Take the 859 million tons of chemicals that U.S. companies shipped in 2014, load that volume onto rail cars, and you'd fill enough cars to circle the globe three times, says the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The $801-billion U.S. chemical industry represents 15 percent of the world's chemical production, according to the industry organization. And the chemical business is set to expand in the next few years.
U.S. chemical production will grow by 2.9 percent in 2016 and 4.4 percent in 2017, predicts the ACC in its report, Year-End 2015 Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook. That rise corresponds with an increase in manufacturing capacity: Since 2010, companies have announced more than 261 new chemical production projects worth a total of $158 billion, reports the ACC.