Calgon Carbon
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Calgon Carbon Corporation is a
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
based company that manufactures and markets products that remove contaminants and odors from liquids and gases, both for industrial, municipal, and consumer markets. Calgon Carbon's product lines typically use
activated carbon Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon commonly used to filter contaminants from water and air, among many other uses. It is processed (activated) to have small, low-volume pores that greatly increase the surface ar ...
in various forms, Originally formed as the Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical Company in the 1940s, the company's main operations are currently centered in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. The company has its presence overseas such as Chemviron Carbon in Europe, Calgon Carbon Japan KK in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, Calgon Carbon Thailand Ltd. in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and Hyde Marine, Inc. As of 2015 Calgon Carbon operates fifteen facilities for manufacturing, reactivation, and equipment in the US, Asia, and Europe, and employs around 1,100 people. In early 2015 the company moved their headquarters from the Pittsburgh suburb of Robinson to nearby Moon Township.


History


Formation and government contract (1940s–1950s)

Calgon Carbon Corporation was founded as the Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Corporation in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, which later merged with the Hillman Coal and Coke Company. Initially the company manufactured products such as coke fuel in support of the local steel industry. Owned in part by the Pittsburgh "steel tycoon" J. Hartwell Hillman, Jr., in 1940 the company began operating a manufacturing plant on Neville Island. In 1956, ''
Fortune Magazine ''Fortune'' (stylized in all caps) is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business media company. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. T ...
'' ranked Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical as No. 488 on the
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
.


Pittsburgh Activated Carbon (1960s–1980s)

In the early 1960s the Neville Island facility became the formation site of Pittsburgh Activated Carbon Company, the next evolution of the company. In 1965 the Calgon Corporation acquired Pittsburgh Activated Carbon.


Going public (1980s–1990s)

Calgon Carbon was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
in 1991, and throughout the 1990s it bought a number of subsidiaries, with Calgon Carbon's executive Colin Bailey overseeing many of the acquisitions. In 1997 Calgon Carbon Asia was formed as a marketing subsidiary in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, serving much of Asia,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Calgon Carbon Corporation's CEO resigned in February 1998, reportedly over differences with the board of directors over company direction, and Calgon Carbon hired the firm
Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...
for advice on a possible company sale.


UV products and expansion (2000–2013)

Calgon Carbon acquired the firm Zwicky Denmark and Sweden in 2010, which had long been a distributor for Chemivron Carbon, and Calgon Carbon also purchased the stock of Hyde Marine, a company that manufacturers equipment using filtration and UV disinfection to treat marine ballast water. Randy Dearth became Calgon Carbon's CEO in June 2012, after his predecessor John Stanik retired. Dearth had previously worked at
Bayer Corporation Bayer Corporation (also known as Bayer USA) is the American subsidiary of Bayer AG. Its main offices are located in Whippany, New Jersey. In addition it has 40 fully consolidated subsidiary companies located in 19 different states. It is headqu ...
and as a CEO of Lanxess Corporation. In May 2013 Dearth announced the company would be working to cut annual expenses by $30 million by the end of 2014. The company, which had recently closed a plant in China, reduced their number of products by 45 percent early in the cost-cutting cycle. Calgon Carbon also did an early retirement program and restructured their business units.


Growth and new headquarters (2013–2015)

As of September 2013 Calgon Carbon was "one of the top three suppliers of activated carbon for the mercury removal market and supplies 32 electric generating units that produce 14.2 gigawatts of electricity." That summer the EPA's pending Mercury and Air Toxins Standards required all power plants to filter the mercury emitted by burning coal. At the time, the EPA recommended activated carbon as the best available "control technology for mercury removal." Calgon Carbon predicated that when the policies are implemented in April 2015, the demand for activated carbon might double. Calgon Carbon products are distributed by Brenntag Canada in Canada, and in September 2013 they signed a near $30 million contract for Calgon Carbon's FLUEPAC product, which is a powdered activated carbon that can filter mercury. As of February 2014 the company sold 50 million pounds of GAC annually to municipalities to be used for treatment of drinking water. Continuing to branch into Asia, that month the company signed a contract with DaeWoo Engineering and Construction to supply 5.6 million pounds of GAC to a drinking water plant that provides water for about 600,000 residents in
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. Also at that time the company signed a 10-year contract to treat drinking water for the Palmdale Water District in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, which serves around 115,000 people. In late 2012 the stock was around $12 a share, before hovering around $20 in 2014. The U.S. Department of Commerce imposed tariffs in November 2014 on activated carbon imports from China, doubling the average import tax. Calgon Carbon announced it would be affected by fluctuating market prices. In February 2015 the company announced a 10% increase in fourth quarter profits, citing increased demand for activated carbon for mercury removal and industrial water treatment. After the announcement, shares rose 7%. In early 2015 the company moved their headquarters from the Pittsburgh suburb of Robinson to nearby Moon Township. The new building combined the main research laboratory and corporate staff, which had previously been in separate facilities.


Acquisition of CECA - Carbonisation Et Charbons Actifs (2016)

Calgon Carbon Corporation announced in February 2016 that it completed its acquisition of the wood-based activated carbon, reactivation and mineral-based filtration media business from CECA (Carbonisation Et Charbons Actifs), a subsidiary of Arkema Group.


Calgon Carbon acquired by Kuraray (2018)

Calgon Carbon was acquired by Kuraray Co., Ltd. in March 2018.


See also

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Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection technique employing ultraviolet (UV) light, particularly UV-C (180–280 nm), to kill or inactivate microorganisms. UVGI primarily inactivates microbes by damaging their genetic ma ...
*
Activated carbon Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon commonly used to filter contaminants from water and air, among many other uses. It is processed (activated) to have small, low-volume pores that greatly increase the surface ar ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Calgon CarbonChemviron Carbon, the European Operations of Calgon Carbon Corporation
{{authority control Chemical companies established in 1942 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Chemical companies of the United States 1942 establishments in Pennsylvania Companies based in Pittsburgh Kuraray 1991 initial public offerings 2018 mergers and acquisitions