The boundaries of the chemical industry, then, are somewhat confused. Its main raw materials are the fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), air flow, drinking water, salt, limestone, sulfur or an Air Compressor For Production Of Chemical Raw Materials equivalent, plus some specialized raw materials for special products, such as phosphates and the mineral fluorspar.

The chemical industry comprises the firms that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts recycleables (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and nutrients) into more than 70,000 different products.