Chemical Industry Information - Chemical Engineering - Guides de recherche

This section provides resources to help you research specific chemical industries. For more guidance on finding industry information, see our Industry Information research guide.

Canadian Chemical Industry

The resources below provide high-level overviews of chemical industries in Canada. For information on specific chemical industries, see the Chemical Industry Profiles section.

Canadian Chemical Industry (Industry Canada)
A source of information on the chemical industry in Canada and abroad. Find industry profiles, statistics and market reports.
Chemistry Industry Association of Canada Reports
General statistics on revenue, investments, production and exports in the Canadian chemical industry.

The Conference Board of Canada E-Library »
Research and economic indicators on all aspects of Canadian public policy and management; economic trends at national, provincial and international levels.

Chemical Industry Profiles

Use the databases in this section to find industry reports. Many resources also include statistics.

For detailed instructions on finding industry information in databases consult the Financial Research and Learning Lab’s How-to | Database Tables page.

IBISWorld »
IBISWorld is a database that provides hundreds of in-depth Canadian, U.S. and Global industry market research and business environment reports.
Passport GMID »
Passport GMID (Global Market Information Database) is Euromonitor International's global market analysis software platform. Analyses industry trend data, market sizes and market shares from countries around the world. Contains long historic and forecast data series, and allows for comparison of data across countries.
PitchBook »
PitchBook offers access to public and private markets data on market intelligence, business development, due diligence, deal execution, deal sourcing, fundraising, etc.
Business Source Complete »
A large database that includes scholarly and industry content. Also includes country economic reports, financial data, investment research reports, market research reports, case studies, company profiles, SWOT analyses and industry reports.Searches can return large numbers. Try these search tips to limit your results:
1. After searching, under refine results, select only the following source types: Industry Profiles, Market Research Reports, SWOT Analyses
2. Limit search to chemical manufacturing industry by adding the following NAICS code to your search query:
```
AND IC(325*)
```

ICIS Chemical Business (trade magazine)
Obtain chemical profile reports in ICIS Chemical Business by searching "chemical profiles" within the "search within the publication" search bar. Access is through ProQuest One Business.
Chemical & Engineering News
Trade magazine produced by the American Chemical Society targeted to academia as well as industry. Its includes industry news such as research advances, business and policy trends, and safety data.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)
OEC offers data on market growth, top importers/exporters and historical trends. This site provides global trends, but you will be able to see specific information about different countries. Note that the library does not have access to subscription-only features on this website.

Chemical Industry Statistics

The resources below primarily offer access to industry statistics. Note that the many of the resources listed in the Chemical Industry Profiles section (above) also contain statistics.

Manufacturing statistics (Statistics Canada)
Portal that brings together data, tools and reports to provide the latest government information on manufacturing in Canada. Includes a section dedicated to chemicals, plastics, and rubbers.

Statista »
Try starting your search with the Chemical industry worldwide - statistics & facts topic overview. An online statistics, market research, and business intelligence portal. Provides access to data from market and opinion research institutions, as well as from business organizations and government institutions in English, French, German and Spanish. Includes over 1,500,000 statistics on over 80,000 topics from more than 18,000 sources. Also provides data on market forecasts, white paper studies, dossiers, industry reports, digital market outlooks, and consumer market outlooks.

Canadian Industry Statistics
Analyses industry data on the number of establishments, gross domestic product and labour productivity for industry sectors belonging to the Canadian Economy using a few of the latest annual data sources from Statistics Canada. Use NAICS code 325 for chemical manufacturing.
Canadian Business Counts
Canadian Business Counts provide counts of business establishments by NAICS industry classification numbers (2, 3, 4, 6 digits), geography and employment size, and are issued twice yearly from Statistics Canada (see dataset description). This data is available in IVT format, which can be viewed using Beyond 20/20 software.

OECD.Stat »
Access OECD's (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) comprehensive statistical service provides macro-economic data. Of particular interest to chemical industry, see the ANBERD database, which includes annual data on national Research and Development (R&D) expenditures by industry.
E-Data (Conference Board of Canada) »
E-Data from the Conference Board of Canada contains seven economic intelligence databases. Long-term economic forecasts are provided for Canada (540 indicators) and the Provinces (1500 indicators), and short-term economic forecasts provided for Canada (economic and financial by industry back as far as 1987), the Provinces, the Territories (90 indicators), 27 Metropolitan areas and the United States (both 100 indicators). To access data you must create an account with your uOttawa email address.
In addition, e-Data contains the quarterly Consumer Confidence and Business Confidence Indexes, as well as Population and Household Formation forecasts (back to 1975, by gender and 5-year age groups, 700 indicators). E-Data also provides valuable retrospective macro-economic "estimates", often resulting in longer historical time-series than on Cansim.
CANSIM Multidimensional @ CHASS »
CANSIM is Statistics Canada's key database. It provides time-series tables on most social and economic aspects of life in Canada. The database enables users to track trends over time, and because of its multi-dimensional format, it allows selected data variables to be cross-tabulated.

Bulk Chemical Prices

Finding bulk chemical pricing has always been a challenge for student design projects, and whatever number you come up with will be an estimate. There is not one "go to" source for bulk chemical pricing and the highest quality sources of data are so expensive that only industry can afford access. You will likely need to rely on multiple sources of information and historical pricing data. It is possible that you will not be able to find bulk pricing for your desired chemicals. Here are some tips to help your in your search:

Some prices are volatile and change daily; others may be quite stable over long periods of time. For estimation purposes you should consider trends over a period of time.
Prices for a raw material differ according to manufacturer, location, quantity, grade, delivery mode, time of year, and other variables. Long term contract prices are usually lower than spot prices.
All published prices are estimates.
In many cases a direct quote from a supplier will be the only source of price information.
Don't use research-quantity (g/kg) prices for plant estimation purposes.
Manufacturers generally won't provide price quotes to students or non-customers.

Credit: The text above was adapted from the following research guides: Bulk Chemical Prices - University of Texas Libraries and Chemical Prices Guide - Texas A&M.

Current Market Prices

Many raw chemicals are commodities, which means that they are bought and sold on public markets. Through uOttawa's Financial Research and Learning Lab, you can access market prices for certain chemicals via Bloomberg Terminals (in-person only).

ChemAnalyst (website)
ChemAnalyst is a newer platform offering spot prices, free of charge, for many chemicals that are traded as commodities. Other libraries have reported their prices as being higher, so if possible rely on information found on Bloomberg. Note that the library does not have access to subscription-only features on this website.

Historical Pricing Sources

ICIS Chemical Business and Chemical Week are trade magazines that have historically published some pricing information. To see if your chemical of interest is listed in either of these publications, refer to this chemical pricing spreadsheet (maintained by Texas A&M University Libraries up until 2023). This spreadsheet does not actually include pricing, but tells you which issue (e.g. Chemical Week, November 2011) to reference. Use the appropriate links below to find the full-text article.

ICIS Chemical Business (trade magazine)
Each issue features a profile of a different chemical which includes spot pricing. Access is through ProQuest One Business. Locate by searching "chemical profiles" within the "search within the publication" search bar.
Chemical Week (trade magazine)
Issues up until early 2010 included pricing information. Access available through ProQuest One Business. Add your chemical name to the following search query to locate pricing:
```
pubid(40943) AND title( "CW Price Report" OR "Product Focus" OR "Basic Chemicals & Plastics" ) AND *YOUR CHEMICAL*
```
ICIS Chemical Market Reporter (archived)
2006 prices. ICIS published a static list of about 200 chemicals.

Updating historical pricing

Current bulk chemical prices can be estimated by adjusting older chemical prices to current levels using a Producer Price Index (PPI). The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis lists a number of Producer Price Indices for Chemicals and Allied Products. Calculate the updated price using the formula below:

Updated Price = Older Price x [(Cost Index at Newer Date) / (Cost Index at Older Date)]

For more information, the conference paper below describes using the Producer Price Index to adjust older chemical prices:

Hubbard, D. E. (2021, March), Efficacy of Using Producer Price Indexes for Bulk Chemical Prices in Student Design Projects Paper presented at ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, Waco, Texas. https://peer.asee.org/36374

CEPCI - Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index

Construction costs change over time. Using a cost index helps to compare construction costs between time periods. One common index used in chemical plant design is CEPCI, the chemical engineering plant cost index. The trade journal Chemical Engineering (access via ProQuest OneBusiness) publishes CEPCI in their monthly economic indicators feature. Run the following search query in ProQuest and locate the most recent issue to find the current CEPCI:

PUBID(41910) AND "economic indicators"

For an overview of how cost indices are used in cost estimating, see the following article:

S. Jenkins, "FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS," Chemical Engineering, vol. 121, (6), pp. 28, 2014. Available: https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/facts-at-your-fingertips/docview/1539531104/se-2.