GrafTech International Ltd. is a manufacturer of
graphite electrodes and
petroleum coke
Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke, pet coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refinery, oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as Coke (fuel), cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in parti ...
, which are essential for the production of
electric arc furnace
An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a Industrial furnace, furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc.
Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one-tonne capacity (used in foundry, foundries for producin ...
steel and other metals. Headquartered in
Brooklyn Heights, Ohio
Brooklyn Heights is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,519 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is a part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Geography
According to the United States Census Burea ...
, it has manufacturing facilities in
Calais, France
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,62 ...
;
Pamplona, Spain
Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain.
Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood plain of th ...
;
Monterrey, Mexico
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
; and
St. Marys, Pennsylvania.
[
]
History
The company was founded in 1886 as the National Carbon Company The National Carbon Company was a dominant American manufacturer of batteries and lighting products in the early 20th century. It was the first company to successfully manufacture and distribute sealed dry cell batteries on a large scale.
It was fo ...
, which in 1917 was acquired by 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 ...
and became its Carbon Products Division.[
In 1956, the company received an ]Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for the development and production of a high-efficiency yellow flame carbon for motion picture color photography.[
Between 1956 and 1978, the company developed high-performance ]carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
s; this would be recognized in 2003 with a National Historic Chemical Landmark from the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
.[
In 1985, the company developed advanced technology for carbon/carbon ]composite material
A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...
used in spacecraft.[
Union Carbide was reorganized in 1989, renaming the Carbon Products Division as the UCAR Carbon Company.
In 1990, the company introduced first 30-inch-diameter graphite electrodes for UHP DC arc furnaces.][
In 1995, the company developed new graphite for the US Advanced Battery Consortium for a ]lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energ ...
in electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s.[
In 1995, the company became a ]public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
via an initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
.[
In 2002, the company changed its name from UCAR to Graftech.][
In 2004, the company introduced optimized pinless joint design for large-diameter graphite electrodes.][
In 2007, the company commercialized high-temperature insulation solutions for the ]polysilicon
Polycrystalline silicon, or multicrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, poly-Si, or mc-Si, is a high purity, polycrystalline form of silicon, used as a raw material by the solar photovoltaic and electronics industry.
Polysilicon is produ ...
and solar energy
Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...
industries.[
In 2010, the company launched high thermal conductivity SPREADERSHIELD™ products for electronics and lighting applications.][
In 2010, GrafTech acquired two companies: Seadrift Coke LP, a manufacturer of ]petroleum coke
Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke, pet coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refinery, oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as Coke (fuel), cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in parti ...
, an essential component in the production of graphite electrodes; and C/G Electrodes LLC, which manufactures graphite electrodes.
In March 2011, the company acquired Micron Research Corporation, a manufacturer of superfine-grained graphite.
In October 2011, the company acquired advanced carbon composite manufacturer Fiber Materials, which it would sell in 2016.
In 2011, the company was awarded two historical markers by the Ohio Historical Society. One is for pioneering battery research made at Parma by Lewis Urry
Lewis Frederick Urry ( – ) was a Canadian- American chemical engineer and inventor. He invented both the alkaline battery and lithium battery while working for the Eveready Battery company.
Life
Urry was born January 29, 1927, in Pontypool, O ...
and National Carbon Company. The other recognizes the Lakewood facility’s long history and National Carbon Company.
In August 2015, GrafTech was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a Canadian-American alternative asset manager. The company was founded in December 2022 as a spin-off of the asset management operations of Brookfield Corporation. At its inception, the company was headquarter ...
.
In 2017, the company sold its NeoGraf and Advanced Graphite Materials divisions to focus on graphite electrodes and petroleum coke
Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke, pet coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refinery, oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as Coke (fuel), cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in parti ...
.
In April 2018, the company once again became a public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
via an initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
.
Controversies
On April 1, 1998, the company was subject to a class action lawsuit for allegedly artificially inflating stock price. In 2000, the company settled the lawsuit for $40.5 million.
In April 1998, the company was fined $110 million by the United States Department of Justice and in July 2001, the company was fined €50.4 million by the European Commissionprice fixing
Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...
cartel with 7 other firms in the market for graphite electrodes.
References
External links
GrafTech International official websiteBrookfield Asset Management official website
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Ohio
Manufacturing companies established in 1886
Parma, Ohio
1886 establishments in Ohio