The list of the global chemical 1 billion dollar club has recently been released

Recently, the US "Chemical Weekly" announced the latest ranking of the 2021 global chemical $1 billion club
.
Based on the 2020 chemical business sales of the shortlisted companies, there are 100 companies in this year's ranking whose chemical business sales revenue exceeds US$2.
8 billion to qualify for the finalists
.
BASF is once again the world's largest chemical manufacturer in terms of sales revenue in 2020, followed by Dow Chemical and Sinopec
.
Chemical companies generally saw a decline in sales revenue last year due to reduced demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic and shutdowns
.

The top five rankings have not changed much

In 2020, when the global pandemic and the external environment were extremely difficult, BASF continued to maintain its No.
1 position in the industry with sales revenue of US$73.
023 billion
.
This is also the tenth time the German chemical giant has reached the top in the past 13 years
.
Despite the challenges in 2020, the top five chemical companies in the rankings remain the same as in 2019: BASF, Sinopec, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics and ExxonMobil
.
Sinopec still ranks second with chemical sales revenue of US$57.
042 billion, but Sinopec's chemical sales revenue has dropped by 25% compared with 2019; Dow Chemical Company of the United States still ranks second with sales revenue of US$38.
542 billion The third position in the list, the sales revenue in 2020 will drop by 10% compared with 2019; the Formosa Plastics Group has risen to the fourth place in the list with a chemical sales revenue of US$34.
715 billion, an increase of 1 place compared with the previous year; Egypt Exxon Mobil fell to the fifth position with chemical sales revenue of US$33.
071 billion, down one place from the previous year
.

Sales revenue generally declined

The most notable feature of the 2021 Global Chemical $1 Billion Club Ranking is not the change in the company's ranking.
The ranking of the chemical companies shortlisted in the latest ranking is very similar to the ranking of the previous year's ranking, but the general sales revenue of chemical companies.
drop
.
Of course, the general decline in sales revenue of chemical companies is the result of the pandemic
.
The average sales revenue of the 100 companies shortlisted for Chemical Weekly's 2021 Global Chemicals $1 Billion Club list fell 6% year-on-year in 2020, while median revenue fell 7% year-on-year
.
Those numbers could have been worse, as the companies generally saw double-digit declines in sales revenue in the second quarter of last year, though a strong rebound in demand in the third and fourth quarters of last year made up for some of the decline
.

Of the 100 companies shortlisted for the Chemistry Weekly 2021 Global Chemicals $1 Billion Club list, 78 companies saw their sales decline in 2020, while only 22 saw their revenue increase
.
On the profit side, however, the picture is more complicated
.
The 100 companies shortlisted in Chemistry Weekly's 2021 Global Chemicals $1 Billion Club Ranking saw an average operating profit increase of 2% year-on-year in 2020, but a median profit decline of 11%
.
Some companies, including industry leader BASF, posted annual operating losses
.
The 100 companies shortlisted for the 2021 Chemical Weekly Global Chemical $1 Billion Club Ranking will have an average sales revenue of approximately $11.
8 billion in 2020 and a median sales revenue of approximately $8.
25 billion; the average operating profit in 2020 was $726 million, while the median operating profit was $664 million
.

M&A transactions have limited impact

Meanwhile, mergers and acquisitions changed the rankings significantly in the late 2010s, but have a very limited impact in 2020 as the pandemic limited large M&A deals
.
In 2017 and 2018, Dow merged with DuPont and then split, briefly knocking BASF out of the top spot
.
At the same time, merger deals have reshaped many other large companies, including Linde, Bayer and China National Chemical Corporation, while longtime leaders such as Praxair, Monsanto and Syngenta have been merged or annexed
.
But in 2020, the M&A space has been relatively quiet, although that has changed as the economy reopens this year
.

going through a tough year

While the pandemic is unprecedented, many chemical manufacturers have action plans in place to minimize damage
.
"We responded quickly and decisively to
the crisis.
Our crisis team coordinated the necessary measures at our site and took advantage of Verbund's Advantages
.
We are therefore able to flexibly adjust our production to meet the needs of our customers, safeguard the health of our employees and ensure reliable deliveries
.
” The shutdown of automakers focused on the second quarter of 2020 has come to BASF and many chemical companies That said, it's a special challenge
.
In a letter to shareholders, Brummeller said: “The global economy has plunged into a severe recession due to the coronavirus
.
In the first half of 2020, production around the world plummeted to a record level
.
The transportation, energy, consumer goods and construction industries saw the largest declines
.
BASF was particularly affected by the automotive industry.
The impact of the downturn
.
Our most important customer industries have been hit by demand collapse, production disruptions and supply chain disruptions
.
”

In a February letter to shareholders, Dow Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Fitlin said: “Dow has also been impacted by the global economic downturn due to the pandemic, coupled with a sharp drop in demand due to stay-at-home orders
.
However, Some industries saw strong growth
.
Dow took advantage of strong demand in packaging, health and hygiene, home care and pharmaceutical end markets as consumer buying behavior adjusted in response to the pandemic
.
"

Some parts of the world have recovered from the outbreak faster than others
.
East Asia is the first region in the world to be severely affected by the epidemic and the first to recover
.
In March of this year, Sinopec said that despite the global economic downturn caused by the epidemic in 2020, demand for its chemical products has maintained rapid growth
.
The company experienced a notable rebound in the second half of 2020
.
Sinopec said: "Seizing the favorable opportunity of domestic economic recovery and vigorously increasing the production of marketable and high-margin products, production, operations and profitability have substantially improved in the second half of 2020.

"

Over time, as we approach 2021, the global chemical industry rebounds almost as sharply as the contraction in the second quarter of 2020, albeit with notable pauses
.
"The first half of 2020 was challenging, followed by a positive but uneven recovery," Fitlin said in February
.
"As the economy reopened and consumer durables end markets improved, we increased production to capture this Demand
.
We also continued to benefit from resilient demand in packaging applications
.
By the end of the year, our total deliveries exceeded pre-pandemic levels
.
”