Chemicals & chemical products

The Estonian chemical industry has been closely connected with the oil shale industry, but other sub-sectors of the chemical industry are now being developed more intensively as well. The Estonian chemical industry is to a great degree concentrated on the thermal processing of oil shale. As a result, shale oil, coke, shale oil phenols and other chemicals are produced. Some of the enterprises are based on imported raw materials, such as synthetic phenol, methanol, toluene, natural gas etc. Chemical industry has been very export oriented. The growth in the proportion of exports indicates the growth in foreign demand. Production of chemicals and chemical products has had one of the highest shares of export in sales in manufacturing, the figures have over the years been above industry average.

As at 2010, there are 221 chemical industry enterprises operating in Estonia. Over half of the chemical industry is located in Ida-Viru County. Larger chemical industry enterprises include Viru Keemia Group’s subsidiaries VKG Oil AS (production of shale oil) and VKG Resins AS (adhesive resins), Kiviõli Keemiatööstuse OÜ (shale oil), ES Sadolin AS, AS Tikkurila-Vivacolor and AS Eskaro (paints and varnishes), AS Silmet (rare metals), Henkel Makroflex AS ja OÜ Krimelte (assembly foams), Genovique Specialties AS (benzoic acid, sodium benzoate), AS Nitrofert (mineral fertilisers, ammonia and urea), Orica Eesti OÜ (explosives) and AS Nycomed Sefa (medicine), Cambrex Tallinn AS (experimental production and production of chemical products).

Export was divided between the main export countries as follows: Russia (24%), Latvia (13%), Sweden (12%), Ukraine (6%), Finland (4%), Holland (4%), Denmark (3%), Switzerland (2.5%), Lithuania (2.5%), Iceland (2.5%), Germany (2%) and USA (2%). The main export articles of Estonian chemical industry are: Oil shale, Dyes, Organic chemicals and Fertilizers.