Apparel makers reach for Teijin when they need more fiber. About a third of the company's sales come from fibers that are used primarily in apparel but that are also found in items as varied as circuit boards and bulletproof jackets. In a joint venture with DuPont, Teijin produces polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films used in packaging and magnetic media. The company also makes polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) film used in videocassettes, and it makes pharmaceuticals and medical products, as well as textile and industrial machinery such as spinning machines. Teijin serves customers in Asia, Europe, and the Americas through about 200 subsidiaries and affiliates.

Penn Color might not have anything to do with your pen color, but there's a good chance that some piece of plastic within your line of sight is colored by Penn. The Pennsylvania company manufactures dispersions, colorants, inks, and coatings primarily for the plastics industry, but also for automobile makers, printers, construction materials, packaging, wall covering and flooring, and even for use in nail polish. Penn Color has six manufacturing plants in the South East and North East US and one in the Netherlands. The company was formed in 1964 as PFD Plastics.

McBride keeps Europe well-groomed and squeaky clean. The continent's largest manufacturer of private-label household and personal care products, McBride sells its products to most of Europe's major grocery chains. The company's array of household products includes laundry and dishwashing products, hard surface cleaners, bleach, and air fresheners. Its personal care items include shampoo, soap, shaving cream, deodorant, toothpaste, and nail and skin care products. McBride has about a dozen manufacturing facilities in a handful of European countries and operates through subsidiaries in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. It also exports products to Central and Eastern Europe.

Landec Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of temperature-activated and other specialty polymer products for various food products, agricultural products, and licensed partner applications in the United States. The company’s polymer products are based on its proprietary Intelimer polymers, which could be customized to abruptly change their physical characteristics when heated or cooled through a pre-set temperature switch. It operates in three segments: Food Products Technology, Commodity Trading, and Technology Licensing. The Food Products Technology segment markets and packs produced and specialty packaged fresh-cut vegetables utilizing fresh-cut produce processing technology and access to specialty packaged produce products to distribute in the retail grocery chains, club stores, and to the foodservice industry. The Commodity Trading segment involves in the purchase and sale of primarily whole commodity fruit and vegetable products to Asia. The Technology Licensing segment licenses and supplies Intellicoat, a proprietary seed coating technology to the farming industry, as well as Intelimer polymers technology for personal care products and other industrial products. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Menlo Park, California.

HELM U.S. (a subsidiary of Germany-based HELM Aktiengesellschaft) distributes specialty and industrial chemicals from chemical producers to industrial customers in the Americas. Founded in 1976, the company specializes in distributing raw materials for producers of thermoset resins and coatings. Typical products include both liquid (acetone, acrylates, methanol, propylenes, xylenes) and solid (borax, fumaric acid, melamine, titanium dioxide) chemicals. The company also offers logistics services such as chemical tanker chartering, documentation, and import and export regulatory assistance.

Contract Chemicals began life in 1977 as a gun-for-hire in the world of specialty chemical manufacturing. Its chemicals (including bromides, chlorides, intermediates, and salts) are made for the agrochemical, fragrance, detergent, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and photography industries. The company's products are used in antibiotics and anti-hypertension drugs as well as salt and vinegar potato chips. The bulk of Contract Chemicals' revenues come from exports to the US, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Korea, and Switzerland.

Toagosei Co. is active in both organic and inorganic chemicals. The company's largest business segments produce acrylic acids and esters (used in fibers, rubber, and paper processors) and chloralkali chemicals, including caustic soda and chlorine. Toagosei also is a major producer of plastic products such as PVC pipe and couplings and other inorganic chemicals such as sulfuric acid (used in fertilizers) and industrial gases (oxygen and nitrogen) for medical use. The company also produces adhesives, including instant adhesive Aron Alpha, which is better known as Crazy Glue in the US. In 2010 Toagosei formed a joint venture with Mitsui Chemicals to produce ethylene carbonates for lithium ion batteries.

Sinnett-Elpaco Coatings makes industrial paints and powder coatings for products in the ammunition, appliance, automotive, construction, electrical, industrial machinery, consumer goods, marine, and office furniture industries. Its products include high-temperature coatings, clear polyester powders, enamels, solvents, epoxies, urethanes, and wash primers. The company, also known as TriTech Coatings, is owned by its executives.

From painting to printing, Clariant GmbH makes it brighter. The company makes pigments for paints, lacquers, plastics, and other specialty applications. The company also makes masterbatches, printing inks for ink jet and laser printing, additives to improve heat resistance, and aluminum paints. Other divisions make surfactants, polymers, pharmaceutical and agricultural fine chemicals, and distribute color and additive concentrates. Clariant GmbH sells to the automotive, electronics, consumer goods, medical, packaging, and textiles markets. The company is the German unit of Swiss specialty chemical giant Clariant International and accounts for about 15% of its parent's total sales.

Finally, a Method for the madness of keeping a clean home. Method Products makes and sells home-cleaning products, hand and body cleansers, and air fresheners and candles. It differentiates itself from larger, more established competitors through innovative design -- dish-washing liquid in sleek bowling-pin-shaped bottles, teardrop hand soap bottles, and futuristic-looking mops. It also carves its niche by offering nontoxic, environmentally friendly products in a price range that costs less green. Products are sold at Target, Office Depot, Costco, and other major retailers and grocery stores in the US, Canada, and the UK. Chemical engineer Adam Lowry and account planner Eric Ryan founded the firm in 2001.

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