Denka Company Limited (デンカ株式会社, Denka Kabushiki-gaisha); formerly Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (電気化学工業株式会社) is a Japanese chemical company, established in 1915, and headquartered in Tokyo, manufacturing organic and inorganic chemicals, cement, special cement additives, electronic component transfer materials and food packaging materials.[2] The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index.[3]

Denka Company Limited
Company typePublic (K.K)
TYO: 4061
Nikkei 225 Component
ISINJP3549600009
IndustryChemicals
FoundedTomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan (May 1, 1915; 108 years ago (1915-05-01))
FounderTsuneichi Fujiyama
HeadquartersNihonbashi Mitsui Tower, 1-1, Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8338, Japan
Key people
Shinsuke Yoshitaka
(Chairman and CEO)
Manabu Yamamoto
(President)
Products
RevenueIncrease JPY 395.6 billion (FY 2017) (US$ 3.56 billion) (FY 2017)
Increase JPY 23 billion (FY 2017) (US$ 207 million) (FY 2017)
Number of employees
5,944 (consolidated, as of March 31, 2018)
WebsiteOfficial website
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

History edit

In 1912, Tsuneichi Fujiyama founded a carbide business, Hokkai Carbide, in Tomakomai, a village in Hokkaido. One year later, Fujiyama patented his own process of producing cyanamide, the continuous cyanamide process.[4] In 1913, Fujiyama with the help of 22 venture capitalists incorporated a reorganized Hokkai Carbide as Denki Kagaku Kogyo, the current company. Despite its legal status as an independent corporation, Denka was a Mitsui-related company.[5] The company changed its name from Denki Kagaku Kogyo to Denka Company Limited 2015.[6]

Pontchartrain Works edit

The Pontchartrain Works facility owned by Denka in Reserve, Louisiana has been reported to be emitting chloroprene which is defined as "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" by the EPA.[7][8][9] Up to 755 times the safe air value of 0.2 μg/m3 of chloroprene has been recorded at the fifth ward elementary school in close proximity to the plant.[8] The cancer risk in Reserve is 1,500 times the national average and is thought to be due to chloroprene levels.[8] Denka has replied to the reports as being not based on "sound science".[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Company Overview". Denka Company Limited. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Company Profile". Nikkei Asian Review. Nikkei Inc. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  3. ^ "Components:Nikkei Stock Average". Nikkei Inc. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  4. ^ Travis, Anthony S. (April 24, 2018). Nitrogen Capture: The Growth of an International Industry (1900–1940). Springer Nature. p. 85. ISBN 978-3-319-68963-0.
  5. ^ Molony, Barbara (1990). Technology and Investment: The Prewar Japanese Chemical Industry. Harvard University Asia Center. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-674-87260-8.
  6. ^ "Japanische Denka kauft Hallenser Icon Genetics" [Japanese Denka buys Icon Genetics]. Bioökonomie.de (in German). Federal Ministry of Education and Research. August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  7. ^ Laughland, Oliver; Lartey, Jamiles (May 6, 2019). "First slavery, then a chemical plant and cancer deaths: one town's brutal history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c US EPA, OAR (July 9, 2018). "2014 National Air Toxics Assessment". US EPA. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  9. ^ Russell, Gordon; The Times-Picayune; The Advocate (19 December 2019). "In "Cancer Alley," Toxic Polluters Face Little Oversight From Environmental Regulators". ProPublica. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  10. ^ Lartey, Jamiles; Laughland, Oliver (May 6, 2019). "'Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 6, 2019.

External links edit