Chemical Week

About Chemical Week

Chemical Week is a New York-based business news service for the global chemical industry, now part of S&P Global. With roots stretching back to 1914, it provides real-time news on Chemweek.com, executive briefings, a Business Daily, and a bi-weekly magazine covering chemical markets, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, and industry trends. Its reporters and analysts serve chemical industry executives, investors, and decision-makers who rely on its authoritative reporting on petrochemicals, specialties, and the business of chemistry. Its official website is chemweek.com.

A Century of Chemical Business News

Chemical Week traces its origins to 1914, when D.O. Haynes founded it as Weekly Drug Markets. The publication's name evolved with the industry it covered: it became Drug and Chemical Markets under Haynes's son William, then Chemical Markets, and then Chemical Industries, before finally taking the name Chemical Week. The title celebrated its centennial in 2014, marking 100 years of continuous coverage of the chemical business. Over that century the publication chronicled the industry's transformation from its early 20th-century foundations through the postwar petrochemical boom, the environmental and safety reckonings of the late 20th century, and the globalization and consolidation of the modern era.

The Haynes Family Legacy

The publication's founder, D.O. Haynes, established a family tradition in chemical industry publishing. His son William Haynes took over the title and founded additional chemical industry periodicals, including Modern Plastics and Drug and Cosmetic Industry. William Haynes is perhaps best known for his six-volume history The American Chemical Industry, published over several decades, which remains a landmark reference on the development of chemistry as an American business. The Haynes family's stewardship gave the publication deep roots in the industry's trade press and established its reputation for authoritative, insider coverage of chemical markets and companies.

The McGraw-Hill Years

McGraw-Hill acquired Chemical Industries, bringing the title into one of America's great business publishing houses. Under McGraw-Hill ownership the publication continued its evolution, briefly carrying the title Chemical Industries Week before settling on Chemical Week. The McGraw-Hill era embedded the magazine within a portfolio of industrial and business publications and gave it the resources to expand its newsroom coverage of the globalizing chemical industry. The title's business-weekly format, with its emphasis on markets, deals, and corporate strategy rather than technical chemistry, distinguished it from scientific journals and positioned it as essential reading for industry executives.

Changing Ownership

In the late 20th century the publication passed through a series of owners reflecting the consolidation of trade publishing. Media investors Louis Perlman and Mason Slaine acquired the title and operated it as Chemical Week Associates. It was then acquired by O.V.P., a French pharmaceutical publisher, and subsequently sold to the private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, which folded Chemical Week Associates into its platform company Access Intelligence. Each transition preserved the title's editorial mission while adapting its business to the changing economics of business-to-business media, moving from a print-centered weekly toward digital and data-driven products.

The IHS Era

In September 2010, IHS acquired Chemical Week, along with SRI Consulting, from Access Intelligence. In May 2011, IHS acquired CMAI, the chemical market research firm, and combined the chemical businesses to form IHS Chemical. The title was adapted to IHS Chemical Week, reflecting its integration with IHS's consulting, research, and data operations. The combination united the magazine's journalism with deep analytical resources on chemical markets, pricing, and supply chains, giving readers a single source for both breaking business news and the market intelligence behind it. The IHS era deepened the title's coverage of global chemical markets at a time of rapid capacity growth in Asia and the Middle East and the shale-driven renaissance of the U.S. petrochemical industry.

Becoming Part of S&P Global

IHS merged with Markit to form IHS Markit, and the combined company was subsequently acquired by S&P Global, making Chemical Week part of one of the world's largest providers of financial information and analytics. Within S&P Global, the title sits alongside energy, commodities, and financial data businesses, giving it access to analytical resources spanning the markets its readers operate in. The publication continues to serve the global chemical industry from its New York base, with its New York City newsroom covering developments across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The S&P Global ownership reflects the title's evolution from a trade weekly into a component of a global intelligence platform.

Editorial Coverage

Chemical Week covers the business of chemistry: chemical markets and pricing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, executive moves, plant investments and closures, sustainability initiatives, and regulatory developments affecting the industry. Its reporters investigate and analyze the forces shaping supply and demand for petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, and related materials, from feedstock economics to downstream demand in construction, automotive, and consumer goods. The publication's coverage of deals tracks the consolidation waves that have reshaped the industry, while its market reporting helps executives and investors understand price movements and capacity trends. The title's award-winning reporters and analysts are cited across the industry for their market insight.

Products and Formats

Chemical Week today delivers its journalism through multiple formats. Chemweek.com provides real-time news for subscribers, while the Business Daily offers a concise briefing on the day's developments. The bi-weekly magazine carries longer analysis, features, and executive interviews, and the company produces executive briefings for industry leaders. The company's executive briefings serve industry leaders seeking concise strategic intelligence. The publication carries the ISSN 0009-272X and has long been published on a weekly cycle with combined issues around holidays. Its digital archive, including a digital edition platform, preserves more than a century of chemical business history, from early coverage of the Haber process and the birth of the petrochemical industry to reporting on today's energy transition and circular economy initiatives.

Centennial and a Century of Industry Milestones

In 2014 Chemical Week celebrated its centennial with an anniversary campaign tracing a century of leading the industry with authoritative chemical business news and information. The campaign's timeline recalled milestones the publication had covered, from the commercialization of the Haber process by BASF and the opening of the world's first commercial ethylene plant at Clendenin, West Virginia, to the Bhopal disaster's impact on environmental and safety regulation and the development of the Responsible Care program, and the postwar petrochemical boom that made Houston the world's largest center of petrochemical production. The centennial messaging emphasized what had not changed since the title's founding in 1914: its focus on providing chemical business news and market insight discovered, investigated, analyzed, and delivered by its reporters and analysts. The anniversary underscored the publication's role as a continuous chronicler of the industry's evolution.

Audience and Subscriptions

Chemical Week's audience consists of international decision-makers across the chemical value chain: producers, distributors, investors, consultants, and the executives who lead the industry's major companies. The publication describes itself as a globally respected source of chemical business insight founded on many years of editorial excellence, and it markets both subscriptions and advertising opportunities to reach that audience. Its editorial standards and global reach provide the expertise and coverage that industry insiders have relied on for more than a century. For executives, investors, and decision-makers across the chemical value chain, the title remains a primary source for understanding the markets, deals, and strategies shaping the global chemical industry. For subscription information, advertising, and the latest chemical business news, visit the official website at chemweek.com.