On July 24, the US "Chemical and Engineering News" (C&EN) announced the "2023 Top 50 Global Chemical Companies". BASF remains the world's largest chemical manufacturer, Sinopec is still the runner-up, and Dow is still the third runner-up. 7 Chinese chemical enterprises entered the top 50.

BASF ranks first, with chemical sales of $92 billion in 2022; Sinopec's chemical sales were US$66.9 billion, more than US$25 billion behind BASF. Dow's sales were approximately $56.9 billion.

China has always been the engine driving the development of the global chemical industry, and 7 Chinese-funded chemical enterprises have entered the world's top 50. In addition to Sinopec, Formosa Plastics ranked 7th, PetroChina ranked 10th, Hengli Petrochemical ranked 11th, Syngenta under Sinochem ranked 15th, Rongsheng Petrochemical ranked 16th, and Wanhua Chemical ranked 18th.

Among the 50 global industrial enterprises, there are 10 in the United States, 7 in Japan, 4 in Germany, 3 in the United Kingdom, and 2 in South Korea.

This year's Top 50 revenue threshold is $9.7 billion, a slight increase of nearly $800 million from last year. There are 3 companies with sales of more than $50 billion, 5 companies with sales of $40 billion to $50 billion, 5 companies with $30 billion to $40 billion, 8 companies with $20 billion to $30 billion, and 25 companies with $10 billion to $20 billion.

The world's 50 largest chemical companies had combined sales of $1.2 trillion, up 17% from 2021, largely due to higher selling prices rather than higher production.

However, the profitability of chemical companies is not optimistic. Chemical profit growth for 42 companies that disclosed profit data fell 7% from 2021, totaling $117.7 billion.

However, the sales and profits of fertilizer companies have surged, such as Yara, Nutrien and Legg Mason sales increased by 40% or more due to soaring prices. Profit growth was more than 89%. CF Industries, Israel Chemical Group, OCI and other three companies also entered the global top 50 for the first time due to the strong development of the international fertilizer market.