The chemical industry consists of a variety of chemical manufacturing companies, including contract chemical manufacturer that convert chemical industrial products into final products or other materials for end-use by other companies. They play a vital role in the modern global economy is helping to transform many chemicals and raw materials into thousands of different and extremely useful products used in other industries. There is also some overlap between chemical manufacturing and plastic manufacturing, as different chemical companies also produce plastics along with the main chemicals they deal with.
Contract chemical manufacturing is a unique business model for chemical manufacturers. For example, contract chemical manufacturing, also known as fee-making, is designed to support other companies that want to avoid an increase in their cost structure by outsourcing chemical production. There are other reasons why outsourcing is strategic. Capital investment is avoided, other strategic objectives are internally distracted from core competencies, etc. Working with contract chemical manufacturers such as Inchem allows these businesses to avoid the additional costs and work of setting up their own chemical production facilities, as well as the burden of avoiding them. Compliance and other regulatory issues.
Chemical manufacturing uses chemical processes to transform organic and inorganic raw materials to create products. Chemicals are generally divided into two categories: commodity chemicals and specialty chemicals. Commercial chemical manufacturers usually produce large quantities of alkaline and relatively inexpensive compounds in large factories specifically for the manufacture of a chemical. Commodity factories usually operate continuously and are usually closed for maintenance for only a few weeks each year. Manufacturers of mass-produced or high-performance chemicals will produce smaller quantities of more expensive chemicals based on "needs", which are used less frequently. Usually only one or a limited number of suppliers produce a given product. In contrast to the production of commodity chemicals, batch production requires regular changes in raw materials, processes, operating conditions, and equipment to respond to customer needs.
The chemical industry has had many impacts on the environment. It is one of the largest users of natural gas, which is an energy source and raw material. The sector emits more than 1.5 million tons of standard air pollutants, of which more than 80% are carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Nearly half of these emissions are related to energy. The chemical industry also manages a large number of chemical substances, which have been reported to the EPA's "Toxic Substances Emission List". Of the more than 10 billion pounds of chemicals managed, about 5% are disposed of or released into air and water, and the rest is used for processing, energy recovery and recycling.