If people turn to Bayer for what ails them, why can't plants? Bayer CropScience, a part of German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant the Bayer Group, is a leading producer of agricultural chemicals. The company's Crop Protection unit makes fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. Bayer CropScience also operates units that focus on non-crop chemicals (such as consumer lawn care products) and genetically modified seeds. The company ranks as the #2 crop protection firm worldwide, behind Syngenta, and operates on six continents. It has been building up both its seeds business and bioscience unit in the last years of the decade.

Afton Chemical develops and manufactures petroleum additives that enhance the performance of lubricating oils and fuels to enhance their performance in machinery, vehicles, and other equipment. From custom-formulated chemical blends to market-general additive components, Afton Chemical technology helps fuels burn cleaner, engines run smoother, and machines last longer.

Ribelin Sales distributes additives, containers, extenders, fillers, inks, and pigments to markets that include the adhesives and sealants, construction and building materials, paints, cosmetics, plastics, printing, and textiles industries. It distributes products made by various divisions of chemical giants like 3M, Ashland, BASF, and Rockwood Specialties. The company, which serves much of the Southeast and Southwest, has distribution centers in Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Arizona. Investment group KODA Enterprises owns Ribelin, having acquired it in 2006.

American Biltrite Inc. provides flooring products, tape products, jewelry, and rubber products worldwide. The company produces adhesive-coated, pressure-sensitive papers, and films used to protect material during handling or storage, or to serve as a carrier for transferring decals or die-cut lettering; and pressure sensitive tapes and adhesive products used for applications in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning, footwear, automotive, electrical, and electronic industries. It also manufactures vinyl and vinyl composition floor coverings and sells them primarily through floor covering distributors, to retailers and contractors for commercial and residential use. In addition, American Biltrite supplies costume jewelry to mass merchandisers and department stores; and produces flooring and rubber products, including materials used by footwear manufacturers, and other industrial products. The company was founded in 1908 and is based in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.

Landec Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of temperature-activated and other specialty polymer products for various food products, agricultural products, and licensed partner applications in the United States. The companys polymer products are based on its proprietary Intelimer polymers, which could be customized to abruptly change their physical characteristics when heated or cooled through a pre-set temperature switch.

Boero Bartolomeo has it covered. Through its subsidiaries, the holding company manufactures paints, varnishes, and resins for houses and yachts. Its Boero Colori France and Rover Colori E Vernici subsidiaries (both wholly owned) manufacture paints for the yachting, decorative, and do-it-yourself sectors. Other operations include Boero Colori (paints for the retail, building, and anticorrosion markets), Boher (coil coating), and Boat SpA (marine and protective coatings). Chairman Andreina Boero and her family control Boero Bartolomeo; Italian financial firm ADR has a 17% stake in the company.

Syngenta AG, an agribusiness company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of products designed to improve crop yields and food quality worldwide. It operates in three segments: Crop Protection, Seeds, and Business Development. The Crop Protection segment offers herbicides primarily for corn, cereals, soybean, and rice; fungicides for cereals, fruits, grapes, rice, soybean, and vegetables; insecticides for fruits, vegetables, and field crops; seed care primarily in corn, soybean, cereals, and cotton; and professional products, such as products for public health and products for turf and ornamentals. The company markets these products through independent distributors and dealers, agricultural consultants, and growers. The Seeds segment develops, produces, and markets seeds and plants based on advanced genetics and related technologies. This segment offers approximately 200 product lines and approximately 6,000 varieties, including vegetables, flowers, corn, soybean, sugar beet, and sunflower. The company markets these products worldwide primarily under NK, Golden Harvest, Garst, Hilleshog, S&G, Rogers, Zeraim Gedera, and Fischer brand names. The Business Development segment offers a sugar beet suitable for cultivation in tropical climates, such as India. It also has various products under development, including VipCot cotton for improved resistance to insects; and amylase corn for use in the production of bio ethanol. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Syngenta AG operates independently of Novartis AG and AstraZeneca plc as of November 13, 2000.

Hoping to cushion its parent companies' rides through a bumpy economy, Americas Styrenics combines the styrene operations of Dow Chemical and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem). The 50-50 joint venture makes styrene monomer and a number of polystyrene resins. Its products go into the obvious (packaging and foam peanuts) and the unlikely (envelope windows and lighting applications). Americas Styrenics operates eight manufacturing facilities throughout the US and in Brazil and Colombia. It is the #1 producer of polystyrene and the #2 maker of styrene in the Western Hemisphere.

Borealis is another shining light in the northern sky of plastics. The company is among the leading European makers of polyethylene and polypropylene, the most common plastic resins (and together known as polyolefins). Borealis also produces olefins, ethylene and propylene, and compounds plastic resins to meet desired characteristics, mainly for wire and cable makers. Its Borstar technology is used to support its polyethylene and polypropylene products. The International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi (IPIC) owns 65% of Borealis and Austrian oil firm OMV controls the remaining 35%.

Tnemec (pronouced tah-KNEE-mick, it is cement spelled backwards) makes more than 100 different paints and coatings that can be used as primers on concrete, masonry, steel, and flooring materials. It also provides waterproofing, corrosion prevention (for wastewater facilities), and exterior finishing products. Subsidiary Chemprobe Coating Systems specializes in masonry products, while the company's StrataShield division focuses on floor and wall coatings. Tnemec has manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout the US, and it has sales representatives in Canada, Europe, and Latin America.

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