Denka

Denka Company Limited
Company typePublic (K.K)
TYO: 4061
Nikkei 225 Component
ISINJP3549600009
IndustryChemicals
FoundedTomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan (May 1, 1915; 109 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]

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]

History

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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

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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

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  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.
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