Elkem is a company that produces

silicones In Organosilicon chemistry, organosilicon and polymer chemistry, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer composed of repeating units of siloxane (, where R = Organyl group, organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber ...

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

alloys An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have properties ...

for the foundry industry,

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

and

microsilica Silica fume, also known as microsilica, (CAS number 69012-64-2, EINECS number 273-761-1) is an amorphous (non-crystalline) polymorph of silicon dioxide, silica. It is an ultrafine powder collected as a by-product of the silicon and ferrosilicon a ...

, and other materials. Elkem was founded in 1904, has more than 7,000 employees and fields 30 production sites worldwide. Elkem has an operating income of NOK 33.7 billion. Elkem is responsible for a total of 2.52 million tonnes of scope 1 emissions in 2021. Elkem is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: ELK). Elkem manufactures silicone and carbon products.

History

Elkem was founded in 1904 by the industrial entrepreneur

Sam Eyde Samuel Eyde (29 October 1866 – 21 June 1940) was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist. He was the founder of both Norsk Hydro and Elkem. Personal life Eyde was born in Arendal in Aust-Agder, Norway. He was a son of ship-owner Samuel Eyde ( ...

(1866 – 1940). In 1917 a ferroalloy plant was acquired and Elkem started production of the Söderberg electrode. In 1972, the company merged with

Christiania Spigerverk Christiania Spigerverk is a steel company which was founded in Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while ...

. In 1981-84 Elkem acquired

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

s plants in Norway and North America and in 1986 the plants at

Thamshavn Thamshamn or Thamshavn is a small port village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for the town of Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn. It is located right along European route E39 an ...

and Bjølvefossen. In the 2000s Elkem had acquired Icelandic Alloy, Remi Claeys Aluminium and

Sapa Sapa or Sapë may refer to: Places * Sapa, Mississippi, a community in the United States * Sa Pa, a district-level town in Lào Cai province, Northern Vietnam ** Sa Pa (ward) ** Sa Pa (ward), Sa Pả (ward) * Sapë, a town in Albania * Roman Cath ...

. In January 2011, Elkem was sold to China National Bluestar Group. As of December 31, 2021, the China National BlueStar-controlled company Bluestar Elkem Int.Co.LTD S.A is Elkem's largest shareholder, with 52.91% of the shares, ahead of Folketrygdfondet (4.59%) and Alfred Berg Kapitalforvaltning (3.51%)

References

{{Authority control Chemical companies established in 1904 1904 establishments in Norway Meråker Orkla ASA Silicon wafer producers Aluminium companies of Norway ChemChina Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Norwegian brands

History

See also

References