Published March 1981
This report is concerned with various elements of operating costs in the chemical industry other than raw materials and energy. The principal data are specific to U.S. conditions. However, with adjustments, the results are applicable to other countries.
SRI has developed new correlations for operating and maintenance labor requirements, plant overhead, and selling, general and administrative, and R&D cost. Other cost elements are reviewed. SRI has developed nonarbitrary methods for allocating utilities credits, and costs of by-products, coproducts, and joint products. We extended the general approach to include the development of a method of calculating transfer prices consistent with management objectives in establishing profit centers. All of these methods apply to both cost estimation and actual operations.
Capital and labor productivity trends in the U.S. chemical industry are evaluated. Labor productivity trends for several other industrial countries are also presented.
