EI du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont , is an American conglomerate founded in July 1802 as a munition factory by French-American chemists and industrialists ÃÆ' â € ° leuthÃÆ' ¨re IrÃÆ'Â © nÃÆ'Ã… © e du Pont.
In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, Neoprene, Nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, Corfam, and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry, and then a more environmentally friendly refrigerant. It also develops synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.
By 2014, DuPont is the fourth largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization and the eighth largest by revenue. On August 31, 2017 the company merged with Dow Chemical Company to create DowDuPont, the world's largest chemical company in terms of sales. Its share price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Video DuPont
History
Establishment: 1802
DuPont was founded in 1802 by ÃÆ' â € ° leuthÃÆ'¨re IrÃÆ'Ã © nÃÆ'Ã… © e du Pont, using capital raised in France and imported munitions from France. The company started at Eleutherian Mills, in Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, two years after he and his family left France to flee the French Revolution and the religious persecution of the Protestant Huguenot. The company started as a producer of gunpowder, as du Pont noticed that industries in North America lag behind Europe. The company grew rapidly, and by the mid-19th century had been the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military, supplying half the powder used by the Union Armed Forces during the American Civil War. The Eleutherian Mills site is now a museum and National Historic Landmark.
Expansion: 1902 to 1912
DuPont continues to grow, moving into the production of dynamite and smokeless powder. In 1902, the president of DuPont, Eugene du Pont, died, and the surviving partners sold the company to the three great grandchildren of the original founder. Charles Lee Reese was appointed as director and the company began to focus their research. The company then purchased several smaller chemical companies, and in 1912 this action led to government control under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The court stated that the company's dominance of the explosive business was a monopoly and ordered the divestment. The court ruling resulted in the creation of the Hercules Powder Company (later Hercules Inc. and now part of Ashland Inc.) and the Atlas Powder Company (purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and now part of AkzoNobel). At the time of the divestment, DuPont held a single base nitrocellulose powder, while Hercules held a double base powder that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. DuPont then developed an Improved Military Rifle (IMR) line of smokeless powder.
In 1910, DuPont published a brochure entitled "Farming with Dynamite". The pamphlets are instructional, outlining the benefits of using their dynamite products on stumps and other obstacles that will be more easily removed by dynamite than in more conventional and inefficient ways.
DuPont also established the first two industrial laboratories in the United States, where they started working on cellulose chemicals, lacquers and other non-explosive products. DuPont Central Research was established at DuPont Experimental Station, opposite Brandywine Creek from the original powder mill.
Automotive investment: 1914
In 1914, Pierre S. du Pont invested in a growing car industry, buying shares in General Motors (GM). The following year he was invited to be on GM's board of directors and eventually to be appointed chairman of the company. The DuPont company will help the car company that trouble it further with the purchase of GM shares worth $ 25 million. In 1920, Pierre S. du Pont was elected president of General Motors. Under the guidance of du Pont, GM became the number one automobile company in the world. However, in 1957, due to DuPont's influence on GM, further action under the Clayton Anti-Striking Act forced DuPont to release shares of General Motors.
Big breakthrough: 1920s 1930
In 1920, DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, employing Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. Carothers discovered neoprene, synthetic rubber; first polyester superpolymer; and, in 1935, nylon. The discovery of Teflon was followed several years later. DuPont introduced phenothiazine as an insecticide in 1935.
Second World War: 1941-1945
DuPont is ranked 15th among US corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. As inventor and nylon manufacturer, DuPont helps produce raw materials for parachutes, powder bags, and tires.
DuPont also played a major role in the Manhattan Project in 1943, designing, constructing and operating the Hanford plutonium-producing plant in Hanford, Washington. In 1950 DuPont also agreed to build the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina as part of an effort to make a hydrogen bomb.
Space Age Development: 1950 to 1970
After the war, DuPont continued its emphasis on new material, developing Mylar, Dacron, Orlon, and Lycra in the 1950s, and Tyvek, Nomex, Qiana, Corfam, and Corian in the 1960s. The DuPont material is critical to the success of the Apollo Project from the US space program.
DuPont has become a key company behind the development of modern body armor. In the Second World War, DuPont ballistic nylon was used by the Royal British Air Force to make jackets flak. With the development of Kevlar in the 1960s, DuPont started the test to see if it could hold the tin bullets. This research will ultimately lead to bulletproof vests that are the mainstay of police and military units in the industrial world.
Conoco Ownership: 1981 to 1999
In 1981, DuPont acquired Conoco Inc., the major US oil and gas producer that provided it with the source of the safest feedstock needed for the manufacture of many fibers and plastic products. The acquisition, which makes DuPont as one of the top ten oil and gas refiners and refiners based in the United States, emerged after a bidding war with refinery giant Seagram Company Ltd., which will be DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board. On April 6, 1995, after being approached by Seagram Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman Jr., DuPont announced an agreement under which the company would buy back all the shares held by Seagram.
In 1999, DuPont sold all of its shares in Conoco, which joined the Phillips Petroleum Company, and acquired the Pioneer Hi-Bred agricultural seed company.
Maps DuPont
Activity, 2000-present
DuPont describes itself as a global science company that employs over 60,000 people worldwide and has a wide array of product offerings. The company is ranked 86th in the Fortune 500 with a revenue power of nearly $ 36 billion, a profit of $ 4.848 billion in 2013. In April 2014, Forbes ranked DuPont 171 on Global 2000, the world list the top public companies.
DuPont Business is structured in the following five categories, known as "platform" marketing: Electronic and Communications Technology, Performance Materials, Coatings and Color Technology, Safety and Protection, and Agriculture and Nutrition.
The agricultural division of DuPont Pioneer manufactures and sells hybrid seeds and genetically modified seeds, some of which then become genetically engineered foods. Genes engineered into their products include LibertyLink, which provides resistance to Ignite Herbicide/Liberty herbicide from Bayer; gen Herculex I Insect Protection that provides protection against various insects; the protective properties of Herculex RW insects that provide protection against other insects; YieldGard Corn Borer genes, which provide resistance to other insect groups; and the Roundup Ready Corn 2 properties that provide plant resistance to glyphosate herbicides. In 2010, DuPont Pioneer received approval to start marketing Plenish soybeans, which contain the highest "oleic acid content of any commercial soy product, at more than 75 percent." Plenish provides trans-free products, 20 percent less saturated fat than regular soybeans. oil, and more stabile oil with greater flexibility in food and industrial applications. "Plenish is genetically engineered to" block the formation of enzymes that continue the downstream cascade flow of oleic acid (which produces saturated fats), resulting in the accumulation of monounsaturated acids which are desired."
In October 2001, the company sold its medicine business to Bristol Myers Squibb for $ 7.798 billion.
In 2002, the company sold the Clysar (R) business to Bemis Company for $ 143 million.
In 2004, the company sold its textile business, which included some of its most famous brands such as Lycra (Spandex), Polyester Dacron, Orlon Acrylics, Antron and Thermolite nylon, to Koch Industries.
In 2011, DuPont is the world's largest producer of titanium dioxide, mainly supplied as a white pigment used in the paper industry.
DuPont has 150 research and development facilities located in China, Brazil, India, Germany and Switzerland with an average investment of $ 2 billion annually in a variety of technologies for many markets including agriculture, genetic properties, biofuel, automotive, construction, electronics, chemicals, and industrial materials. DuPont employs over 10,000 scientists and engineers worldwide.
On January 9, 2011, DuPont announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Danang On May 16, 2011, DuPont announced that the tender offer for Danisco has been successful and will proceed to redeem the rest of the shares and remove the company.
On May 1, 2012, DuPont announced that it has obtained from full ownership of Bunge from a Solae joint venture, a soy-based materials company. DuPont previously had 72 percent of the joint venture while Bunge had the remaining 28 percent.
In February 2013, DuPont Performance Coatings were sold to Carlyle Group and renamed Axalta Coating Systems.
In October 2015, DuPont sold the Neoprene chloroprene rubber business to Denka Performance Elastomers, a joint venture of Denka and Mitsui.
Chemours
In October 2013, DuPont announced that it plans to release Performance Chemicals business to a new public company by mid 2015. The Company submitted its Form 10 with the SEC in December 2014 and announced that the new company would be called The Chemours Company. The spin-off for DuPont shareholders finished on July 1, 2015, and Chemours shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the same date.
DuPont will focus on the production of transgenic seeds, materials for solar panels, and alternatives to fossil fuels. The congestion becomes responsible for the cleaning of 171 former DuPont sites, which DuPont says will cost between $ 295 million and $ 945 million.
Merge with Dow
On December 11, 2015, DuPont announced that it would merge with Dow Chemical Company, in a deal of all shares. The combined company, to be known as DowDuPont, will have an estimated value of $ 130 billion, equally held by shareholders of both companies, and retain their headquarters in Delaware and Michigan, respectively. Within two years of closing the merger, expected in the first quarter of 2017 and subject to regulatory approval, DowDuPont will be divided into three separate public companies, focusing on agricultural chemicals, materials science, and specialty product industries. Commentators question the economic feasibility of this plan because, of the three companies, only the specialty product industry has high growth prospects. The view of the profitability of the two other proposed companies has been questioned because of reduced crop prices and lower margins on plastics such as polyethylene. They also noted that the deal is likely to face antitrust oversight in some countries. This ended up being the case, with two delays taking place due to regulatory approval. The merger closes on August 31, 2017.
Location
The company headquarters is located in Wilmington, Delaware. Manufacturing, processing, marketing and research and development facilities, as well as regional purchasing offices and distribution centers are located worldwide. Major manufacturing sites include Spruance factory near Richmond, Virginia, (currently the largest factory of the company), Washington Works site in Washington, West Virginia, Mobile Manufacturing Center (MMC) at Axis, Alabama, Bayport factory near Houston, Texas, Mechelen site in Belgium , and Changshu site in China. Other locations include the Yerkes Factory on the Niagara River in Tonawanda, New York, Sabine River Works Factory in Orange, Texas, and Parlin Site in Sayreville, New Jersey. Facilities at Vadodara, Gujarat and Hyderabad, Telangana in India are DuPont Service Centers and DuPont Knowledge Centers respectively.
Corporate governance
Office of the Chief Executive
Current board of directors
On October 5, 2015, DuPont announced that Ellen Kullman will retire as chairman and CEO on October 16, 2015. Breen was appointed CEO in November 2015 to replace Kullman.
Environmental recordings
In the 1990s, DuPont was a founding member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development with DuPont CEO Chad Holliday as chair of the WBCSD from 2000 to 2001. The organization has developed guidelines for measuring sustainability cited by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Vision 2050 blueprint for slowing and reversing environmental damage has been highlighted by The Guardian.
In 2005, the BusinessWeek magazine, along with the Climate Group, put DuPont as the best practice leader in cutting their carbon gas emissions. DuPont reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 65 percent from 1990 levels when it consumed 7 percent less energy and produced 30 percent more products.
In May 2007, the DuPont Nature Center worth $ 2.1 million at Mispillion Harbor Reserve, a wildlife observatory and interpretive center in Delaware Bay near Milford, Delaware opened to enhance the beauty and integrity of Delaware Estuary. The facility will be owned by the state and operated by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).
In 2010, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Institute of Political Economy Research Institute put DuPont as the fourth largest source of air pollution in the United States. DuPont released a statement that the total release and transfer of 2012 is 13% lower than 2011 levels, and 70% lower than the 1987 level. Data from the EPA Poison Inventory Release database included in the research Institute for Political Economy Research also showed DuPont emission reductions of 12 , 4 million pounds of air release and 22.4 million pounds of toxic incinerator transfers in 2006 to 10.94 million pounds and 22.0 million pounds, respectively. , in 2010. During the same period, the Institute for Political Economy Research The poisonous score for DuPont increased from 122,426 to 7,086,303.
One of the DuPont facilities is noted No. 4 on Mother Jones 20 top polluters of 2010, issuing legally more than 5,000,000 pounds (2,300,000 kg) of toxic chemicals to New Jersey and Delaware waters. In 2016, Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, where the facility is located, initiated a $ 1.1 billion lawsuit against the corporation, accused the company of divesting an unprofitable company without first renewing the property as required by law.
In 2012, DuPont is appointed as the Global Leadership Index of 500 Carbon Leadership Index. Inclusion is based on firm performance on sustainability metrics, emission reduction goals, and environmental performance transparency. By 2014 DuPont is the top scoring company in the chemical sector according to CDP, with an "A" or "B" score in each evaluation area except for supply chain management.
Between 2007 and 2014 there were thirty-four accidents resulting in the release of toxins at DuPont plants across the US, with casualties of no less than 8. Four employees died from suffocation in Houston, Texas, an accident involving a leak of nearly 24,000 pounds (11,000 kg) of methyl mercaptan. As a result, the company became the largest of 450 businesses deployed in the "Weight Loss" program of Occupational Safety and Health in July 2015. The program was established for OSHA companies saying it has repeatedly failed to address safety breaches.
DuPont is part of the Global Climate Coalition, a group that lobbies to take action on climate change.
Recognition
DuPont has been awarded the National Medal of Technology four times: first in 1990, for the discovery of "high-performance manmade polymers such as nylon, neoprene rubber," Teflon "fluorocarbon resin, and a wide spectrum of new fibers, films and engineering plastics"; the second in 2002 "for policy and technological leadership in the termination and replacement of chlorofluorocarbons". DuPont scientist George Levitt was honored with a medal in 1993 for the development of sulfonylurea herbicides. In 1996, DuPont scientist Stephanie Kwolek was recognized for the discovery and development of Kevlar.
On the 200th anniversary of the company in 2002, it was presented with an Honorary Award by the National Building Museum in recognition of "DuPont products that directly affect the construction and design processes in the building industry."
Controversy
Genetically engineered food
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a subsidiary of DuPont, produces genetically modified seeds, other equipment, and agricultural technologies used to improve crop yields.
Chlorofluorocarbons
Dupont, along with Frigidaire and General Motors, was part of a collaborative effort to find a replacement for toxic refrigerants in 1920, which resulted in the discovery of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by Thomas Midgley in 1928. CFCs are ozone-depleting chemicals used primarily in aerosol sprays and cooling. DuPont is the world's largest CFC producer with a 25 percent market share in the 1980s, for a total of $ 600 million in annual sales.
In 1974, responding to public concerns about CFC security, DuPont promised to stop production of CFCs if it proved to harm the ozone layer.
In February 1988, US Senator Max Baucus, along with two other Senators, wrote a letter to DuPont to remind the company of his vow. The Los Angeles Times reported that the letter "is generally regarded as a shame for DuPont, which boasts its reputation as an environmentally conscious company." The company responded with a terse letter that the available evidence did not support the need to dramatically reduce the production of CFCs and call the proposal "unwarranted and counterproductive".
On March 14 of the same year, scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced results of a study showing a 2.3% drop in ozone levels of latitude between 1969 and 1986, together with evidence of a binding decline to CFCs in the upper atmosphere.. On March 24, DuPont reversed its position, calling NASA the result "important new information" and announcing that it would stop production of CFCs. The Company further called for worldwide control on the production of CFCs and for additional countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol. DuPont policy changes are widely praised by environmental activists. In 2003, DuPont was awarded the National Medal of Technology, which recognized the company as a leader in the development of CFC replacements.
Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA; C8)
DuPont has faced fines from the US Environmental Protection Agency and litigation over the release of Teflon-the process of aid of perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8) from their work in Washington, West Virginia contaminated PFOA drinking water causes increased levels of compounds in the body of citizens living in the surrounding area. The C8 panel of Science designated by the court investigated "whether there is a connection between C8 exposure and disease in the community." They eventually concluded that there is a possible link between PFOA and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, pre-eclampsia, and ulcerative colitis. Water contamination in the Netherlands and its link with cancer is also under investigation. Interactive map of PFOA water contamination has been published by ewg.org.
DuPont agreed to sharply reduce its PFOA output, and is one of eight companies that signed contracts with the 2010/2015 PFOA Management Program from USEPA. The agreement calls for a reduction of "facility and content emissions of globally related PFOA products and chemicals by 95 percent by 2010 and to work toward the elimination of emissions and chemicals by 2015." DuPont ends PFOA entirely in 2013.
Unlike other persistent organic pollutants, perfluorooctanoic acid endures indefinitely and is completely resistant to bio-degradation, remaining toxic. The only way to reduce levels in the body is by physical elimination rather than degradation. In 2014, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has established PFOA as a "carcinogenic possibility" in humans. One Ohio resident gets $ 1.6 million when a jury in 2015 discovers that his kidney cancer is caused by PFOA in drinking water. In December 2016, two million dollars was awarded when the jury found out that it caused the plaintiffs' testicular cancer and provided a $ 10.5 million punitive damages. This is the third case in which the jury found DuPont responsible for injuries caused by PFOA exposure in drinking water sources. There are 3,500 similar cases awaiting trial c. 2015. According to co-lead counselors, internal documents revealed during the trial show DuPont has been aware of an association between PFOA and cancer since 1997. DuPont says it always handles PFOA "fairly and responsibly" based on the information they, and industry regulators, have available during its use. However, the jury concluded that DuPont did not act to prevent harm or inform the public, despite the information available.
Imprelis
In October 2010 DuPont began marketing herbicides called Imprelis, to control certain crops in the grass area. DuPont voluntarily withdraws Imprelis from the market in August 2011 before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a mandatory stop of sale order to Imprelis after being told numerous reports from golf courses to nurseries that the product was suspected of injuring and, in some cases, killing trees. Norwegian spruce, white pine and honeymill proved to be among the vulnerable tree species.
Price settings
In 2005, the company pleaded guilty to fixing the price of chemicals and products using neoprene, synthetic rubber, yielding a fine of $ 84 million.
NASCAR sponsors
DuPont is widely known for its sponsorship of former NASCAR Four Series Sprint Cup Winners, Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports No. 4. 24 Chevrolet SS. DuPont sponsors him since he started in the Sprint Cup (later Winston Cup) in 1992. DuPont says it's about their sponsor:
Our sponsor from Jeff Gordon helps keep DuPont brands and products in the public eye. Branding is a key component of DuPont's knowledge intensity strategy to achieve sustainable growth.
The partnership lasted 18 seasons before DuPont was replaced by AARP Drive to End Hunger as the No. 1 main sponsor. 24 teams. DuPont continued as an associate sponsor with a 12-race deal, and the deal was extended to 14 races after DuPont sold its coatings business, now known as "Axalta Coating Systems", to The Carlyle Group in a $ 4.9 billion deal.
In addition to Gordon, DuPont sponsors Scott Lagasse in the SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman during the 1995 season (including one trip to Terry Labonte at Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic, Truk race premiere). In the Busch Series, the company sponsored RC Racing Ricky Craven's team in the early 1990s.
See also
- The Du Pont Family
- DuPont v. Kolon Industries
- Hagley Museum and Library
- Longwood Gardens
- Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company
References
Further reading
- Arora, Ashish; Ralph Landau and Nathan Rosenberg, (eds). (2000). Long Term Chemicals and Economic Growth: Insights from Chemical Industry .
- Cerveaux, Augustin. (2013) "Dubbed Microworld: DuPont and Rise of Fundamental Industrial Research," Technology and Culture, 54 (April 2013), 262-88.
- Chandler, Alfred D. (1971). Pierre S. Du Pont and the creation of a modern enterprise .
- Chandler, Alfred D. (1969). Strategy and Structure: Chapter in the History of American Industrial Companies .
- du Pont, B.G. (1920). E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company: A History 1802-1902 . Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Grams, Martin. History of Cavalcade of America: Sponsored by DuPont . (Morris Publishing, 1999). ISBNÃ, 0-7392-0138-7
- Haynes, Williams (1983). American chemical industry
- Hounshell, David A. and Smith, John Kenly, JR (1988). Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R and D, 1902-1980 . Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-32767-9.
- Kinnane, Adrian (2002). DuPont: From Bank of the Brandywine to Miracles of Science . Wilmington: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. ISBNÃ, 0-8018-7059-3.
- Ndiaye, Pap A. (trans. 2007). Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and March of Modern America
- Zilg, Gerard Colby. DuPont: Behind the Nile Curtain (Prentice-Hall: 1974) 623 pages, ISBNÃ, 0-13-221077-0
- Zilg, Gerard Colby. Du Pont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain . (Secaucus NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1984). 968 pages, ISBNÃ, 0-8184-0352-7
External links
- Official website
- Company history as presented by the company
- DuPont/MIT Alliance
- Works by DuPont in LibriVox (public domain audio book)
- Original Dupont FM-200Ã,®
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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