Ivory Coast's chemical industry centres around rubber, although there are also a number of chemical and chemical related companies in the country.
There are a number of rubber plantations in the country, and the main chemical export is latex.
A recent government strategy of privatisation has led to the sale of the government holding in the three major companies involved in rubber production to majority private interests.
Despite these attempts to bolster the chemicals industry, importation of chemicals still accounts for approximately 15 % of the total imports per annum.
Other chemical products which are produced in the country are paint, industrial adhesives, and industrial and medical gases. Drinking water is produced, treated and distributed, and there is a local manufacturer of batteries.
The main companies operating in the rubber sector are Compagnie des Caoutchoucs du Pakidie (CCP), Société Africaine de Plantations d'Hévéas (SAPH), and Société des Caouchoucs de Grand-Béréby (SOGB). Eveready Côte d'Ivoire SA manufactures batteries. Sadofoss SA manufactures paint and industrial adhesives. Société de Distribution d'Eau de la Côte d'Ivoire (SODECI) is active in the production, treatment and distribution of drinking water. Société Ivoirienne d'Oxygène et d'Acetylène, 72% owned by Air Liquide France, manufactures industrial and medical gases.
The Côte d'Ivorean workers are unionised, with the main union being Union Générale des Travailleurs de Côte d'Ivoire (UGTCI), which has 100 000 individual members and 190 affiliated unions.
