Sherwin Alumina, one of the largest alumina refineries in North America, extracts aluminum oxide, or alumina, from bauxite ore. It has an annual production capacity of nearly 1.5 million tons of smelter-grade and 300,000 tons of chemical-grade alumina. After the company refines the alumina it is then used primarily in the making of aluminum, though also as an abrasive and a refractory material. Sherwin Alumina's location on the Texas Gulf Coast allows it access to nearby aluminum smelting facilities and its own deepwater port. It is owned by Swiss metals giant Glencore.

Showa Denko is one of Japan's leading producers of chemicals and industrial materials. The company's sectors include petrochemicals (olefins, organic chemicals, plastic products), aluminum (aluminum cans, sheets, ingots, foils), electronics (semiconductors, ceramic materials, hard disks), chemicals (industrial gases, ammonia, agrochemicals), and inorganic materials (ceramics, graphite electrodes). The petrochemicals segment is its largest division, accounting for more than a third of sales. Showa Denko has more than 180 subsidiaries and affiliates. It was formed in 1939 when Nihon Electrical Industries and Showa Fertilizers combined.

SI Group came to life by bringing good varnishes to life for General Electric. Founded by Howard Wright in 1906, the company was established to develop insulating varnishes for GE's early electrical devices. SI Group makes friction material resins for use in the manufacture of brake linings and clutch facings. The company's other products include alkylphenols, phenolic resins, and electronic chemicals used in the production of semiconductors, imaging products, packaging, rubber compounds, agrochemicals, dyes, fuel additives, and flavoring agents. SI Group's manufacturing operations are located worldwide. Descendants of Wright still own the company, which was called Schenectady International until 2006.

SNF Floerger is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic flocculants, laying claim to 38% of the global market. Synthetic flocculants are used in water treatment -- they clarify water by combining with suspended solids. SNF Floerger also makes other products, including superabsorbants and thickeners. The company has more than 30 subsidiaries and operations in more than 130 countries around the world, including SNF Inc. in the US, France, South Korea, and China. It has 18 plants worldwide that serve some 30,000 customers, who in turn serve more than 250,000 end users.

SNF manufactures water soluble polymers such as synthetic flocculants, coagulants, and dispersants used for municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment. Other industries served by SNF include paper processing, textile printing, oil production, agriculture, and personal-care products manufacturing. The American arm of French polymer maker SNF Floerger, the company has about a dozen polymer production facilities around the US. Business units include Chemtall, Floquip (polymer preparation equipment), Polychemie, and Polydyne.

SolvChem distributes solvents and chemicals such as acids, alcohols, amines, chlorinated solvents, esters, glycol ethers, ketones, plasticizers, and sulfates. Its customers include companies in the paints and coatings, petroleum refining, and plastic industries. The company delivers products throughout five states in the southwestern US and exports commodities throughout the Americas. Suppliers include Equistar Chemicals and Shell Chemical. Founder Gabriel Baizan formed the company in the late 1960s and his family still owns SolvChem.

The company (SII for short) manufactures a number of specialty and basic chemicals, beginning with aluminum-based products (for the paper and water treatment industries) to zirconium (for makers of titanium dioxide -- the most widely used white pigment). Its core markets include manufacturers of cement, molecular sieves, pharmaceuticals, refinery and automotive catalysts, and zeolites. SII has about 10 manufacturing plants spread throughout the southeast US and Texas. President and CEO Milton Sundbeck owns Southern Ionics.

Sterling Chemicals, Inc. is a North American producer of selected petrochemicals used to manufacture a wide array of consumer goods and industrial products. Acetic acid is currently our primary product and we benefit from a long-term requirements contract with BP Amoco Chemical Company for this product. Our petrochemicals facility located in Texas City, TX, is strategically located on Galveston Bay and offers approximately 160 acres for future expansion by us, or by other companies that can benefit from our existing infrastructure, facilities, management and operations expertise.

Sud-Chemie's products help make a nasty world a nicer place. The company's adsorbents division (responsible for more than half of its sales) makes chemicals for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, bleaching agents for the purification of edible oils and fats, and additives for the treatment of solid and liquid manure. The division's other products include thickening agents for paints, glues, and cosmetics, as well as desiccants for controlling moisture in pharmaceuticals.

Sunoco Chemicals is positioned in one of the largest chemical market regions in the U.S., with the infrastructure of a large refining base. Several acquisitions, a strong business strategy and continued growth has resulted in a full-service integrated chemical company that is customer focused and is committed to new project development to support reinvestment to meet increasing customer demand.Sunoco Chemicals' product line includes phenol, acetone, nonene, tetramer, alpha-methylstyrene, toluene, xylene, benzene, cyclohexane, bisphenol-A, and polypropylene. We are the number one producer of phenol in the US and number two globally. We are a leading producer of polypropylene in North America. Further strengthening its position in polypropylene is its Technology & Commercial Center in Pittsburgh, PA, which is among the most advanced technical support facilities worldwide dedicated to helping customers meet market challenges.

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