Chemical industry

Chemical industry is a branch of industry that includes the production of products from hydrocarbons, minerals, and other raw materials through their chemical processing.

The chemical industry is one of the main sectors of the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The gross output of the chemical industry in the world is about $2 trillion.

History of the industry

Although chemicals have been produced and used throughout human history, the birth of heavy chemical industry (the production of chemicals in large quantities for various purposes) coincided with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

The first plants for the production of sulfuric acid, the most important mineral acid used by man, were built in 1736 (Great Britain, Twickenham), in 1766 (France, Rouen), in 1805 (Russia, Moscow region), and in 1810 (Germany, Leipzig). To meet the needs of the developing textile and glass industries, the production of soda ash appeared. The first soda factories appeared in 1793 (France, Paris), in 1823 (Great Britain, Liverpool), in 1843 (Germany, Schönebeck-on-Elbe), and in 1864 (Russia, Barnaul). With the development of agriculture in the mid-19th century, artificial fertilizer factories appeared: in 1842 in Great Britain, in 1867 in Germany, and in 1892 in Russia.
Raw material links and the early emergence of industry contributed to Britain's emergence as a world leader in chemical production during three-quarters of the 19th century. Since the end of the 19th century, with the growing need of economies for organic substances, Germany has become the leader in the chemical industry. Thanks to the rapid process of concentration of production, a high level of scientific and technological development, and an active trade policy, Germany conquered the world market of chemical products by the beginning of the 20th century.

In the USA, the chemical industry began to develop later than in Europe, but by 1913 the USA had outstripped Europe in terms of chemical production. This was facilitated by the richest reserves of minerals, a developed transport network, and a powerful domestic market. It was not until the end of the 1980s that the chemical industry of the EU countries in total terms again exceeded the volume of production in the United States.

In 2006, the chemical industry accounted for about 6% of Russia's GDP, about 5% for exports, and about 5% for foreign exchange earnings. Almost 7% of the fixed assets of the industry are concentrated in the industry.