Chemical industry
The chemical industry changes raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. Some chemical companies produce plastics as well as chemicals. Most chemical products are not sold to the public, but are used to produce other things.
The chemical industry employs many people including chemical engineers, chemists and laboratory technicians.
The chemical industry really started with the Industrial Revolution. The first big factory was built in Prestonpans, Scotland, in 1749, to make sulfuric acid.
References
Chemistry
Industries