2025 Global Top 50 Chemical Companies: China Claims 11 Spots

In recent years, the global chemical industry has faced a complex international environment, ongoing regional conflicts, a slowdown in global economic growth, and accelerated energy transitions. The sector is grappling with weakening demand, supply chain disruptions, and rising trade barriers. Yet, resilient global economic fundamentals, a steady recovery in market demand, and easing inflation have boosted confidence in a soft economic landing, offering new opportunities for the chemical industry. Despite the dual challenges and opportunities, signs of recovery are emerging, and the overall industry downturn is easing.

In 2024, although the global chemical industry continued the downward trend seen in 2023, the decline was significantly less severe, with increased regional divergence and early signs of bottoming out among leading companies. The combined chemical revenue of the world's top 50 chemical companies reached RMB 7.55 trillion, down just 1.0% year-on-year-a 4.9 percentage point improvement from 2023.

Sinopec topped the list with RMB 523.9 billion in chemical revenue, followed by Germany's BASF with RMB 504.1 billion and the U.S.-based Dow at RMB 305.9 billion, surpassing ExxonMobil.

Sinopec showed a recovery trend, with chemical revenue increasing by 1.7% year-on-year. In contrast, BASF and Dow saw revenue declines of 4.3% and 2.7%, respectively. Fertilizer producers like Norway's Yara and the U.S.'s Mosaic were hit by continued price drops from their 2022 highs. Mosaic posted the largest revenue drop in the top 50-down 17.9%-causing its ranking to fall 11 places.

Among the top 50 companies, 45 are headquartered in the U.S., China, Europe, Japan, or South Korea-one more than in 2023.

* The U.S. had 12 companies on the list, unchanged from last year.

* China had 11, up by one.

* Japan had 7, also up by one.

* Germany maintained 6, and South Korea kept its 2.

China's performance stood out, with 11 companies on the list: Sinopec, PetroChina, Formosa Plastics, Hengli Petrochemical, Syngenta, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Wanhua Chemical, Eastern Shenghong, Hengyi Petrochemical, Tongkun Group, and Xinfengming-the latter making its debut.

Out of the top 50, 32 companies saw year-on-year growth in chemical revenue in 2024. China's Tongkun Group recorded the fastest growth at 22.6%, followed by Hengyi Petrochemical (up 10.0%), INEOS (up 9.9%), and Xinfengming (up 9.1%). Japan's Resonac and the U.S.'s Eastman Chemical also returned to the list with modest growth.

Among the 18 companies with revenue declines, Mosaic had the sharpest drop. LG Chem (South Korea), Syngenta (China), PPG Industries (U.S.), and Shell (Netherlands) all saw double-digit declines. Umicore (Belgium), Nutrien (Canada), and Albemarle (U.S.) dropped out of the top 50 altogether, with revenue plunging by 18.0%, 13.8%, and 43.5%, respectively.

Regionally, revenue performance was mixed across the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Among the 11 Chinese companies, seven reported revenue growth, though many struggled with profitability.

Despite growth in revenue, many Chinese firms saw declining profits due to industrial restructuring, weak domestic demand, high crude oil prices, low product prices, and rising output. However, Tongkun and PetroChina stood out. Tongkun's profit surged over 50% thanks to improved polyester filament margins and strong investment returns from Zhejiang Petrochemical. PetroChina's chemical segment posted an all-time high operating profit of RMB 3.16 billion-up RMB 2.47 billion year-on-year.

U.S. chemical firms benefited from cost control, rising demand, investments, and technological advances. Dow, Westlake, and Mosaic narrowed their losses, while ExxonMobil, DuPont, Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Eastman shifted back to growth. Sherwin-Williams and Ecolab showed slower growth, while Air Products and Celanese slipped into decline.

Profit-wise:

* Dow's profits soared 82%

* Air Products rose 68.2%

* Chevron Phillips surged nearly 50%

Ongoing geopolitical instability, weak growth, and high energy costs continue to weigh on Europe's chemical sector. Many companies-INEOS, Arkema, Evonik, Covestro, and Yara-remained unprofitable. However, BASF and DSM-Firmenich achieved strong profit growth thanks to effective cost control and global asset optimization.

* BASF's net profit rose by RMB 8.3 billion to RMB 10.03 billion

* DSM-Firmenich's net profit rose by RMB 2.32 billion to RMB 6.56 billion