This directory compares 6 plastic additive distributors, Brenntag, Univar Solutions, IMCD, Azelis, Biesterfeld and DKSH: the companies that buy, store, repack and resell additives made by someone else. Whether a distributor is the right route depends less on the distributor than on the order: how much, how many different additives, for which market, and with which documents? Brenntag reported EUR 16.8 billion in revenue in 2023 from more than 600 locations in 72 countries, and Univar Solutions acquired Nexeo Solutions in March 2019, yet neither figure tells a buyer which manufacturer stands behind a drum.
The page covers distributors of additives for plastics, such as stabilizers, plasticizers, flame retardants, pigments, fillers and masterbatch. It does not cover resin and sheet stockists or lubricant-additive distributors, which share the word "distributor" on search results.
Six is the number of distributors our sources verify by name, not the size of the market. The page compares them on verified attributes, then sets out 6 order situations, the 8 documents that prove a distributed additive's status, 5 steps from a trade name to the authorised channel, 7 distributor checks and a comparable quote request through the plastic additive supplier finder. No distributor pays for inclusion or position, and no principal, territory, minimum order quantity, lead time or price is verified for any of the six, so none is printed.
Table 1 lists the 8 layers of this page, what each one gives a buyer and where it starts.
Table 1. What this page covers.
| Layer | Entries | What it gives you | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distributors | 6 | Headquarters, scale figure with year, ownership and dated transactions where verified | Table 2 |
| Order situations | 6 | Whether a distributor, the manufacturer or a masterbatch producer fits the order, and what to ask | Table 3 |
| Documents | 8 | What each document is issued for, what a distributor can hand over, what to check | Table 4 |
| Brand route | 5 steps | From the trade name to its current owner to the channel in your country | The brand-route section |
| Distributor checks | 7 | How to tell an authorised distributor from a trader or a listing | The checks section |
| Regions | 4 + global | Which distributors have a verified base where | Table 5 |
| Category directories | 13 | The manufacturer directory for your additive family | Table 6 |
| Quote request | 1 | One request to a shortlist of suppliers | The quote section |
Counts are entries verified against a primary or named source, not a claim about how many distributors exist. Distributors we cannot verify are not listed, and "not verified" in a cell means the value is not yet confirmed.
Request a quote for any plastic additive
Send one short specification and compare the replies from producers and distributors.
What Does a Plastic Additive Distributor Do?#
A plastic additive distributor is a company that buys additives from the companies that make them, stores and often repacks them, and resells them in smaller or mixed quantities, without ever becoming the maker of the substance. It is one of 4 supply roles, beside the manufacturer, the masterbatch producer and the compounder, and the only one that leaves the material unchanged.
A distributor of plastic additives changes the quantity, the delivery and the route of the paperwork, never the molecule. It may resell any of the 43 families of plastic additives, from stabilizers to masterbatch, but the chemistry of each family stays the manufacturer's, and under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) the registration duty sits with the manufacturer or the importer. Questions to a distributor are therefore about the source and the documents: who made this lot, who registered the substance, and who holds its food-contact clearance?
Distributor, manufacturer, masterbatch producer or marketplace?#
Five kinds of business sell plastic additives, and only one of them, the distributor, resells a substance it neither makes nor converts. The 5 kinds are listed below, each with the point at which it differs from a distributor.
- Manufacturer: makes the substance, which a distributor never does, as BASF makes Irganox antioxidants and Huber makes Martinal ATH.
- Masterbatch producer: converts the additive into a carrier-resin concentrate sold by let-down ratio, as Ampacet, Avient, Tosaf and Cabot (PLASBLAK) do.
- Compounder: builds the whole package into a ready-to-mould compound, as Teknor Apex does, while a distributor delivers each additive as it left its maker.
- Distributor: buys, stores, repacks and resells without making or converting anything, as Brenntag and Univar Solutions do.
- Trader or marketplace listing: a seller of record whose role the listing does not state, so it may stand for any of the 4 roles above.
The first four roles, and the 57 manufacturers behind them, are set out in the directory of plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers. The fifth, the listing with an unstated role, is why this page sets out 7 distributor checks. Search results for "plastics distributor" also return resin, sheet and rod stockists and lubricant-additive distributors; neither is covered here.
What a distributor adds to an additive, and what it never changes#
A distributor adds quantity, stock and consolidation to an additive, and it never changes three things: the substance and its CAS number, the company that holds the registration or the food-contact notification, and the production lot the material came from. Quantity means breaking a manufacturer's pack or run into the amount a converter orders, stock means a warehouse in the buyer's region, and consolidation means additives from 2 or more manufacturers on one delivery. Our sources publish no minimum order quantity, lead time or pack size for any distributor, so each service is named without a number.
What a distributor never changes follows from 2 rules. Under REACH, registration is required at 1 tonne a year or more per manufacturer or importer, including additives imported inside a masterbatch. Under section 409(h) of the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a Food Contact Notification is effective only for the notifier named in it. Chemistry and regulatory status are therefore proved by documents that start at the manufacturer or the importer. So which documents should arrive with a distributed additive, and in whose name?
Plastic Additive Distributors: The 6 Companies in This Directory#
The 6 distributors below fall into 3 groups by how much our sources verify about them: 2 with dated scale figures, 2 specialty distributors whose headquarters and listing still await confirmation, and 2 named without further verified detail. Revenue figures are group totals across all chemicals; none of the six publishes a plastic-additive figure that we can verify. Table 2 sets out the 6 distributors in group order, numbered continuously.
Table 2. Plastic additive distributor directory.
| # | Distributor | Headquarters | Scale (figure, year) | Ownership and listing | Dated transactions | Profile page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brenntag | Essen, Germany | Revenue EUR 16.8 bn (2023); more than 600 locations in 72 countries | not verified | Essentials and Specialties divisions since 2021 | no profile page yet |
| 2 | Univar Solutions | Downers Grove, Illinois, USA | Revenue USD 11.5 bn (2022) | Private, owned by Apollo since August 2023 (enterprise value USD 8.1 bn) | Acquired Nexeo Solutions, March 2019 | no profile page yet |
| 3 | IMCD | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | no profile page yet |
| 4 | Azelis | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | no profile page yet |
| 5 | Biesterfeld | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | no profile page yet |
| 6 | DKSH | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | no profile page yet |
"Not verified" means the value is not yet confirmed against a primary or named source. Revenue figures are group totals across all chemicals, as summarised on Wikipedia. Row order reflects how much our sources verify, not size or quality.
1. Distributors with verified scale figures: Brenntag and Univar Solutions (2)#
Distributors with verified scale figures are the first group; it has 2 companies, Brenntag and Univar Solutions, and Brenntag reported EUR 16.8 billion in revenue in 2023 from more than 600 locations in 72 countries, while Univar Solutions reported USD 11.5 billion in 2022. Brenntag is headquartered in Essen, Germany, and has run 2 divisions, Essentials and Specialties, since 2021, according to Wikipedia's company summary. Univar Solutions is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois; it acquired Nexeo Solutions in March 2019 and was taken private by Apollo in August 2023 at an enterprise value of USD 8.1 billion.
2. Specialty distributors named in our sources: IMCD and Azelis (2)#
Specialty distributors named in our sources are the second group; it has 2 companies, IMCD and Azelis, both recorded in our source library as specialty chemical distributors that sell plastic additives. Our source notes also hold a headquarters city and a stock-exchange listing for each company, but neither attribute has yet been confirmed against a primary source such as an annual report or an investor page, so both stay out of Table 2 until they are. Revenue, site count and plastic-additive portfolio are not verified for either company. Their place in the group order reflects that verification status, not their size.
3. Further named distributors and the regional specialist layer: Biesterfeld and DKSH (2)#
Biesterfeld and DKSH are named in our sources as plastic additive distributors, but no headquarters, scale figure or additive portfolio is verified for either, so both rows in the table stay empty beyond the name. Behind them sits the regional specialist layer: distributors that serve one country or one region, which is what searches for "small chemical distributors for plastics" look for. Our sources verify no regional distributor by name, in India, China or elsewhere, so this layer has no row yet; a regional distributor proves its role through the same 8 documents and 7 checks as a large one.
How this directory is built: sources, independence and gaps#
Every distributor in this directory is named as a plastic additive distributor in our source library, every attribute printed beside a name is checked against a named source with its year, and no distributor pays for inclusion or position. The rules for sources, corrections and paid placement are set out in our editorial policy. A "not verified" cell means a fact is not yet confirmed, not that it does not exist.
One gap matters most: our sources do not yet verify which manufacturers each distributor represents, in which country, or on what terms, and no minimum order quantity, lead time, pack size or certification is verified either. The brand-route section below explains how to get the channel answer from the manufacturer directly.
When Should You Buy Plastic Additives Through a Distributor?#
Buy through a distributor when the order is smaller than the manufacturer's minimum run, combines 2 or more additives on one delivery, or needs stock close to the plant; buy from the manufacturer when the volume is large, the grade is qualified by name and the documents must come first-hand. The decision belongs to the order, not the additive: one stabilizer grade can travel straight from the plant to a compounder booking whole runs, and through a distributor's warehouse to a moulder needing one bag beside a pigment and a lubricant. Table 3 matches 6 order situations to the route that fits and the question to ask on that route.
Table 3. Order situation to buying route.
| # | Order situation | Route that fits | Why | What to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quantity below the manufacturer's smallest production run or pack | Distributor | The distributor repacks and holds stock; no minimum order figure is published by any source we can verify | "What is the smallest packed quantity, and is it in local stock?" |
| 2 | 2 or more additives on one delivery | Distributor | Consolidating products from different manufacturers is the distributor's function | "Which of these grades do you hold, and from which manufacturer is each?" |
| 3 | A grade qualified by brand name, at production volume, with the full document set first-hand | Manufacturer, or the distributor the manufacturer names for your country | The qualification file names the grade; the US food-contact basis belongs to the notifier | "Which company is your authorised channel for this grade in our country?" |
| 4 | Dosage too small to weigh neat, or no compounding line | Masterbatch producer | Active content = let-down rate x concentration: Ampacet's 35% carbon black masterbatch at 5 to 6.5% gives 1.75 to 2.28% carbon black | "What is the active content, and what let-down rate do you recommend?" |
| 5 | Import into the EU from a maker outside the EU | Whoever imports, distributor or buyer | REACH registration is required per manufacturer or importer at 1 t/y or more, including additives inside an imported masterbatch | "Who is the registrant for this substance, and under which name?" |
| 6 | US food-contact use that relies on a Food Contact Notification | The notifier's own product, through any channel | An FCN is effective only for the notifier named in it | "Is this the notifier's product, and which FCN number covers it?" |
How order size and order mix decide the route#
The smaller and more varied the order, the stronger the case for a distributor, because a distributor sells from repacked stock while a manufacturer sells from production runs. Ask a distributor which packed quantity it already holds in a warehouse near you; ask a manufacturer which production run makes the grade and when the next run is scheduled. Order mix pushes the same way: a moulder buying a stabilizer, a pigment and a slip agent from 3 makers receives 3 deliveries direct, against 1 when one distributor holds all three grades.
No source we can verify publishes minimum order quantities, lead times or pack sizes for any distributor or manufacturer, so this page gives the question to ask, not a number. And does the form of the additive change the answer?
Neat additive, masterbatch or one-pack through a distributor?#
A masterbatch bought through a distributor is priced per kilogram of concentrate, so it compares with a neat additive only after let-down rate is multiplied by active content. How a masterbatch is built, and what its let-down ratio means, is explained on the family page.
Ampacet's pressure-pipe example shows the arithmetic: a masterbatch carrying 35% carbon black, let down at 5 to 6.5% (19:1 to 14:1), gives 1.75 to 2.28% carbon black in the pipe, which reaches the ISO 4427-1 band of 2.0 to 2.5% only at the top of the range (Ampacet, "Designing high-performance pipe compounds", checked 25 September 2026). Two distributor offers are comparable only when both state active content and let-down rate, because a cheaper, weaker concentrate needs a higher let-down for the same level in the part.
A one-pack fixes the ratio between 2 or more additives, such as a stabilizer, a lubricant and a processing aid, so buying it through a distributor means buying a formulation decision made by its producer. These systems are covered on one-pack additive systems.
Which Documents Prove a Distributed Additive's Regulatory Status?#
Eight documents prove what a distributed additive is and where it may be used, and most of them belong to the manufacturer, the importer or the food-contact notifier rather than to the distributor that delivers them. Table 4 lists the 8 documents, what each is issued for, what a distributor can hand over and what the buyer checks on arrival.
Table 4. The document chain through a distributor.
| # | Document | Issued for | What a distributor can hand over | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safety data sheet (SDS) | The grade as supplied | The SDS for the grade it sells; for a non-classified mixture containing 0.1% or more of a Candidate List substance, an SDS on request (REACH Art. 31(3)) | Revision date and CLP classification, including the hazard classes of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/707 that apply to substances from 1 May 2025 and to mixtures from 1 May 2026 |
| 2 | Technical data sheet (TDS) | The manufacturer's grade | The manufacturer's TDS | That the grade name on the TDS is the grade on the invoice |
| 3 | Certificate of analysis (CoA) | One production lot | The CoA for the delivered lot | That the lot number traces to the producing manufacturer's batch |
| 4 | REACH registration | The registrant: the manufacturer or the importer, at 1 t/y or more | The registrant's name and registration number | The registrant's name, not the word "registered"; additives inside an imported masterbatch must be registered too |
| 5 | EU declaration of compliance (Regulation (EU) No 10/2011) | The grade for food-contact use | The declaration for the grade | The FCM number and the specific migration limit (generic SML 60 mg/kg); from 16 December 2025 a non-compliant intermediate must say so in the declaration (Regulation (EU) 2025/351) |
| 6 | US food-contact basis | A 21 CFR section, or an FCN that covers only its notifier | The citation | That the grade is the notifier's own product where an FCN is cited; an FCN is a notifier-specific clearance |
| 7 | Candidate List information (REACH Art. 33) | An article containing more than 0.1% w/w of a Candidate List substance | The communication to recipients | The substance and its concentration; the Candidate List has 253 entries, last updated 4 February 2026 |
| 8 | REACH entry 78 statement | Pellets, flakes and powders supplied for use at industrial sites, from 17 October 2025 | The instructions, the statement, the quantity and the generic polymer identity | Whether the additive is a polymeric powder under the duty, such as PE or PP wax micronisates, PTFE micropowder, PMMA and silicone beads, or expandable microspheres |
Ask for each document in the name of the company that owns it, and check that the names match the manufacturer on the certificate of analysis. The regulatory status of a grade can be screened against REACH, FDA and EU 10/2011 before the documents arrive with the additive regulatory status checker.
Whose REACH registration covers a distributed additive?#
A REACH registration belongs to the company that manufactures the additive in the EU or imports it at 1 tonne a year or more, so a distributor holds one only when it is itself the importer. The full set of duties, from registration to the Candidate List, is covered under REACH and plastic additives. Polymers are exempt under Article 2(9), but additives are substances, and ECHA's plastic additives mapping counted about 418 registered above 100 tonnes a year ("over 400" in ECHA's wording).
The masterbatch case follows from the same rule: the carrier polymer is exempt, the additive inside it is not, so an imported masterbatch carries a registration duty for its additives. The Candidate List, with 253 entries (last updated 4 February 2026), adds a duty that travels with the goods: an article containing more than 0.1% w/w of a listed substance triggers the Article 33 communication to recipients, with consumer requests answered within 45 days.
Does a brand's FDA Food Contact Notification cover the distributor's supply?#
A Food Contact Notification covers a distributor's supply only when the distributor sells the notifier's own product, because an FCN is effective only for the company named in it. FCNs exist under section 409(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, created by the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, and clear one notifier's substance, not the molecule for every seller.
FCN 2211 covers calcium tert-butylphosphonate at up to 0.15 wt% in polyolefins for Milliken (2022), and FCN 2357 covers disodium N-benzoyl-L-aspartate (CAS 2092399-70-5) at up to 0.3 wt% in polypropylene for ADEKA (2024). An equivalent grade from another producer needs its own notification or another basis, such as a 21 CFR regulation. Every 21 CFR route and notification by additive family is mapped in the FDA food contact rules.
What EU 10/2011, CLP and REACH Entry 78 Change for Resellers, 2025 to 2027#
Four EU changes reach a company that resells additives between 2025 and 2027: a declaration-of-compliance rule from 16 December 2025, the CLP hazard-class transition for stock, the postponed CLP label format and the REACH entry 78 supplier statement.
Regulation (EU) 2025/351 (OJ 24 February 2025) amends the plastics food-contact rules on purity, reprocessing, testing and good manufacturing practice. The Union list, the migration limits and the declaration of compliance are set out under EU 10/2011. From 16 December 2025 a non-compliant intermediate must say so in its declaration, and products placed on the market before 16 September 2026 may stay until stocks run out.
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/707 added 6 hazard classes to CLP (ED HH 1/2, ED ENV 1/2, PBT, vPvB, PMT, vPvM), applying to substances from 1 May 2025, with stock placed earlier allowed until 1 November 2026, and to mixtures from 1 May 2026, with stock placed earlier allowed until 1 May 2028. The label-format obligations of Regulation (EU) 2024/2865 are postponed to 1 January 2028 by Regulation (EU) 2025/2439, in force since 23 December 2025.
REACH Annex XVII entry 78 (Regulation (EU) 2023/2055) restricts synthetic polymer microparticles at 0.01% by weight in stages from 17 October 2023. Who reports what under REACH entry 78 is covered on its own page. Pellets, flakes and powders used at industrial sites are derogated, but since 17 October 2025 their suppliers must give instructions, the entry 78 statement, the quantity and the generic polymer identity. The pellet-losses Regulation (EU) 2025/2365 applies from 17 December 2027 to operations handling 5 tonnes or more of pellets a year, with certification for installations of 1,500 tonnes a year or more.
How Do You Find Who Distributes a Brand or Trade Name in Your Region?#
Finding who distributes an additive brand in your region takes 5 steps, and the first is finding out who owns the brand today, because trade names change owner more often than molecules do. The 5 steps are listed below in the order a buyer works through them.
- Identify the current owner of the trade name in the plastic additive trade name lookup.
- Ask the owner's sales organisation which company is its channel for your country and quantity.
- Confirm that the distributor names that manufacturer as the source on the certificate of analysis.
- Request the Table 4 documents in the owner's or the registrant's name.
- Compare at least 2 quotes on the same specification.
Trade names move between owners at known dates: BASF completed the Ciba acquisition on 9 April 2009, bringing Irganox, Irgafos, Tinuvin and Chimassorb with it; Lanxess completed Chemtura on 21 April 2017; Solvay acquired Cytec in July 2015, and Syensqo, owner of Cyasorb and Cyanox, listed on 11 December 2023; Sudarshan completed Heubach on 3 March 2025. Every dated change of ownership, and so of who owns which brand, is traced on the acquisitions page. An ownership change says nothing about which distributor carries a brand today, so step 2 always goes to the current owner.
How Do You Choose a Plastic Additive Distributor? 7 Checks#
Choosing a plastic additive distributor takes 7 checks, and the first is not about the distributor at all: it is whether the distributor can name the manufacturer and the production lot behind every grade it offers. The 7 checks are listed below in the order a buyer asks them, and each is answered with a document or a name, not a promise.
- Name the manufacturer and the grade behind every offer, and require both on the certificate of analysis.
- Ask the manufacturer, not the distributor, whether it names this distributor as its channel for your country.
- Obtain the registrant's name for EU supply: the manufacturer or importer registered at 1 tonne a year or more.
- Match the food-contact basis: the FCN notifier or 21 CFR section in the US, the FCM number and SML on the EU declaration.
- Ask whether the material is repacked or relabelled and whose SDS and label it carries, since CLP stock transitions run to 1 November 2026 for substances and 1 May 2028 for mixtures.
- Require one certificate of analysis per delivered lot, traceable to the producing manufacturer's batch number.
- Ask where the stock is held and what the smallest packed quantity is, and compare 2 distributors' answers, because no published benchmark exists.
Authorised distributor, trader or marketplace listing?#
An authorised distributor is one the manufacturer itself names as its channel, a trader buys the same grade wherever it is available, and a marketplace listing can be either without saying so. On 24 October 2026 one chemicals marketplace held 3 of the top 22 search results for "plastic additives distributor", and our sources verify no Indian distributor by name, so the role question applies to every listing: who made the material, and who is selling it?
A trader's or a listing's price compares with an authorised distributor's only when the documents in Table 4 arrive in the same names: the same manufacturer, registrant and notifier or FCM number. A trader that passes that test is a valid route; a listing that cannot name the manufacturer fails the first check, which is why the role question comes before the price question.
Where Are Plastic Additive Distributors Based?#
Essen and Downers Grove are the two distributor headquarters our sources verify: Brenntag in Essen, Germany, and Univar Solutions in Downers Grove, Illinois; no Indian or Chinese distributor is verified yet. Headquarters say little about reach: Brenntag alone operated more than 600 locations in 72 countries in 2023, while the headquarters and location counts of IMCD, Azelis, Biesterfeld and DKSH still await confirmation against a primary source. Table 5 sets out each region, the distributors verified there, what is still missing, and the regional directory of plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers.
Table 5. Plastic additive distributors by region.
| Region | Distributors with a verified headquarters there | Not verified | Regional directory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | Brenntag (Essen, Germany) | Any other European headquarters | plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers in Europe |
| North America | Univar Solutions (Downers Grove, Illinois) | Any other North American headquarters | plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers in the USA |
| India | none | No Indian distributor is verified in our sources | plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers in India |
| China and Southeast Asia | none | No Chinese or Southeast Asian distributor is verified | plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers in China |
| Global footprint | Brenntag: more than 600 locations in 72 countries (2023) | Headquarters and location counts of IMCD, Azelis, Biesterfeld and DKSH | n/a |
Which Supplier Directory Covers Your Additive Category?#
A search for a distributor of one additive family, such as flame retardants or PVC stabilizers, is best answered by that family's supplier directory, which lists the manufacturers whose grades the distributors resell. Starting from the manufacturer also serves step 2 of the brand route, because the manufacturer is the company that names its channel. Table 6 lists 13 directories of manufacturers and suppliers by additive category, in the order of the site's 7 functional groups.
Table 6. Supplier directories by additive category.
| Functional group | Additive category | Supplier directory |
|---|---|---|
| Property modifiers | Plasticizers | plasticizer manufacturers and suppliers |
| Property modifiers | Organic peroxides | organic peroxide manufacturers and suppliers |
| Fillers and reinforcements | Mineral fillers | calcium carbonate and mineral filler suppliers |
| Flame retardants and functional additives | Flame retardants | flame retardant manufacturers and suppliers |
| Stabilizers | PVC heat stabilizers | PVC stabilizer manufacturers and suppliers |
| Stabilizers | Antioxidants | polymer antioxidant manufacturers and suppliers |
| Stabilizers | UV stabilizers and HALS | UV stabilizer and HALS manufacturers and suppliers |
| Colorants and masterbatch | Pigments | pigment manufacturers and suppliers |
| Colorants and masterbatch | Titanium dioxide | titanium dioxide manufacturers and suppliers |
| Colorants and masterbatch | Carbon black | carbon black manufacturers and suppliers |
| Colorants and masterbatch | Masterbatch | masterbatch manufacturers |
| Processing modifiers | PE and polymer waxes | PE wax and polymer wax manufacturers and suppliers |
| Processing modifiers | Calcium and zinc stearates | calcium and zinc stearate manufacturers and suppliers |
How Do Distributor Prices, Tariffs and Duties Compare with Buying Direct?#
No source we can verify publishes a distributor's margin on plastic additives, so a distributor price compares with a direct price only once the quantity, the service, the document set and the country of origin are the same. The price of a distributed additive moves with 4 drivers: quantity, the repacking and stock service, the documents, and the origin of the material. This section prints no price figure; the few prices with a free primary source are collected under plastic additive prices.
Masterbatch quotes add a basis problem: the price per kilogram of active additive equals the masterbatch price divided by its active content.
Trade measures change the landed cost by origin. The United States applies anti-dumping duties to DOTP from Turkey, Malaysia, Taiwan and Poland, and a 15% US tariff applies to Evonik Oxeno's DINP, according to ResourceWise's 2025 review of the global plasticizers market, so one plasticizer from two origins can carry two landed costs. HS codes and duty rates belong to the plastic additive trade page.
How Do You Request a Quote Through a Distributor?#
A distributor quote is only comparable when every distributor prices the same material from the same source, which takes 8 items in the request: the CAS number, the manufacturer you accept, the quantity, the pack, the delivery country, the documents, the compliance route and the sample. The 8 items are listed below.
- CAS number and generic name, plus the trade name when a qualification names the grade.
- Manufacturer required, or the alternatives you accept.
- Quantity per delivery and per year.
- Pack and form, including the active content of a masterbatch.
- Delivery country, which decides the registration and food-contact route.
- Documents, each in its owner's name (Table 4).
- Compliance route: FCM number, 21 CFR section or FCN, entry 78 statement.
- Sample, if needed before the first order.
How Big Is Chemical Distribution in the Plastic Additive Market?#
No source we can verify publishes the share of plastic additives sold through distributors, so the market can only be framed by two distributor revenues and the size of the additive market itself. Brenntag reported EUR 16.8 billion for 2023 and Univar Solutions USD 11.5 billion for 2022, both across all chemicals. For manufacturers ranked by additive sales, see the largest plastic additive companies. The plastic additives market is valued between USD 43.5 billion for 2023 by MarketsandMarkets and USD 63.71 billion for 2025 by Precedence Research, with 36.7 million tonnes in 2023 according to Ceresana; analysts draw the scope of "additive" differently, so the figures form a range. Table 7 lists every scale figure on this page with its source and status.
Table 7. Distributor scale and plastic additive market figures.
| Measure | Value | Source and year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brenntag group revenue | EUR 16.8 bn; more than 600 locations in 72 countries | 2023, via Wikipedia | Secondary |
| Univar Solutions revenue | USD 11.5 bn | 2022, via Wikipedia | Secondary |
| Univar Solutions take-private | Enterprise value USD 8.1 bn | August 2023, Apollo | Secondary |
| Plastic additives market, value | USD 43.5 bn (2023) to USD 63.71 bn (2025) | MarketsandMarkets; Precedence Research | Analyst range |
| Plastic additives market, volume | 36.7 Mt | 2023, Ceresana | Single analyst |
| Share sold through distributors | Not published | No verifiable source | Gap |
How consolidation reshaped the distributor list#
Two of the six distributors in this directory changed shape after 2019: Univar Solutions acquired Nexeo Solutions in March 2019 and was taken private by Apollo in August 2023 at an enterprise value of USD 8.1 billion, and Brenntag has operated as two divisions, Essentials and Specialties, since 2021, according to Wikipedia's company summary. The take-private changed Univar's owner, not its role. A buyer who qualified a supplier under the Nexeo Solutions name before March 2019 now deals with a business acquired by Univar Solutions, so the name on an old qualification file and on current documents can differ. No other distributor transaction is verified in our sources.
What distributor stock cannot fix: antimony export controls and supply risk#
Distributor stock shortens a delivery, but it cannot replace a substance whose supply is restricted at the source, as antimony showed after China introduced export licences in August 2024 and banned antimony exports to the United States in December 2024. The US Geological Survey (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026) puts the average antimony price at USD 25 per pound in 2025, against USD 10.24 per pound in 2024, with a peak of USD 27.50 per pound in June 2025. The flame-retardant synergist most exposed to that shock, antimony trioxide, has its own page. World mine production was about 110,000 tonnes of antimony in 2025, 40,000 tonnes of it in China (USGS estimate); US imports of antimony oxide reached about 39,000 tonnes of contained antimony in 2025, and China supplied 66% of those imports over 2021 to 2024.
Should you buy from the manufacturer or a distributor when supply is tight?#
Neither route creates supply that does not exist: when a substance is restricted at the source, ask both the manufacturer and the distributor where their material was produced and how much of it is already in stock in your region. Outside a shortage, the choice goes back to the order itself, its size, its mix and its documents, as set out in the section on when to buy through a distributor.