For most of the 20th century ICI was Britain’s leading industrial company. It was formed in 1926 through the merger of four chemical companies – Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives, United Alkali and British Dyestuffs. The company declared that it would champion “the responsible application of chemistry and related sciences” to business. The chemical markets of the world were shared, more co-operatively than competitively, between ICI and its rivals DuPont and IG Farben.
在20世紀大部分時間裏,帝國化學工業(ICI)都是首屈一指的英國工業公司。這家企業1926年由卜內門(Brunner Mond)、諾貝兒企業(Nobel Explosives)、聯合鹼業公司(United Alkali)和英國染料公司(British Dyestuffs)四家化工公司合併而成。它宣稱將在經營中力行「負責任地應用化學及相關科技」。ICI和其競爭對手杜邦(DuPont)以及法本公司(IG Farben)一起,合作大於競爭地瓜分了當時的全球化工市場。