Columbian Chemicals is black and proud. The company manufactures carbon black, a material used in the production of inks and coatings, rubber goods (especially automobile tires), and plastics. Columbian's carbon blacks come in two grades: industrial (sold under the brand names Raven, Conductex, and Copeblack) and rubber (Statex and Furnex). Columbian Chemicals operates almost 20 carbon black manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Carbon black can also be used as a key raw ingredient for fuel cells. The company was jointly owned by Korean chemicals giant OCI Chemical and private equity firm One Equity Partners, until the latter bought it outright at the beginning of 2009.

A shot of Vitamin K helps farmers grow bigger and better crops. Uralkali is one of the world's top producers of potash, a form of potassium carbonate commonly used as a fertilizer. The company produces 5 million tons of potash per year, or 10% of the world's supply. (Canada's PotashCorp leads the way with 10 million tons, or 20%.) Uralkali operates two mines in Russia and five production plants. The company makes about two-thirds of its total sales to just Brazil and China. Uralkali was founded in 1930 by the Russian government and privatized in 1992. In 2007 it became the country's first public chemical company.

General Chemical Performance Products can be found in your water pipes, in your refrigerator, and inside your medicine cabinet. General Chemical manufactures performance chemicals for such industries as food additives and pharmaceuticals (active ingredients for drugs), environmental services (water treatment), high technology (chemicals for semiconductor manufacturing), and chemicals processing. In 2009 private equity group American Securities paid $675 million including debt to buy General Chemical's parent company, GenTek, and its subsidiaries.

Samuel Cabot is here to protect and preserve -- your home's wooden surfaces. Cabot makes wood stains and surface preparation products, primarily for use on exteriors. Founded in 1877, the company's products include cleaners, strippers, primers, stains, and waterproofing, as well as specialized products for decks, fences, and interiors. Brands include Cabot and Problem-Solver. Customers include builders, painting contractors, interior designers, and homeowners. The company is a unit of US coatings giant Valspar. As such, Cabot products are sold largely through Lowe's stores, with whom Valspar has a strong relationship.

PolyOne Corporation provides specialized polymer materials with operations in thermoplastic compounds, specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, thermoplastic resin distribution, and specialty polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins. It also has equity investments in a manufacturer of caustic soda and chlorine, and a formulator of polyurethane compounds. The company’s International Color and Engineered Materials segment offers color and additive masterbatches, and engineered materials. Its Specialty Engineered Materials segment provides custom plastic compounding services and solutions for processors of thermoplastic materials to various markets, as well as offers a range of thermoplastic elastomer compounds for consumer, packaging, and medical applications. PolyOne’s Specialty Color, Additives, and Inks segment provides specialized color and additive concentrates, as well as inks and latexes. Its Performance Products and Solutions segment offers vinyl compounds, vinyl resins, and specialty coating materials based on vinyl to various manufacturers of plastic parts and consumer-oriented products, as well as offers materials testing and component analysis, custom compound development, colorant and additive, design assistance, structural analyses, process simulations, and extruder screw design services.The company's PolyOne Distribution segment distributes engineering and commodity grade resins to custom injection molders and extruders. PolyOne's Resin and Intermediates segment produces chlorine and caustic soda. The company primarily serves building and construction materials, wire and cable, transportation, durable goods, packaging, electrical and electronics, medical, and telecommunications markets. PolyOne sells its products worldwide through direct sales personnel, sales agents, and distributors. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Avon Lake, Ohio.

BASF Coatings is the paints and coatings division of the world's largest chemicals company, BASF, and is, fittingly, one of the top coatings companies worldwide. The company produces a range of automaker coatings, automotive refinishes, and industrial coatings. It also produces decorative paints for the European and South American markets. BASF Coatings is one of the world's leading manufacturers of automotive and industrial lacquer. It also ranks among the top three global leaders for automotive OEM coatings. Brand names include Glasurit, R-M, and Salcomix. For its industrial coatings, the company focuses on coil, foil, and powder coatings.

If you want to paint the town red, it's a "Dunn" deal. From two manufacturing facilities in California and Arizona, Dunn-Edwards makes numerous paints and coatings, as well as paint-related products ranging from ladders to spray equipment. The company operates 100 retail outlets and caters to architects, designers, home builders, and property managers in the Southwest; it also serves do-it-yourselfers, though professionals account for 90% of sales. Founded in 1925 by Frank Dunn, Dunn-Edwards is owned lock, stock, and bucket by the employees and the Edwards family. Among the places coated with Dunn-Edwards paint are the Staples Center and Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Witton Chemical Company is an international fine chemical contract manufacturer based in the UK, with a 50 year history of manufacturing chemicals for a wide range of international customers from all sectors of industry. We develop ongoing partnerships for chemical manufacture and toll manufacture with some of the largest adhesive, electronic, paint, sealant, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Cigarettes are certainly hazardous to your health, but the making of cigarette filter materials has been good for Daicel Chemical. The company was founded in 1919 to make celluloid (the first plastic) and still makes cellulose-based products such as cellulose acetate, used in filters and photographic film. Daicel primarily makes films for packaging and plastics. The company also produces an array of organic chemicals (acetic acid, acetic anhydride) used in fibers, paints, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Daicel's aerospace and defense systems/safety systems unit produces inflators for automobile air bags and rocket propellants.

Nufarm UK, a subsidiary of Australian crop protection manufacturer Nufarm Limited, specializes in producing herbicides. In addition to a broad array of phenoxyacetic and phenoxy propionic herbicides, Nufarm UK makes other crop protection and related agricultural chemicals, including fungicides, pesticides, adjuvant oils, and growth regulators. Products include herbicides Lentipur and Nu-shot and fungicides Difcor and Solace. It serves the UK and Irish markets. In 2009 Nufarm acquired A H Marks, greatly adding to its operations in the UK.

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