Kemira Chemicals history

Both factories were completed in 1922, and before the end of the decade had achieved production levels of 20,000 tons of sulfuric acid and as much as 40,000 tons of superphosphates per year.

When production in Tiel started in 1926, the location was still far away from Tiel urbanization.

In 1931, the two plants were incorporated into a single limited company.

Also introduced here in 1937 was one of the earliest productions of vinyl acetate by the treatment of acetic acid with acetylene.

In the meantime, the company had made its first acquisition, of the Vihtavuori plant, in 1945.

In 1946, Union Carbide Corporation purchased full ownership of the company from its two partners.

Founded in Oulu in 1952, this company added the production of nitrogen-based chemicals to the company's list.

The company's Vihtavuori subsidiary in the meantime expanded its explosive operations with the completion of a new plant for manufacturing dynamite in 1957.

1961: The company name is changed to Rikkihappo as the company expands into industrial chemicals production.

In 1962 Verdugt was acquired by Internatio Müller.

The following year, the company added a new sulfuric acid facility in Kokkola, which enabled it to shut down its original Lappeenranta site in 1963.

The first of these, a sulfuric acid plant, was completed in 1967.

That purchase, made in 1968, permitted the group to extend itself into finished paint and dye products and also became one of its earliest avenues to the export market.

Another significant acquisition came in 1971, when the company acquired Typpi Oy.

In 1972, the company changed its name to Kemira--using the initial letters of the Finnish words for its three main areas of operation, Ke (chemicals), Mi (minerals), and Ra (fertilizers).

The development of this new capacity enabled the company to shut down its original Kotka plant in 1973.

In 1975 the Fine Chemical Unit (FCU) started as test facility.

In 1978, an executive of Union Carbide Corporation, Michael R. Brannen, purchased the plant facilities and all business activity associated with the Niagara Falls site.

In 1980, the company opened an apatite mine in Siilinjarvi.

One of the group's first acquisitions came in 1982, when it purchased a fertilizer factory in the United Kingdom.

In 1984, the company moved into The Netherlands, buying a fertilizer plant there, then increased its presence on the European continent the following year with the acquisition of the Gechem fertilizer factory, in Belgium.

In 1986 the Mixing and grinding department started.

The company expanded into formic acid production with the construction of a plant in Oulu, and then added an ammonia plant, and a factory for the production of hydrogen peroxide, in 1988.

In 1989, the company's chemicals division quadrupled in size with the acquisition of Boliden Kemi, based in Sweden.

1991: The company launches a restructuring of its operations, shedding 28 percent of its payroll.

Meanwhile, Kemira's pigment division grew in 1993 through the purchases of a 20 percent stake in the Nord Kaolin Company, in the United States, and of TCF Tiofine, a titanium dioxide producer in The Netherlands.

In 1999 a new holding company Verdugt Holdings LLC is formed by US Salt Holdings LLC to acquire the organic salts business, Verdugt B.V., from BP Amoco.

In 2000 the largest evaporated salt producer in the UK, British Salt, is acquired by the Verdugt Holdings LLC.

By 2001, the company had launched an active divestment program, cutting out some one-third of its operating revenues.

In 2004, a major expansion of the Calcium Propionate process occurred, leading to the introduction of crystalline Calcium Propionate, a first in the marketplace with superior quality characteristics.

In 2009, Niacet completed design and installation of its newest production facilities for Sodium and Calcium Stearoyl Lactylates.

2014 Imperatriz Chemical Island in Brazil opens.