Basic and Industrial chemicals are produced in huge quantities and are critical ingredients for products used by both industry and the general consumer. They include chemical raw materials derived from oil (petrochemicals), basic inorganics, and intermediates for chemical processes. Inorganic chemical products are the main raw material containing sulfur, sodium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, other chemical minerals, coal, petroleum, natural gas, air and water.

Most chemicals in the market are intermediates. Some are found in nature, but they have to be extracted; separated; purified and filtered. The whole field of chemical engineering deals with how to efficiently take either a single raw material and make multiple products out of it, or combine chemicals together to make a variety of various products.

Chemical processing is part of a larger group called Process Industry. The common characteristic is that a few raw materials can be used to make many different products. Every element on the periodic table is fair game to be used as a raw material in some finished product. Some chemicals become part of the finished product. Other chemicals may be used in manufacturing but not part of the finished product, such as catalysts. Term raw material implies that the material is part of the finished product.

Basic and Industrial chemicals which are used in a range of industries such as: specialty chemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, detergents, solvents, textiles, and many others. Manufacturing tests include chemical composition and physical properties, conducted to international standards including ASTM and ISO, and assist quality control testing, trace analysis and contamination issues.