Union Carbide History

In 1898 the Union Carbide Company was created in Virginia to manufacture calcium carbide for acetylene lighting.

Marie, Michigan, and Niagara Falls, New York, and by 1900 the Union Carbide's capital stock stood at 6 million.

National Carbon Company formed in New Jersey it was succeeded by the National Carbon Company in New York in 1917 its stock eventually was acquired by the Union Carbide Carbon Company.

In 1919 alone, the company acquired an acetylene manufacturer, created Canadian subsidiaries of National Carbon Co. and Prest-O-Lite, and purchased a new headquarters at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue in New York City.

A plant was built and operated by the Electro Metallurgical Company acquired in 1922 to provide extensive metallurgical research, and manufacture uranium.

The holding company added to its battery business with the purchase of Manhattan Electrical Supply Co. in 1926.

UCC annexed two domestic industrial gases interests in 1928 and strengthened its industrial electric furnace business with the acquisition of the Acheson Graphite Corporation in 1928.

The Company Union Carbide India Limited UCIL was a diversified manufacturing company incorporated in 1934.

The company continued to acquire related chemical producers, including the Bakelite Corporation in 1939.

And in 1941, Carbide made permanent-press fabrics possible with its development of glyoxal.

Ceased operating the United States Department of Energy's Oak Ridge, Tennessee begun in 1943 and Paducah, Kentucky facilities, and dissolved its Nuclear Division.

Under the direction of CFO Morse G. Dial, Carbide absorbed its major operating subsidiaries and formally relinquished its holding company status in 1949.

The company changed its name to Union Carbide Corporation in 1957 and was often referred to as Carbide.

But Carbide finally capitalized on this discovery in 1964, when Glad branded plastic wraps, bags, and straws were introduced.

In 1965 the conglomerate's sales topped 2 billion for the first time.

A New Business Development Department was formed in 1970 to coordinate the three areas outside of chemicals and plastics that Wilson didn't sell Biomedical Systems, Marine Foods, and Agricultural Systems.

CFO and president F. Perry Wilson, who had been promoted to those offices in 1971, made his bid to turn Union Carbide around.

The company was given a fall 1974 deadline to install 8 million in advanced emissions scrubbers.

In 1975 the Indian government granted Union Carbide a license to manufacture pesticides, and a plant was built on the sparsely populated outskirts of the regional capital of Bhopal.

Moreover, Union Carbide's 1976 technical manual warns specifically that if methyl isocyanate is kept at 20 degrees centigrade a contaminant can spur a runaway reaction.

William S. Sneath continued these trends when he became chairman and CEO in 1977.

Steadily rising expenses in Europe resulted in a 32 million loss in 1978, which forced Carbide to divest virtually all of its European petrochemicals and plastics operations.

That same year, UCC was forced by its creditors to retire 292 million in long-term debt, which forced it to borrow another 300 million in 1979.

Chairman Sneath embarked on another round of cost-cutting in 1980, pruning the executive staff by 1,000 and divesting a total of 39 businesses.

Sales hit 8.3 billion one-third below the 1981 peak , profits were up to more than 300 million, and the company had a new CEO, Robert D. Kennedy.

The spokesman in Danbury said the corporation had been informed that Union Carbide India had taken ''all the action it considered necessary to respond effectively'' to the 1982 report.

Pareek said he resigned in December 1983 because he was disheartened about developments at the plant and because he was offered a better job with Goodyear India Ltd. as a divisional production manager.

Union Carbide officials estimated that at least five tons of methyl isocyanate MIC seeped out of the plant in just 30 minutes one day in December 1984.

The United States OSHA, after a September 1985 inspection of five of 18 plant units at Institute, West Virginia, alleged 221 violations of 55 health and safety laws, and proposed 1.4 million in fines.

Payment of 31.7 million in tentative settlement of a class action lawsuit In re Union Carbide Corporation Consumer Products Business Securities Litigation see the June 1986 entry.

Income rose 78 percent in 1987 to 232 million, but high debt service made it hard for the company to develop and introduce new products.

A Bhopal court then revived culpable homicide charges against former chairman Warren Anderson a warrant for him was originally issued in November 1988 and eight other Union Carbide officials.

Net income decreased 46 percent from 1990.

The United States EPA issued a complaint against McGhan Nusil which UCC P acquired in March 1991 , alleging that McGhan had violated the Toxic Substances Control Act by manufacturing TSCA inventory chemicals without notifying EPA the EPA proposed a penalty of 384,000.

In March 1992, Union Carbide agreed to pay 3.2 million to the widow and two children of Resendez.

Sales showed a slight gain in the 1993 first quarter, closing at 1.19 billion.

The program had a cost reduction goal of 400 million a year by the end of 1994.

A second expansion into the Chinese market came later in 1996 with Carbide's subsidiary Amerchol Corp. announcing that it would be constructing a plant in Guangdong Province, China.

Carbide teamed with Exxon Chemical Company in 1997 to create the joint venture company Univation Technologies.

On August 4, 1999, it was announced that Union Carbide would become a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

In 2000, net sales were 6.52 billion with a profit of 162 million.

Finally, all discussion was over and Dow acquired Carbide for 11.6 billion on February 6, 2001.

In 2003, however, Carbide moved into the black again with net sales of 5.16 billion and a profit of 313 million.

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