Technology & Markets

Some chemicals, including chlorine, are regarded as commodity products -- chemicals which are substantially identical to those produced by competing companies. Typically made from newly extracted raw materials, commodity chemicals form the building blocks for more sophisticated chemicals and for finished products further downstream in the manufacturing process. Other chemical products, which use proprietary technology and are known in the market by their trade names, are sold for what they do, not for what they are. Each of these specialty chemicals, which normally enjoy higher margins than commodities, offers unique performance characteristics. Where commodity chemicals are typically shipped in tank car quantities, specialty chemicals are usually produced and sold in much smaller quantities. PPG is an active participant in the commodity and specialty chemicals businesses. Its commodity industrial products, which center on chlorine, caustic soda and derivatives based on those chemicals, formed the technical foundation for its earliest ventures into chemical specialties.  Specialty products, which now target such specific markets as optical monomers for prescription eyewear, pharmaceutical intermediates, battery separators, refrigerants, food processing, personal care products and rubber reinforcements, represent a growing share of PPG's overall chemicals business.