Salt has preserved K+S (for Kali und Salz) for more than a century. Founded in 1889 to mine salt, K+S gets more than 40% of its sales from potash, which is extracted from salt and used in fertilizers. The company also produces salt used for industrial purposes (such as making glass), as well as for deicing roads and cooking. K+S is Germany's top salt producer and supplies about 12% of the world's potash. In addition, the company recycles waste materials and provides underground waste disposal services. In 2009 the company helped Dow pay for its acquisition of Rohm and Haas by agreeing to buy Morton Salt for about $1.7 billion. The deal makes K+S the world's #1 salt producer.

Evonik Industries evidently decided it no longer wanted to get its hands dirty. The enterprise was cut out from RAG, leaving the coal business with that company and taking RAG's former subsidiaries Degussa (chemicals and plastics), STEAG (power generation), and Wohnen (real estate). Degussa operates globally and across multiple chemical platforms; it accounts for about three-quarters of Evonik's business. STEAG operates power generation plants, both in Germany and abroad in Colombia, the Philippines, and Turkey. Evonik's real estate operations include 60,000 housing units in Germany. Investment firm CVC Capital Partners owns a 25% stake in the company.

Stripping is OK at Spraylat. Founded in 1936, Spraylat makes more than 100 strippable coatings used to protect a variety of surfaces from dust, heat, and even environmental hazards. The company makes liquid and powder coatings, as well as coatings for signs, wheels, and electronics. Its Hilemn business segment makes coatings for mirrors. Customers include the aerospace, automotive, electronics, and general manufacturing industries -- primarily in the US, but also in Asia and Europe. Chairman James Borner and his family control the company. Spraylat expanded its global reach in 2008 when it formed Automotive Coatings World Alliance with two paint companies, Japan's Ohashi Chemical and France's Mader Group.

CRI Catalyst Company is part of CRI/Criterion Inc., the global catalyst technology company of the Shell Group. CRICC operates research laboratories, development facilities, manufacturing plants and business units throughout the world.It is dedicated to providing a broad customer base with effective and cost-efficient catalysts and technologies. CRI has a range of products with specific focus on environmental applications, hydrogen separation and recovery, selective oxidation and hydrogenation, dehydrogenation and the production of renewable fuels.

Clariant Corporation is clearly into the chemicals business. The company is divided into four segments: Textile, Leather, and Paper Chemicals; Functional Chemicals; Pigments and Additives; and Masterbatches (which are color and additive concentrates). As the North American subsidiary of Swiss specialty chemicals maker Clariant AG, Clariant Corp. oversees operations in Canada and the US and has about 25 manufacturing facilities and service centers throughout North America.

Austin Chemical does just fine, even without the bionic capabilities of Steve or the accessibility to great barbecue of the capital of Texas. The company supplies excipients, intermediates, APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients), and specialty chemicals to the pharmaceutical, nutritional, and agrochemical industries. It also provides development, packaging, marketing, and logistical services. The company supplies more than 8,000 products from some 115 manufacturers. In addition to its Chicago-area headquarters, Austin Chemical maintains operations in China and India.

Infineum International Ltd. is a world leader in the formulation, manufacturing and marketing of petroleum additives for lubricants and fuels. Established in January 1999, Infineum is a joint venture of two of the most venerable names in lubricants and fuels, ExxonMobil and Shell. We number among our customers many of the world’s most recognised consumer brands.

INEOS NOVA International is still pretty impressive. The joint venture, owned by diversified chemicals giant Ineos and Canadian plastics company NOVA Chemicals, ranks among the world's larger styrenics manufacturers. Its primary products are polystyrene (used as packaging material and in household appliances and equipment housings), expandable polystyrene (used as building insulation and in packaging containers), and styrene monomer (used as a raw material for the production of other styrenics). INEOS NOVA also manufactures a range of performance products that are used to make a variety of plastics for packaging, medical devices, housewares, and office products.

Lucite International has its roots firmly planted in plastics. The top producer of acrylic monomers (ahead of Rohm and Haas, Degussa, and Asahi Kasei) with quarter-share of the world market, Lucite International has a history that dates back to the discovery of methyl methacrylate (MMA) by an ICI chemist in 1934 and DuPont's opening of the first US plant three years later. MMA is the main building block of acrylic materials. The company's brand names include Lucite, Perspex, and Lucite Tufcoat. Charterhouse Capital, which had owned 78% of Lucite, first put it up for sale in 2006, meeting with no success. It finally managed to bring off a sale to Mitsubishi Rayon two years later.

Got potash? If not, the Arab Potash Company (APC) would be glad to fix you up. The company mines the Dead Sea for potassium chloride, one of several potassium-based compounds commonly known as potash. The substance is used primarily for fertilizer, but also has industrial applications, for example in the manufacture of glass and ceramic. Canadian industry bigwig Potash Corp. bought more than a quarter of the company in 2003 and installed some of its own executives in APC management roles. Jordan Investment Corp. also owns more than a quarter of APC.

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