SKW Trostberg
| SKW Trostberg formerly Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoff-Werke AG | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1939 |
| resolution | 2001 |
| Reason for dissolution | fusion |
| Seat | Trostberg , Germany |
| Branch | chemistry |
The SKW Trostberg AG was a chemical company based in Trostberg ( Upper Bavaria ). The predecessor company with the name Bayerische nitrogen works AG (BStW) was founded on November 6, 1908. Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoff-Werke AG, which was renamed SKW Trostberg AG in 1978, emerged from the merger of Bayerische nitrogen-Werke AG (BStW) and Bayerische Kraftwerke AG (BKW). As a result of the merger of SKW's majority owner VIAG with Veba to form the new E.ON in 2000, their respective chemical subsidiaries SKW and Degussa-Hüls were also merged to form the new Degussa AG (today Evonik Degussa GmbH). Since 2006 is company "SKW" only by some former subsidiaries, in particular from the SKW Stahl-Metallurgie Holding , continue to be used.
prehistory
At the beginning of the company there were two major developments. The chemists Adolph Frank and Nikodem Caro succeeded for the first time in 1895 in binding the nitrogen in the air to the carbides of the alkaline earths . This was the prerequisite for the production of the artificial fertilizer calcium cyanamide and other N-based chemical products. Second, at the end of the 19th century, it was decided to regulate the Alz river in order to avoid the usual seasonal floods and at the same time to generate electrical energy from hydropower. For the production of calcium cyanamide, lime , coal and anthracite first had to be converted into calcium carbide in electric arc furnaces at around 2500 ° C. The proximity to cheap electrical energy established the location in the Bavarian chemical triangle .
development
The factory in Trostberg started operations in 1911. The capacities were further expanded in the following years through the establishment of further plants along the Alztal in the communities of Hart and Schalchen . Due to the great demand for calcium cyanamide, further plants were built in Piesteritz near Wittenberg and in Königshütte , Upper Silesia . The latter was confiscated by the Polish state in 1922. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Piesteritz plant was taken over again by SKW in 1993 and expanded. In 2002, however, the plant was sold to the joint venture of Ameropa Holding and Agrofert Holding. The latter has been the sole owner of SKW nitrogen works Piesteritz since 2006.
As the owner of what was then the BStW, the German Reich transferred the shares to the newly founded state holding company VIAG. In 1939, the BStW merged with the power plant operator Bayerische Kraftwerke AG to form Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoff-Werke AG , based in Trostberg. After that VIAG held 70% and IG Farben 30% of the capital shares. The minority shares later moved to Hoechst AG , which temporarily held 50% of the shares from 1971 to 1982 as part of a cooperation agreement. In the 1970s the company was abbreviated and the company has been called SKW Trostberg AG since then .
After the Second World War, SKW developed the following business areas over time:
- Agricultural products: calcium cyanamide and special pesticides,
- Metallurgy: ferrosilicon , calcium silicides , calcium carbide
- Chemistry: dicyandiamide , cyanamide , cyanuric chloride
- Construction chemistry: concrete admixtures , cement-based adhesives and fillers, construction paints
- Natural substance extraction : contract extraction of natural substances using CO 2
Business development was increasingly internationalized from the late 1970s through company acquisitions and start-ups, particularly in North America. Further expansion measures on a large scale took place in the 1990s (partly also through VIAG): 1991 the acquisition of BHS (Munich), 1995 of the organic activities of Sanofi SA (Paris), 1996 of MBT from Sandoz AG (Basel), 1997 of Th. Goldschmidt AG and in 2001 the British Laporte plc .
IPO and merger with Degussa
On May 24, 1995, almost 50% of the SKW shares were listed on the stock exchange as part of a capital increase. VIAG , which did not participate in the capital increase , remained the majority owner . In 1999, SKW took over Th. Goldschmidt, which belongs to VIAG. VIAG subsequently held around 64% of the capital shares. In 1999, SKW achieved group sales of DM 6.9 billion and employed over 18,000 people worldwide; the result ( EBITDA ) was DM 640 million.
A year later it was decided to merge with Degussa-Hüls to form the new Degussa. After the merger, the new Degussa Management Board defined the individual SKW business areas as "not belonging to the core" and sold them in stages. The metallurgy division was sold in 2004 and has been trading as the listed SKW Stahl-Metallurgie Holding since 2006 . The construction chemicals division was sold to BASF in 2006. At the end of 2006, as the last step, the chemicals division was made legally independent under the name " AlzChem Trostberg GmbH" and sold to BluO in 2009 . In 2011 the name was changed to AlzChem AG, which now generates annual sales of 280 million euros with around 1350 employees and four production locations in Bavaria as well as sales locations in the USA and China. In June 2012 the new silicon nitride plant of AlzChem AG in Trostberg was put into operation, an investment for 13 million euros. The company is tripling its capacity for Silzot® SQ, a high-purity silicon nitride for the production of photovoltaic modules based on polycrystalline silicon.