Introduction
The global chemical industry is currently, one of the top industries generation revenues and contributing significantly to the GDP growth of many countries around the globe. The industry although suffered a rough patch during the global economic meltdown in 2007-08. But it has recovered quite significantly within the period of 2010-2012. The turnover of the global chemicals went up to a handsome figure of €3,127 billion in 2012 registering an important turnaround for the industry. Also the worldwide sales for the industry grew by 12.8 percent which is by far the highest of the decade. The valuation of the growth registered was €356 billion in comparison to 2011. The credit of rise in sales can be attributed to China, who alone registered an increase in sales of 27.1 percent. This resulted an 57 percent contribution to the added global chemical sales.

Current Scenario
The industry is currently on a growth streak. There was production increase of 2.6 percent globally in chemicals. Asian countries cumulatively registered the highest growth of 7.7 percent in 2012. This growth was propelled by the construction, automotive, electronics and consumer goods industries who are the major consumers of chemicals. The second highest growth trend was observed by United States with 2.5 percent. This was due to the decreased gas prices in the country and an increased demand driven majorly by the automotive industry. The European countries had the lowest growth of 1.4 percent owing to slower growth in industrial production. China alone contributed 30.5 percent to the worldwide chemical sales in 2012. The Chinese chemical industry generated revenue of 6,890.91 RMB billion in 2012 which involved a gross profit of 366.96 RMB billion. The Basic chemical raw materials manufacturing segment held the highest share of 1,895.80 RMB billion followed by the Specialty chemicals manufacturing with 1,516.85 RMB billion. Among the European countries, Germany has been by far the most important producer of chemicals with sales of €188 billion.

Outlook
Looking into the previous years’ growth statistics, the chemical industry is likely to perform well in 2014. The Asian countries are predicted to perform well in the next two years which will be propelled by a healthy demand and decrease in over capacity. The major chemical hub of Europe, Germany is expected likely to register a 1.5 percent growth in the production figures in 2014. United States production is also likely to increase due to flourishing of the energy and automotive industries. The increase in energy production will have a positive impact on the US chemical industry. The global leader China is also predicted to see growth in chemical industry owing to the increase in demand for paints and polymers.