Chemicals such as acids and alkalis, salts, reagents, synthetics, sol- Health, Food, Clothing, Shelter, Transportation, Communication, Defense and Other Materials and Appliances. Section One GROWTH OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Chapter One GROWTH TO RANK OF BASIC INDUSTRY Early Beginnings Chemistry is a young science. Only a little more than 150 years ago Lavoisier laid the base for modern developments when he first explained the nature of elementary and compound substances and the role of oxygen in combustion. From the first colonial settlements in America, however, common chemicals were in demand for meat-pickling, tanning, dyeing and soap-making. John Winthrop, Jr., opened the first chemical plant in America. In 1635 he made saltpeter and alum in Boston and rapidly extended his chemical interests. The domestic industry grew slowly during the opening of the West, and began to take on some importance around 1850. To meet the demands of the Civil War the fledgling chemical industry expanded 500 per cent, but chemistry and chemical engineering were confined chiefly to sulfuric acid and to phases of starch and glue manufacture. For dyes, drugs and fine chemicals the country was dependent on foreign sources. Although nitrates for the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives had to be imported from Chile, the heavy chemical industry was becoming prominent. The organic chemical industry, largely based on coal tar, began to grow in the 1880's and to develop industrial, food, medicinal and dye chemicals of relatively simple structure. Alkalis (caustic, soda ash, lime), sulfuric acid and other inorganic materials had become the big volume items by the last half of the 19th century. Production of chemicals made by electricity began shortly before 1900. In the first decade of the 20th century, new frontiers were opened by commercial processes, including catalytically-promoted chemical reactions. The contact process for making sulfuric acid appeared in this country during this period. World War I Growth Prior to World War I, a number of the chemical companies which are today's industry leaders were formed. By 1910, American production of sulfuric acid and alkalis had exceeded the combined pro 39888 0-54-pt. 10A--~44 Shipped (thousands of dollars) $1,319,000 $1,964,000 $3,759,000 †Value of corporate sales 1950 * Bureau of Census does not give figures. Jobs Furnished figure was obtained from U.S. Department of Labor, 1950 Handbook of Labor Statistics p. 10; Compensation to Employees from U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics, Survey of Current Business, July 1951, p. 160. Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Census of Manufactures: 1947, Volume 11, Statistics by Industry, p. 382; Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1949 and 1950, pp. 28, 134; Statistical Abstracts, 1913. duction of England, Germany and France. At the beginning of World War I, however, the American chemical industry was still relatively small. Because of war's demands, chemical manufacturing mushroomed into a major industry. Investment in the industry doubled between 1913 and 1919. A good start was made in creating a domestic dye industry. Research done abroad plus American ingenuity in working out new and improved products and processes laid the foundation stones for a vigorous chemical industry which has made America independent of foreign sources of supply in the entire synthetic organic field. A vast program of constructing chemical-recovery coke ovens to supplement and replace the wasteful beehive oven insured raw material supplies for the infant American organic chemical industry. The emergence of chemical industry research took place in the early 1900's. Teams of specialists supplanted the lone investigator in most cases as research programs expanded in the '20s. This period saw the beginning of the first substantial contributions of the Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics, Business Structures Division. American chemical industry to medicine. Prior to this time, with the exception of a few isolated achievements, research and development in the field of medicinal chemicals had been done abroad. Valuable products based on the chemist's knowledge of the behavior of giant molecules began to come along after World War I. By studying the complex molecules of such natural materials as wood, silk, rubber and cotton, the chemical industry began to make new synthetic plastics and fibers which have proved to be not only Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics, "Markets After the Defense Expansion," p. 70 satisfactory replacements for natural materials but substances often with far superior properties. Around 1925, the first commercial production of petrochemicals (chemicals derived from crude oil and natural gas) got under way. The production of synthetic ammonia and nitric acid obtained from atmospheric nitrogen-one of the notable industrial achievements of the 20th century-began to develop during this period. According to The President's Materials Policy Commission report, "Resources For Freedom," the greatest scientific and educational activity since 1925 has dealt with matters of chemistry. Chemical Growth-a 20th Century Phenomenon The ultimate reason behind the growth of any industry is public acceptance. The fact that the chemical industry in the United States has shown a tremendous rate of growth in the past quarter-century is a testimonial to the contribution the industry has made to the American public. In its scope and influence, the expansion of the chemical industry in the 20th century is comparable to the growth of the railroads in the 19th century. The chemical industry has historically concentrated on three things: 1. The creation of new materials that serve human needs better than existing materials; 2. The improvement of those materials so that they serve human needs even more effectively; 3. The improvement of processes so that costs of production are cut, thus reducing prices and increasing the standard of living of the consumer by making the money saved available for other uses. Source: New York Stock Exchange Report on Securities, year-end figures. |