Materials Sector: Stocks on U.S. Exchanges

There are hundreds of publicly traded companies in the materials sector listed on U.S. exchanges. The materials sector is made up of both raw basic materials and refined materials that collectively are used to build buildings, manufacture consumer and industrial goods, ship products and sustain the lives we live.

Chemicals: While not the largest section based on total companies, the chemicals industry has some of the largest companies based on market capitalization. Examples of these extremely large companies include DowDuPont and Praxair. Examples of companies in this category include:

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD)

Ashland Inc. (ASH)

DowDuPont Inc. (DWDP)

Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)

Huntsman Corporation (HUN)

Lyondell Basell Industries N.V. (LYB)

Mosaic Company (The) (MOS)

Nutrien Ltd. (NTR)

Praxair, Inc. (PX)

Building Products and Construction Materials: Examples of companies in this category include Sherwin-Williams (SHW) who distributes and sells paints and coatings and Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) who is supplier of aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt.

Metals and Mining: This category has mining companies, metal producers and metal product manufacturers. The mining category is dominated by companies headquartered outside of the United States including mining heavyweights BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Rio Tinto Plc. (RIO) and VALE S.A. (VALE). Many of the mining companies that are publicly traded are located in Canada. The metals category includes aluminum companies such as Alcoa Inc. (AA) and steel companies like United States Steel Corporation (X).Examples of companies in this category include:

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (ARLP)

ArcelorMittal (MT)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited (AU)

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX)

Cameco Corporation (CCJ)

Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV)

Freeport-McMoran, Inc. (FCX)

Goldcorp Inc. (GG)

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU)

Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM)

Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS)

Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD)

Sibanye Gold Limited (SBGL)

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO)

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD)

Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK)

Tenaris S.A. (TS)

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TRQ)

Vedanta Limited (VEDL)

Westmoreland Coal Company (WLB)

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM)

Packaging and Containers: There are a lot of goods sold and shipped each year and these public companies supply the packaging and containers for many of those goods. Examples of some of the larger companies in this section include:

Ball Corporation (BLL)

Bemis Company, Inc. (BMS)

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK)

Owens-Illinois, Inc. (OI)

Packaging Corporation of America (PKG)

Sealed Air Corporation (SEE)

Paper and Paper Products: This section includes companies that create paper products, own timberlands or supply wood products. Examples of companies in this category include:

Fibria Celulose S.A. (FBR)

International Paper Company (IP)

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation (KS)

Timberlands: Many of these companies are real estate investment trusts (REITs). These companies own and manage timberlands and most of the companies also are engaged in the creation of wood products through manufacturing facilities such as lumber mills and plywood mills.

Related Links:

List of Publicly Traded Companies