10 Introduction to Renewable Biomaterials
ARRR
(Flanders, Belgium;
The Netherlands;
NRW, Germany)
Houston
(USA)
Jubail
(Saudi Arabia)
Shanghai
(China)
Jurong
(Singpore)
N
O
S
W
Figure 1.1Global chemical clusters.
used the new raw material of mineral oil, which was easily available along the river
Rhine to develop products for receptive markets like dyestuff and more. With academic
excellence, entrepreneurs and investors started production facilities for a society
honoring innovation. Nobel Prize and global players in chemical industries were
the result. Similar chemical clusters evolved in the United States and Japan (ranking
today number 1 and 2). China surpassed Germany a few years ago; its industry grew
in the beginning due to beneficial cost but has increasingly gained relevance also
because of top-ranking science. Germany’s chemical industry still ranks number 4
(Table 1.10). When looking at global regions, the Asian chemical industry is today
leading (Table 1.11) especially due to China.
Table 1.10Chemical industry nation’s sales and market share (2013).
China
United
States Japan Germany Brazil
Sales (billion US$) 1245 815 335 250 145
Share (%) 24.9 16.3 6.7 5.5 2.9
Table 1.11Chemical industry region’s sales and market share (2013).
Asia EU(27) NAFTA
Latin
America Africa
Sales (billion US$) 2435 1070 920 260 55
Share (%) 48.7 21.4 18.4 5.2 1.1
