The Top 10 US Specialty Chemicals Companies: Response to recession, growth strategies and SWOT analysis

The specialty chemicals operations of major US players remained relatively resilient during the downturn compared to their other business lines. The 2005-09 period also witnessed a considerable rise in consolidation activities among US companies. Some players are focused on backward integration of operations whilst others are aiming to offload non-core franchises. Consolidation is in part prompted by fluctuations in raw material prices and rising competitiveness in the global marketplace.
The report profiles major US players in the specialty chemical segment and elucidates trends associated with these companies, and insights into the opportunities and threats facing them.. This report provides detailed profiles of ten leading US specialty chemicals companies, containing descriptions of business, financial performance, growth strategies and SWOT analysis.

Key features of this report

• Key drivers and resistors to growth of leading US specialty chemicals companies.
• Common industry characteristics in strategies and performance of US specialty chemicals companies.
• Analysis of financial performance and growth strategies of leading specialty chemicals companies during 2005–09.
• Overview of specialty chemicals product portfolios of leading companies.
• SWOT analysis of the leading US specialty chemicals companies.

Scope of this report

• Learn from the strategies of US specialty chemicals companies to target future growth markets effectively, avoid their mistakes, replicate their successes and learn of the threats they face.
• Benchmark your performance against the leading US specialty chemicals companies by understanding their strategies.
• Measure the resistance of specialty chemicals operations of US companies during the economic downturn.
• Compare performances of specialty and non-specialty chemicals operations of US companies during the recent global recession.
• Save time, money and resources on analyzing the performance of leading specialty chemicals companies using this report.

Key Market Issues

• Raw material price fluctuations: Review of the 2005-09 period indicates that profits of specialty chemicals operations of leading US players are influenced by fluctuations in raw material prices. Fall in prices during the economic downturn had considerable effects on operating margins of US players.
• Fall in demand during downturn: Fall in demand considerably suppressed operating income of US companies in 2009. However, prompt restructuring activities enabled several companies to maintain steady levels of operating margin.
• Relative resistance of specialty chemicals operations: Business Insights observes that the impact was less profound when compared to non-specialty chemicals. The contribution of specialty chemicals to the decline in consolidated revenues was relatively modest. Our in house developed Revenue Growth Index clearly differentiates the performance of specialty and non-specialty operations of US players.
• Consolidation: US players are focused on consolidating their position in the global specialty chemicals market through backward integration and shifting attention to core franchises. Rohm and Hass was acquired by Dow Chemicals while Hercules was taken over by Ashland.

Key findings from this report

• The 10 leading US companies generated $13.3bn sales in 2009, accounting for 4.6% of the $288bn global specialty chemicals market.
• Huntsman was the largest US specialty chemicals company with $3.8bn sales in 2009.
• US specialty chemicals companies were not insulated from the fall in volume sales experienced by the global chemicals industry due to the economic downturn. The majority of these players were affected by the fall in industrial input costs as was observed in their selling prices.
• Business Insights’ Revenue growth index indicates that during the downturn, specialty chemicals businesses of US players performed better than their non-specialty operations.

Key questions answered

• What was the market size of the global specialty chemicals industry by value in 2009?
• What will be the market size of the global specialty chemicals industry during 2010-14?
• What are the key trends observed in the US specialty chemicals companies and strategic responses that are taking shape?
• Who are the major US players in the global specialty chemicals market?
• What are the growth strategies of the leading 10 companies?
• What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the top 10 players?



Report Highlights

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Table of Contents
Executive summary 11
Competitive dynamics 11
Huntsman 11
Ashland 11
Chemtura 12
Rockwood 12
Albemarle 12
Cabot 13
W. R. Grace 13
Ferro Corporation 13
Cytec Industries 14
Lubrizol 14
Chapter 1 Introduction 15
Introduction 15
Methodology 15
Chapter 2 Competitive dynamics 17
Summary 17
Introduction 17
Defining specialty chemicals 18
Global specialty chemicals market 19
Competitive positioning of major US specialty chemicals companies 20
Trends 22
Drivers and resistors 22
US specialty chemicals demonstrated resilience during recession 22
US chemicals lead pre-recessionary consolidation 23
Slow shift towards natural, renewable raw materials 24
Chapter 3 Huntsman 25
Summary 25
Company overview 25
Recent financial performance 26
Performance by business segments 27
Performance of specialty chemicals business 28
Growth strategies 29
Partnerships and alliances 30
Emerging markets focus 30
SWOT analysis 31
Chapter 4 Ashland 32
Summary 32
Company overview 32
Recent financial performance 33
Performance by business segments 34
Performance of specialty chemicals business 35
Growth strategies 36
Emerging markets focus 37
Acquisitions and divestments 37
SWOT analysis 38
Chapter 5 Chemtura 39
Summary 39
Company overview 39
Recent financial performance 40
Performance by business segments 41
Performance of specialty chemicals business 42
Growth strategies 43
Restructuring operations 43
Partnerships and alliances 44
SWOT analysis 45
Chapter 6 Rockwood 46
Summary 46
Company overview 46
Recent financial performance 47
Performance by business segments 49
Performance of specialty chemicals business 49
Growth strategies 51
New product launches 51
Alliances and partnerships 51
Acquisitions and divestments 52
SWOT analysis 53
Chapter 7 Albemarle 54
Summary 54
Company overview 54
Recent financial performance 55
Performance by business segments 56
Performance of specialty chemicals business 56
Growth strategies 57
New product launches 58
Alliances and acquisitions 58
SWOT analysis 60
Chapter 8 Cabot 61
Summary 61
Company overview 61
Recent financial performance 62
Performance by business segments 64
Performance of specialty chemicals business 65
Growth strategies 66
New product launches 66
Partnerships and alliances 66
SWOT analysis 67
Chapter 9 W. R. Grace 68
Summary 68
Company overview 68
Recent financial performance 69
Performance by business segments 70
Performance of specialty chemicals business 70
Growth strategies 72
SWOT analysis 73
Chapter 10 Ferro Corporation 74
Summary 74
Company overview 74
Recent financial performance 75
Performance by business segments 76
Performance of specialty chemicals business 76
Growth strategies 78
SWOT analysis 79
Chapter 11 Cytec Industries 80
Summary 80
Company overview 80
Recent financial performance 81
Performance by business segments 82
Performance of specialty chemicals business 82
Growth strategies 84
New product launches 84
Acquisitions and divestments 84
SWOT analysis 85
Chapter 12 Lubrizol 86
Summary 86
Company overview 86
Recent financial performance 87
Performance by business segments 88
Performance of specialty chemicals business 88
Growth strategies 89
New product launches 90
SWOT analysis 91
Chapter 13 Other major companies 92
DuPont 92
Company overview 92
Specialty chemicals operations 92
Dow Chemical Company 92
Company overview 92
Specialty chemicals operations 93
Colorcon 93
Company overview 93
Specialty chemicals operations 93
International Specialty Products 93
Company overview 93
Specialty chemicals operations 93
Sensient 94
Company overview 94
Specialty chemicals operations 94
Hexion 94
Company overview 94
Specialty chemicals operations 94
FMC 95
Company overview 95
Specialty chemicals operations 95
Appendix 96
Definitions 96
Abbreviations 96
Index 97
Table of figures
Figure 1: Business Insights’ chemical industry matrix 19
Figure 2: Drivers and resistors of the specialty chemicals industry 22
Figure 3: Revenue growth index of US specialty chemicals companies, 2007–09 23
Figure 4: Huntsman’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 26
Figure 5: Huntsman SWOT analysis 31
Figure 6: Ashland’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 33
Figure 7: Ashland SWOT analysis 38
Figure 8: Chemtura’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 41
Figure 9: Chemtura SWOT analysis 45
Figure 10: Rockwood's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 48
Figure 11: Rockwood SWOT analysis 53
Figure 12: Albemarle's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 55
Figure 13: Albemarle SWOT analysis 60
Figure 14: Cabot's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 63
Figure 15: Cabot SWOT analysis 67
Figure 16: W. R. Grace's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 69
Figure 17: W. R. Grace SWOT analysis 73
Figure 18: Ferro Corporation's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 75
Figure 19: Ferro Corporation SWOT analysis 79
Figure 20: Cytec Industries' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 81
Figure 21: Cytec Industries SWOT analysis 85
Figure 22: Lubrizol's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 87
Figure 23: Lubrizol SWOT analysis 91
Table of tables
Table 1: Global specialty chemicals market size ($bn), 2009–14 20
Table 2: Key financials of US specialty chemicals players, 2009 21
Table 3: Financial performance of specialty chemicals and non-specialty operations of US companies, 2007–09 23
Table 4: Illustrative examples of green products from US specialty chemicals companies 24
Table 5: Huntsman snapshot 25
Table 6: Huntsman’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 26
Table 7: Financial performance of Huntsman’s business units, 2009 27
Table 8: Huntsman’s specialty chemicals portfolio 28
Table 9: Financial performance of Huntsman’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 29
Table 10: Ashland snapshot 32
Table 11: Ashland’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 33
Table 12: Financial performance of Ashland’s business units, 2009 34
Table 13: Ashland’s specialty chemicals portfolio 35
Table 14: Financial performance of Ashland’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 36
Table 15: Chemtura snapshot 39
Table 16: Chemtura’s consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 40
Table 17: Financial performance of Chemtura’s business units, 2009 41
Table 18: Chemtura’s specialty chemicals portfolio 42
Table 19: Financial performance of Chemtura’s specialty chemicals business, 2007–09 43
Table 20: Rockwood snapshot 46
Table 21: Rockwood's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 47
Table 22: Financial performance of Rockwood’s business units, 2009 49
Table 23: Rockwood’s specialty chemicals portfolio 50
Table 24: Financial performance of Rockwood’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 50
Table 25: Albemarle snapshot 54
Table 26: Albemarle's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 55
Table 27: Financial performance of Albemarle's business units, 2009 56
Table 28: Albemarle specialty chemicals portfolio 57
Table 29: Financial performance of Albemarle’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 57
Table 30: Cabot snapshot 61
Table 31: Cabot's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 62
Table 32: Financial performance of Cabot's business units, 2009 64
Table 33: Cabot's specialty chemicals portfolio 65
Table 34: Financial performance of Cabot's specialty chemicals business, 2007–09 65
Table 35: W. R. Grace snapshot 68
Table 36: W. R. Grace's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 69
Table 37: Financial performance of W. R. Grace’s business units, 2009 70
Table 38: W. R. Grace’s specialty chemicals portfolio 71
Table 39: Financial performance of W. R. Grace’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09
Table 40: Ferro Corporation snapshot 74
Table 41: Ferro Corporation's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 75
Table 42: Financial performance of Ferro Corporation’s business units, 2009 76
Table 43: Ferro Corporation’s specialty chemicals portfolio 77
Table 44: Financial performance of Ferro Corporation’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09
Table 45: Cytec Industries snapshot 80
Table 46: Cytec Industries' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 81
Table 47: Financial performance of Cytec Industries’ business units, 2009 82
Table 48: Cytec Industries’ specialty chemicals portfolio 83
Table 49: Financial performance of Cytec Industries’ specialty chemicals business, 2007–09 83
Table 50: Lubrizol snapshot 86
Table 51: Lubrizol's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 87
Table 52: Financial performance of Lubrizol’s business units, 2009 88
Table 53: Lubrizol’s specialty chemicals portfolio 89
Table 54: Financial performance of Lubrizol’s specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 89


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