CPI & Petrochemicals constitute a huge, complex and highly diverse industry which forms an
integral part of the US economy. It covers converting various raw materials (about 10 of them), the
most important ones being organic in nature such as oil, natural gas and coal whilst others are
inorganic in nature such as ores / elements taken from the earth (phosphates, sulfur, potash etc), air (
nitrogen, oxygen) and water (chlorine, hydrogen). Conversion of these base materials produce about
300 different "intermediates" which then go into production of about 30.000 plus consumer products