Pechiney SA was a major
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 ...
conglomerate based in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The company was acquired in 2003 by the
Alcan Corporation, headquartered in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
[ In 2007, Alcan itself was taken over by mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan.
Prior to its acquisition, Pechiney grew to be the world's 4th largest producer and developer of aluminium products, employing 34,000 people and operating 320 manufacturing and sales facilities in 50 countries at the time it was purchased by Alcan. The group operated in all facets of the aluminium industry from ]bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
mining to the development of sophisticated applications of metal products in addition to international commodities trading and brokerage of the metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
Pechiney gained worldwide recognition for its use of electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...
technology, and was a leader in specialty packaging and aerospace applications.[Pechiney accepts Alcan bid]
BBC News, September 12, 2003
History
The company was founded in 1855 by Henri Merle as a producer of caustic soda at a manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
facility in Salindres
Salindres () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The composer and conductor Roger Dumas (1897–1951) was born, in Salindres.
Geography Climate
Salindres has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificati ...
. Founded as Compagnie des Produits Chimiques Henri Merle the company was renamed in 1897 the Société des Produits Chimiques d'Alais et de la Camargue.
The company first began producing aluminium metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
in 1860 using a chemically-based process developed by Henri Sainte-Claire Deville
Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry.
People with this given name
; French noblemen
:'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.''
* Henri I de Mon ...
in 1854 and was granted a 30-year monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
by the French government.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–18) Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH) acquired a large stake in the Société d'Alais et de la Camargue.
This company in turn took control of the Société électrométallurgique de Froges in 1919 to become the Compagnie des produits chimiques et électrométallurgiques d'Alais, Froges et Camargue.
Hippolyte Bouchayer represented TLH in Pechiney.
Pechiney had developed a significant presence in Europe in the 1930s and first prospected the American market in 1911 before acquiring a strong foothold there in the 1960s. In the 1954, Pechiney expanded into Africa and subsequently it developed a presence in Australia, Latin America, Greece and Asia.
The corporate name was changed to Pechiney in 1948, after a former influential managing director referred to by the same name, A. R. Pechiney.
In 1962 TLH merged with the Compagnie française des métaux
The Compagnie française des métaux (CFM) was a French metallurgy company founded in 1892 that acquired the assets of a predecessor that had gone into liquidation.
The company operated a number of plants in different locations in France, mainly m ...
and became Tréfimétaux.
In 1967 Tréfimétaux was acquired by Pechiney and became the copper division of that group, contributing 8% of the group's total.
Brandeis Brokers
Brandeis (Brokers) Ltd was a broker and ring dealing member on the London Metal Exchange that operated as a subsidiary of Pechiney from 1981 through 2000, when it was banned from trading by the FSA. Brandeis was one of the founding members of the London Metal Exchange in 1877. In 2000, the company's customer accounts and trading positions were purchased by Standard Bank London.
See also
* Alcan
* History of aluminium
References
Sources
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External links
Venture capital website with corporate history of Pechiney SA
Rio Tinto Alcan AP Technology
{{Authority control
Aluminium companies of France
Former Rio Tinto (corporation) subsidiaries
Privatized companies of France