Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain.
It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices.
1930s volumes of ICI magazine
A former ICI plant in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, now owned by Syngenta.
The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into commodity chemicals for industrial and consumer products. It includes industries for petrochemicals such as polymers for plastics and synthetic fibers; inorganic chemicals such as acids and alkalis; agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; and other categories such as industrial gases, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Oil refinery in Louisiana - an example of chemical industry
Charles Tennant's St. Rollox Chemical Works in 1831, then the biggest chemical enterprise in the world.
Ernest Solvay, patented an improved industrial method for the manufacture of soda ash.
The factories of the German firm BASF, in 1866.