From poisoning garden pests to exfoliating dry skin, Lonza puts itself in the middle of things. As the US operations of its parent company, Lonza accounts for about a third of the Lonza Group's $2.5 billion in annual sales. While Lonza doesn't actually make consumer products, the company provides chemical ingredients and intermediates for the personal care, water treatment, pharmaceutical, and plastics industries, from its nine manufacturing and R&D locations throughout the US.

The Comex Group keeps adding colors to its palette. The company manufactures and distributes architectural paints and coatings through five regional operations/brands (Color Wheel, Frazee, General Paint, Parker Paint, and Kwal), and Duckback, a specialty coatings division. It sells its products mainly in the western US -- though it added Florida to its territory with the 2006 acquisition of Color Wheel -- and western Canada. Each brand formulates its products especially for the climate in its home region. The company comprises the US and Canadian operations of Mexico's largest paints maker, Comex.

The Dead Sea has given life to Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL). That body of water is rich in bromine, potash, salt, and magnesium -- minerals that ICL turns into specialty and agrochemicals, among other products. Bromine commonly is used in flame retardants, and potash is a common fertilizer. The company accounts for a third of the world's bromine production and 10% of the world's potash. It is also a major producer of magnesium. Although most of the company's chemicals are produced in Israel (from the Dead Sea), it also mines for fertilizers in Spain and the UK. Investment firm Israel Corporation, controlled by The Ofer Group, owns 53% of ICL.

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.

A strong reaction to business? That's nothing new for Produits Chimiques Auxiliaires et de Synth賥 (PCAS), which makes fine and specialty chemicals for a variety of industries. Synthetic and active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry account for about half of PCAS' sales. Other significant segments make aroma chemicals for perfumes and synthetic and photosensitive chemicals for applications in photography, graphic arts, and electronics manufacturing. The company also develops additives for industrial lubricants and technical fluids, and it prepares pharmaceuticals in final dosage form. French manufacturer Dynaction owns about 70% of the company.

Formed in 1965, Transammonia is owned by founder Ronald Stanton. Fertilizers, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and petrochemicals form the lifeblood of international trader Transammonia. The company trades, distributes, and transports these commodities around the world. Transammonia's fertilizer business includes ammonia, phosphates, and urea. Its Sea-3 subsidiary imports and distributes propane to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the northeastern US and Florida. The Trammochem unit trades in petrochemicals, specializing in aromatics, methanol, methyltertiary butyl ether (MTBE), and olefins. Trammo Petroleum trades oil products including gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel, and naphtha.

Two-thirds of the Earth is water, and a lot of that stuff can be a little sketchy, so that's where GE Water and Process Technologies steps into the picture. A unit of GE's Energy Infrastructure segment, GE Water manufactures water treatment chemicals, as well as making pumps, filters, and fluid controls that help purify water, work against corrosion, and prepare waste water for disposal. Desalination technologies and mobile water treatment systems are a research and developmental focus for the company. GE Water is #2 in the water treatment market behind Nalco. It serves beverage makers, the chemical processing industry, pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as the power generation and transportation industries.

Astro Chemicals Inc., with one purpose; commitment to the customer. Every order had their personal promise of 100% customer satisfaction. Today, our promise remains the same. Though the world's greater demands for environmental responsibility and business efficiencies create a broader sense of commitment, this challenge has only strengthened our resolve. Responsible and dependable service performed by a committed team of distribution professionals help us earn your business.

Arkema is a world-class producer of industrial chemicals, including acrylics, PMMA, thiochemicals, fluorochemicals, and hydrogen peroxide and of performance products like technical polymers, specialty chemical organic peroxides and additives. Arkema is a leading producer in most of its product lines. Arkema's 20 plants in North America account for 25% of the company's sales.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, equipment, and services worldwide. The company’s Merchant Gases segment sells atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, including hydrogen and helium; and medical and specialty gases for the metal, glass, chemical processing, food processing, healthcare, steel, general manufacturing, and petroleum and natural gas industries. This segment also offers respiratory therapies, home medical equipment, and infusion services primarily in Europe.

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