Elkem is a company that produces

silicones A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medici ...

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...

alloys An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

for the foundry industry,

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

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).

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 (181 ...

(1866 – 1940). He named the company Det Norske Aktieselskap for Elektrokemisk Industri (Elektrokemisk), and the goal was to create an international industry company based on Norwegian natural resources. In 1917 a ferroalloy plant was acquired and Elkem started production of the Söderberg electrode. Throughout the 1960s and beyond Elkem expanded, primarily in Norway within

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and finished products. In 1972 the company merged with

Christiania Spigerverk Christiania Spigerverk is a steel company which was founded in Oslo in 1853 and developed into one of the largest industrial companies in Norway. In 1972 Christiania Spigerverk combined with Elkem, to become Elkem Spigerverket. It was sold to ...

and continued with an international expansion within ferroalloys and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

. In 1981-84 Elkem acquired

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...

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

Thamshavn Thamshavn or Thamshamn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkland 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 ...

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

Sapa The South African Press Association (SAPA) was the national news agency of South Africa until its closure in 2015. History The agency was established on 1 July 1938 by major South African newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news. Reuters had ...

. In January 2011 Orkla ASA signed a binding agreement with China National Bluestar Group to sell Elkem, including Elkem Silicon Materials, Elkem Foundry Products, Elkem Carbon and Elkem Solar for a sales price of $2 billion. The deal excluded 85 percent of the

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

company Elkem Energi AS, which remained with Orkla. In June 2017 Elkem assumed management responsibility of Xinghou Silicones, a silicones producer, and Yongdeng Silicon Materials, a silicon producer. Elkem became publicly listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

in March 2018. Helge Aasen has been the Chief Executive Officer since 2021. As of 31,12.2021, the China National BlueStar-controlled company Bluestar Elkem Int.Co.LTD S.A is Elkem's largest shareholder, with 52.91 per cent of the shares, ahead of Folketrygdfondet (4.59 per cent) and Alfred Berg Kapitalforvaltning (3.51 per cent)

Operations

Silicones

The Elkem Silicones division has thirteen plants: Xinghuo Silicones (China), Roussillon (France), Saint-Fons (France), Caronno (Italy), Lubeck (Germany), Santa Perpetua (Spain), Joinville (Brazil), York (USA), Janghang (South Korea), Chakan (India), Guangdong and Shanghai (China).

Silicon products

Elkem Silicon Products has silicon plants at

Bremanger Bremanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village of Svelgen is the administrative centre of the municipality. Other villages include Bremanger, Berle, Davik, Isane, Kalvåg, Svelgen, Rugsund, and Ålfoten. Bremanger is the ...

Salten Salten is a traditional district in Nordland county, Norway. It includes the municipalities of Meløy, Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen, and Hamarøy. Salten covers an area of about and has a population (2016) of ...

, Bjølvefossen and

in Norway, Chicoutimi (

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada), Grundartangi (

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

), Limpio (Paraguay), Nagpur (

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) and at Elkem Foundry

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(EFC) and Yongdeng. The division also has a special focus on raw materials sourcing and are operating two quartz mines in Norway, Tana and Mårnes, and four quartz mines in Spain, Explotacion de Rocas Industriales y Minerals SA (Erimsa).

Carbon products

Elkem Carbon Solutions is the world’s largest producer of electrically

calcined Calcination refers to thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), genera ...

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

and electrode paste, which are necessary in the manufacturing process for steel, aluminium, silicon, ferrosilicon and other metals. There are production plants at

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

(Norway),

Shizuishan City Shizuishan, formerly Shizuizi, is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is the northernmost prefecture in Ningxia and the second most populous, after the regional capital Yinchuan, bord ...

(

), Ferroveld (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

), Sarawak (Malaysia) and Vitória (

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References