The American Chemistry Council (ACC) publishes the 2021 edition of the “Guide to the Business of Chemistry,” a comprehensive economic profile of the U.S. chemistry industry and its contributions to the domestic and global economies.
American chemistry is the world’s second-largest producer, according to ACC, providing 13% of its chemicals and over 9% of all U.S. goods exports. It is one of America’s largest manufacturing industries, a $486 billion enterprise providing 529,000 skilled, high-paying jobs. For every chemistry industry job, 6.8 jobs are reportedly generated elsewhere in the economy, totaling more than 4.1 million chemistry-dependent jobs. Building and construction, automotive, electronics and agriculture are among the many sectors that rely on the chemistry industry.
“In addition to supporting efforts to combat COVID-19, the products of chemistry enable higher living standards and help meet the needs of a growing global population.” says Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. “Innovation into materials, applications and processes is key to advances in human development, and the U.S. chemical industry is helping to expand frontiers, investing more than $10 billion in research and development activities last year alone.”
Prepared annually by ACC’s Economics and Statistics Department, the “Guide to the Business of Chemistry” divides the U.S. chemical industry into more than 30 categories of production, ranging from inorganic chemicals to plastic resins, adhesives and sealants to oilfield chemicals and fertilizers to consumer products. Within each segment, the report highlights distinct characteristics including growth dynamics, markets, new developments and other issues affecting each sector.
Individual sections of the guide cover a variety of topics in detail. These include financial performance; U.S. and global trade; innovation; capital investment; employment; environmental, health and safety statistics, energy and distribution. Charts and graphs illustrate data and provide comparisons with the past several years.
For more information, visit: www.americanchemistry.com
