Chemical companies reported higher “real” sales growth last year versus 2011, according to the National Association of Chemical Distributors’ (NACD) Company Productivity Report (CPR) for 2012. However, only one of the three industry segments reported higher profitability levels in 2012 than in 2011. In particular, the performance ratio “before tax return on net worth” (i.e., net profit before tax as a percent of net worth, or owner’s equity) for 2012 was 30.0%...