If you've washed, shaved, and groomed, then you've probably shared a chemical experience with the folks at International Specialty Products (ISP). The company, also called ISP Chemco, makes about 400 types of specialty chemicals, including food and pharmaceutical ingredients, personal care, and fine chemicals, industrial chemicals (like butanediol for fibers and plastics), and minerals products. ISP also makes waterproofing agents, moisturizers, and preservatives for personal care products such as sunscreen and hair care products. Chairman Samuel Heyman owns ISP; after watching the company's stock dive in 2002, Heyman took ISP private.

Johnson Matthey Plc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates in three divisions: Environmental Technologies, Precious Metal Products, and Fine Chemicals. The Environmental Technologies division supplies catalysts and related technologies for applications, which benefit the environment, such as pollution control, cleaner fuel, efficient use of hydrocarbons, and the hydrogen economy. It offers catalytic systems for emissions control from vehicles and industrial processes; and catalysts and specialist services, as well as designs and licenses chemical processes for chemical, oil, gas, and refining industries.

ShengdaTech, Inc. engages in manufacturing, marketing, and selling nano precipitated calcium carbonate (NPCC) products. The company converts limestone into NPCC using its proprietary technology co-developed with Tsinghua University. ShengdaTech operates in China. The company also exports its products to Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and Israel. ShengdaTech, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is based in Tai’an City, China.

Converted Organics Inc. engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of liquid and solid fertilizers, and natural soil amendment/enhancement products combining disease suppression and nutrition characteristics. It uses liquid and solid food waste as raw material to manufacture soil amendment products. The company sells and distributes its products in agribusiness, turf management, and retail markets. Converted Organics Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry doesn't run a charity, but it does have a soup kitchen of sorts. The company, known as Nippon Gohsei, makes specialty polymer chemicals like Gohsenol, a polyvinyl alcohol that affects water solubility, and Soarnol, a resin for use with food packaging and fuel tanks. Its products fall into two categories -- acetyl and fine chemicals, and synthetic (functional and adhesive) resins including film -- used in the manufacture of consumer products. Nippon Gohsei creates vinyl resins, polymers, and liquefied acetylene that end up in agricultural, packaging, and electronic products. Mitsubishi Chemical owns more than a third of the company.

Really Tight Pants? Raisins That Propel? Maybe not, but RTP is a custom compounder of plastic resins. The company manufactures specialty compounds from more than 60 engineering resins that can affect color, level of conductivity, high temperature performance, and wear resistance in engineered plastics. Customers include injection molders, extruders, and OEMs in a wide variety of markets. The company added a new extrusion division in 2004, a new thermoplastic compounding facility the next year, and acquired Wiman Corporation (a maker of plastic films for medical and industrial purposes) in 2006. The family-owned company was founded in 1980 by Ben Miller; his son, Hugh Miller, is CEO.

TIC Gums was established in 1909 and is operated by the third generation of the Andon family, which has owned the company since 1949. While TIC Gums doesn't spend the day blowing bubbles, its gums are found in everything from donut glaze to hand lotion. The company is a leading US provider of hydrocolloids (thickeners) used in cosmetics, food (including chewing gum), and pharmaceuticals. Products -- including agar; carrageenan; guar gum; and pectin in powder, spray, and "pre-hydrated" forms -- are shipped to customers worldwide. The company has agents and stock locations in Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, and North America.

Fuel Tech, Inc. provides engineering solutions for the optimization of combustion systems in utility and industrial applications worldwide. It offers boiler optimization, and air pollution reduction and control solutions. The company operates in two segments, Air Pollution Control Technologies and FUEL CHEM Technologies. The Air Pollution Control Technologies segment includes the NOxOUT, NOxOUT CASCADE, GSG, NOxOUT ULTRA and NOxOUT-SCR processes, which reduce NOx emissions in flue gas from boilers, incinerators, furnaces, and other stationary combustion sources. The FUEL CHEM Technologies segment uses chemical processes to control slagging, fouling, corrosion, opacity, acid plume, as well as the formation of sulfur trioxide, ammonium bisulfate, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and NOx in furnaces and boilers through the addition of specialty chemicals into the fuel or via TIFI Targeted In-Furnace Injection programs. It distributes its products through its direct sales force, licensees, and agents. The company was formerly known as Fuel Tech N.V. Fuel Tech, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Warrenville, Illinois.

Shide Group is a leading manufacturer of chemical building materials. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Dalian, China, Shide produces more than 500,000 tons of plastic door and window profiles annually. Flagship subsidiary Dalian Shide Plastics Industry is one of the largest production centers for PVC sectional materials. Its product line includes PVC profiles, windows and doors, pipes, pipefitting, sheet materials, and accessories. Shide has also diversified into petrochemical production, insurance and healthcare services, and home-appliance manufacturing.

LANXESS Corporation's synthetic rubber products are used by the tire, auto, and industrial goods industries, while its plastics are marketed toward makers of medical and electronic communications products. LANXESS Corp.'s largest unit is its performance chemicals division, which supplies the textiles, pharmaceutical, and automobile industries, among others. The company's other units are perormance polymers (the synthetic rubber operations) and advanced intermediates (basic and fine chemicals). Subsidiaries include Rhein Chemie (rubber chemicals), Sybron Chemicals (ion exchange resins), and Saltigo (fine, agro-, and pharmaceutical chemicals). Parent company LANXESS AG was spun off from Bayer in 2004.

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