growth slowed

From the list, most of the sales revenue of chemical companies in 2014 is still growing, but the growth rate is much lower than in previous years. The median sales revenue in 2014 increased by 1.0% year-on-year, much lower than the 6.0% in 2013 and 4.5% in 2012. The average sales revenue of 109 chemical companies on the list this year was $12.3 billion. Chemical companies performed better, with a median increase of 3% in operating profit and an average operating profit of $1.24 billion in 109 companies.

The top 10 chemical companies in this year still have a large number of economically developed economies, including three in the United States - Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, DuPont; and three in Europe - BASF and Liande Barce Industry and INEOS.

The top 10 chemical companies in Europe and the Middle East achieved an average sales revenue of $31.3 billion in 2014, while the top 10 chemical companies in Asia accounted for $25.7 billion in average sales and $25.4 billion in the Americas.

In fact, 2014 is a tough year for chemical giants in developed regions. In 2014, sales of BASF, Dow Chemical, Lyondell Basel and Ineos increased, but Exxon Mobil and DuPont's sales revenue declined, but profitability remained stable. North American producers continue to benefit from the cheap raw materials brought about by the shale gas revolution, and the sharp drop in oil prices in the second half of 2014 has also brought a turning point to European chemical producers who rely on naphtha as a raw material.

The impact of falling oil prices on the chemical industry is not entirely beneficial. In fact, petrochemical producers have already felt the pressure of price cuts, especially the decline in demand for oilfield chemicals has seriously hurt the relevant specialty chemicals companies. The fall in oil prices has also directly weakened the raw material advantages of North America.

Investment and R&D spending growth

Although the economy is weak and facing uncertainty, the capital expenditures of the short-listed chemical companies are still growing. The average investment expenditure of the short-listed enterprises in 2014 reached 851 million US dollars, an increase of about 4.5%. The four chemical companies with the largest investment expenditures are BASF (US$5.028 billion), Dow Chemical (US$3.572 billion), Sinopec (US$3.047 billion) and ExxonMobil (US$2.741 billion), which are also chemical sales. The top four companies in revenue.

At the same time, the R&D expenditure of chemical companies also increased in 2014. The average R&D expenditure of 109 chemical companies ranked in this year's list was 367 million US dollars in 2014, an increase of 4.9% over 2013. The top four R&D expenditures were BASF ($2.228 billion), DuPont ($2.067 billion), Monsanto ($1.725 billion) and Dow Chemical ($1.647 billion).