Umicore
Encyclopedia
Umicore N.V. is a multinational
materials technology company headquartered in Brussels
, Belgium
. Formed in 1989 by the merger
of four companies in the mining
and smelting
industries, Umicore has since reshaped itself into a more technology
-focused business encompassing such areas as the refining and recycling of precious metal
s and the manufacture of specialised products from precious metals, cobalt, germanium, zinc and other metals. The company has been a component of Belgium's benchmark BEL20
stock market index
since its 1991 inception.
To symbolise this trend of moving away from mining and the production of commodities and base metals, the group Union Minière changed its name to Umicore in 2001.
The main thread running through much of Umicore's history is the Union Minière du Haut Katanga
(UMHK), a company incorporated in 1906 to exploit the vast natural resource
s of the Congo Free State
, later the Belgian Congo
and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. Initially the UMHK concentrated on mining the state's extensive copper
deposits, before diversifying into cobalt
, tin
, uranium
(in which it at one point held a near-monopoly in global supply) and other precious metals. The company also constructed casting
and smelting facilities, eventually growing to such an extent that it represented around half of all revenues taken in by the Congolese government. In early January 1967, the UMHK was nationalized by the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko
, and over $800 million of the company's assets were seized by the state.
Société Générale de Belgique
, where it was grouped with its other metals and mining interests. As a reflection of its enforced departure from the Katanga Province
, the new, simplified name Union Minière was adopted. With its more European focus, Union Minière began to grow its business again through the 1980s, initially largely organically
. In 1989 however, Société Générale announced plans to merge Union Minière with three other Belgian metals companies in which it held a significant stake: zinc producer Vieille Montagne
(with a history stretching back to 1805); Metallurgie Hoboken-Overpelt, which dealt in a wide range of metals including copper, cobalt and lead
; and Mechim, an engineering
firm. The much enlarged company was initially renamed Acec-Union Minière (although the prefix was dropped in 1992) and subsequently set about streamlining its organisational structure, but the global economic downturn of the early-to-mid 1990s hit profit
s and forced management to implement a major restructuring
programme in 1995. The three-year plan, implemented under the guidance of recently-appointed CEO
Karel Vinck
, involved the loss of around 25% of Union Minière's workforce and the sale of a number of non-core
assets, including a zinc wire operation, French
roofing material retailer
Asturienne and much of the company's exposure to the diamond
products sector (including Diamant Boart
).
of non-ferrous metals and the manufacture of specialised metallic and non-metal products. Mining, originally the lifeblood of the company, now plays no direct part in the business: a minority stake in zinc producer Padaeng Industry, which operates a mine in the north of Thailand
, was Umicore's last remaining presence in the sector and was sold in April 2008. Umicore's copper extraction and refining operations were divested
in 2005, with its zinc refining operations following in 2007; these now form part of Aurubis
and Nyrstar
respectively.
The company divides its current operations into four distinct divisions: Energy Materials, Recycling, Catalysis and Performance Materials.
products for industrial use, including fine metal powders
for diamond and hard metal tools, as well as oxide
s and salts of cobalt, lithium and nickel
for use in batteries
, glass
and ceramic
s. The division also produces and markets products of germanium
, both in compounds for doping
optical fibre
s and in semiconductor wafers
. The unit is headquartered at the company's plant in Olen
near Antwerp, with production and commercial facilities in a number of countries worldwide.
The Recycling business segment covers four main activities: its core business is the recycling
and refining
of various precious and other non-ferrous metals, as well as certain nonmetal
s such as selenium
. Umicore is the world's largest recycler of precious metals. Most of the materials (around two-thirds in terms of refining charges) put through the refining process are by-product
s from the production of non-ferrous metals, such as dross
, matte
and speiss
from the zinc smelting
industry and anode
sludge built up during electrolysis
. Other sources of materials used for recycling include slag
, spent fuel cell
s, automotive
and industrial catalysts
and scrap
electronic equipment. Production is headquartered at Umicore's precious metals facility in Hoboken near Antwerp, with other plants
in Germany
and the United States
.
Battery Recycling is a second business unit, focused on the recycling of spent rechargeable batteries from laptops, mobile phone
s and hybrid electric vehicle
s. Jewellery and Industrial Metals produces semi-finished precious metals-based products, for jewellery
and industrial applications and is a major recycler of scrap and residues from the jewellery industry.
The Recycling segment also encompasses a management unit, which sells precious metals in ingot
form to industrial clients and offers access to related financial instruments for hedging
purposes. The unit is based in Hanau
, Germany.
, a field in which the company had begun research in 1968, the company ranks third in global market share behind BASF Catalysts
(formerly Engelhard
) and Johnson Matthey
. Umicore increased its presence in the sector with the June 2007 purchase of the catalyst division of troubled American auto parts manufacturer Delphi
for $55.6 million.
(organized in the daughter company Allgemeine Gold- und Silberscheideanstalt AG), Platinum Engineered Materials (platinum for the production of gauze
s for fertilizer
production and nitrous oxide
abatement systems), Technical Materials (including alloy
s for brazing
, metallic contacts for use in electrical engineering
, various materials and components from platinum
and materials for hermetic seal
ing and electronic packaging
) and Zinc Chemicals (zinc oxides and powders used for corrosion or ultraviolet
radiation protection).
It also comprises a 40% shareholding in Element Six Abrasives
- a joint venture with De Beers
.
(6.19%), Fidelity International (6.75%), BlackRock
(8.33%), Ameriprise Financial
(3.00%) and Fidelity Management and Research (3.22%). The implied free float of the company is 100%.
The company serves as title sponsor of the Umicore Solar Team, the Leuven
-based entrant in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 editions of the World Solar Challenge
, a solar-powered car race through the Australian Outback
. The germanium substrates
in the car's solar cell
s were also provided by Umicore. The team finished in second place in the 2007 race.
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
materials technology company headquartered in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Formed in 1989 by the merger
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
of four companies in the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
industries, Umicore has since reshaped itself into a more technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
-focused business encompassing such areas as the refining and recycling of precious metal
Precious metal
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value.Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
s and the manufacture of specialised products from precious metals, cobalt, germanium, zinc and other metals. The company has been a component of Belgium's benchmark BEL20
BEL20
The BEL20 is the benchmark stock market index of Euronext Brussels. In general, the index consists of a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 companies traded at the Brussels Stock Exchange. Since 20 June 2011, the BEL20 has contained 20 listings.-Rules:...
stock market index
Stock market index
A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the stock market. Many indices are cited by news or financial services firms and are used as benchmarks, to measure the performance of portfolios such as mutual funds....
since its 1991 inception.
To symbolise this trend of moving away from mining and the production of commodities and base metals, the group Union Minière changed its name to Umicore in 2001.
Colonial origins
Union Minière du Haut Katanga
The Union Minière du Haut Katanga was a Belgian mining company, once operating in Katanga, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
(UMHK), a company incorporated in 1906 to exploit the vast natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s of the Congo Free State
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Its origins lay in Leopold's attracting scientific, and humanitarian backing for a non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine...
, later the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. Initially the UMHK concentrated on mining the state's extensive copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
deposits, before diversifying into cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
(in which it at one point held a near-monopoly in global supply) and other precious metals. The company also constructed casting
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
and smelting facilities, eventually growing to such an extent that it represented around half of all revenues taken in by the Congolese government. In early January 1967, the UMHK was nationalized by the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
, and over $800 million of the company's assets were seized by the state.
After Katanga
The firm suddenly found itself without the vast majority of its business (despite later receiving financial compensation for the physical assets seized by Mobutu's regime) but managed to survive: full ownership passed to conglomerateConglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
Société Générale de Belgique
Société Générale de Belgique
The Société Générale de Belgique was one of the largest companies that ever existed in Belgium. It was founded in 1822 by William I, and existed until 2003, when its then sole shareholder, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, merged it with Tractebel to form Suez-Tractebel.-History:As part of the terms of the...
, where it was grouped with its other metals and mining interests. As a reflection of its enforced departure from the Katanga Province
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
, the new, simplified name Union Minière was adopted. With its more European focus, Union Minière began to grow its business again through the 1980s, initially largely organically
Organic growth
In finance, organic growth is the process of businesses expansion due to increasing overall customer base, increased output per customer or representative, new sales, or any combination of the above, as opposed to mergers and acquisitions that are examples of inorganic growth. Typically, the...
. In 1989 however, Société Générale announced plans to merge Union Minière with three other Belgian metals companies in which it held a significant stake: zinc producer Vieille Montagne
Vieille Montagne
Vieille Montagne is the name of a former zinc mine in Kelmis , a town in Belgium between Liège and Aachen. The mine's name is French for "the old mountain", and this is also reflected in its German name, Altenberg...
(with a history stretching back to 1805); Metallurgie Hoboken-Overpelt, which dealt in a wide range of metals including copper, cobalt and lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
; and Mechim, an engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
firm. The much enlarged company was initially renamed Acec-Union Minière (although the prefix was dropped in 1992) and subsequently set about streamlining its organisational structure, but the global economic downturn of the early-to-mid 1990s hit profit
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
s and forced management to implement a major restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
programme in 1995. The three-year plan, implemented under the guidance of recently-appointed CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Karel Vinck
Karel Vinck
Karel Vinck is a Belgian businessman. In 1994 the readers of the weekly business magazine Trends chose him to be the Manager of the year. He graduated as a Master in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and got an MBA from Cornell University .-Career:He...
, involved the loss of around 25% of Union Minière's workforce and the sale of a number of non-core
Core business
The core business of an organization is an idealized construct intended to express that organization's "main" or "essential" activity.The corporate trend in the mid-20th Century of acquiring new enterprises and forming conglomerates enabled corporations to reduce costs funds and similar investment...
assets, including a zinc wire operation, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
roofing material retailer
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
Asturienne and much of the company's exposure to the diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
products sector (including Diamant Boart
Diamant Boart
Diamant Boart S.A. is a world-leading manufacturer and distributor of diamond tools and related equipment for the construction and stone market. The company was founded in 1937....
).
Operations
Umicore is now focused exclusively on the recyclingRecycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
of non-ferrous metals and the manufacture of specialised metallic and non-metal products. Mining, originally the lifeblood of the company, now plays no direct part in the business: a minority stake in zinc producer Padaeng Industry, which operates a mine in the north of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, was Umicore's last remaining presence in the sector and was sold in April 2008. Umicore's copper extraction and refining operations were divested
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
in 2005, with its zinc refining operations following in 2007; these now form part of Aurubis
Aurubis
Aurubis AG is the largest copper producer in Europe. The company is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.- History :In 1866 Norddeutsche Affinerie was incorporated as a stock company....
and Nyrstar
Nyrstar
Nyrstar N.V is the world’s largest zinc metal producer and is also one of the world’s largest primary lead smelting and refining companies. It was formed on 31 August 2007 through a merger between the zinc alloys operations of the Belgian company Umicore and the zinc and lead smelting operations of...
respectively.
The company divides its current operations into four distinct divisions: Energy Materials, Recycling, Catalysis and Performance Materials.
Energy Materials
The Energy Materials division manufactures a range of specialised metal and metalloidMetalloid
Metalloid is a term used in chemistry when classifying the chemical elements. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, each element can usually be classified as a metal or a nonmetal. However, some elements with intermediate or mixed properties can be harder to characterize...
products for industrial use, including fine metal powders
Powder metallurgy
Powder metallurgy is the process of blending fine powdered materials, pressing them into a desired shape , and then heating the compressed material in a controlled atmosphere to bond the material . The powder metallurgy process generally consists of four basic steps: powder manufacture, powder...
for diamond and hard metal tools, as well as oxide
Oxide
An oxide is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom in its chemical formula. Metal oxides typically contain an anion of oxygen in the oxidation state of −2....
s and salts of cobalt, lithium and nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
for use in batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
, glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
and ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s. The division also produces and markets products of germanium
Germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. The isolated element is a semiconductor, with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon....
, both in compounds for doping
Doping (semiconductor)
In semiconductor production, doping intentionally introduces impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical properties. The impurities are dependent upon the type of semiconductor. Lightly and moderately doped semiconductors are referred to as extrinsic...
optical fibre
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
s and in semiconductor wafers
Wafer (electronics)
A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...
. The unit is headquartered at the company's plant in Olen
Olen
Olen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality actually comprises 3 towns, situated on a north-south axis....
near Antwerp, with production and commercial facilities in a number of countries worldwide.
Recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
and refining
Refining (metallurgy)
Refining consists of purifying an impure material, in this case a metal. It is to be distinguished from other processes such as smelting and calcining in that those two involve a chemical change to the raw material, whereas in refining, the final material is usually identical chemically to the...
of various precious and other non-ferrous metals, as well as certain nonmetal
Nonmetal
Nonmetal, or non-metal, is a term used in chemistry when classifying the chemical elements. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, every element in the periodic table can be termed either a metal or a nonmetal...
s such as selenium
Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element with atomic number 34, chemical symbol Se, and an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, whose properties are intermediate between those of adjacent chalcogen elements sulfur and tellurium...
. Umicore is the world's largest recycler of precious metals. Most of the materials (around two-thirds in terms of refining charges) put through the refining process are by-product
By-product
A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced.A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste....
s from the production of non-ferrous metals, such as dross
Dross
Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on a molten metal. It appears usually on the melting of low-melting-point metals or alloys such as tin, lead, zinc or aluminium, or by oxidation of the metal. It can also consist of impurities such as paint leftovers...
, matte
Matte (metallurgy)
Matte is a term used in the field of pyrometallurgy given to the molten metal sulfide phases typically formed during smelting of copper, nickel, and other base metals. Typically, a matte is the phase in which the principal metal being extracted is recovered prior to a final reduction process to...
and speiss
Speiss
Speiss is a molten phase consisting primarily of iron arsenide that is commonly encountered in lead smelting operations....
from the zinc smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
industry and anode
Anode
An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarized electrical device. Mnemonic: ACID ....
sludge built up during electrolysis
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
. Other sources of materials used for recycling include slag
Slag
Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separate the metal fraction from the unwanted fraction. It can usually be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form...
, spent fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
s, automotive
Catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a device used to convert toxic exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine into non-toxic substances. Inside a catalytic converter, a catalyst stimulates a chemical reaction in which noxious byproducts of combustion are converted to less toxic substances by dint...
and industrial catalysts
Catalysis
Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....
and scrap
Scrap
Scrap is a term used to describe recyclable and other materials left over from every manner of product consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has significant monetary value...
electronic equipment. Production is headquartered at Umicore's precious metals facility in Hoboken near Antwerp, with other plants
Physical plant
Physical plant or mechanical plant refers to the necessary infrastructure used in support and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department of an organization which does so, is called "plant operations" or facility management...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Battery Recycling is a second business unit, focused on the recycling of spent rechargeable batteries from laptops, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s and hybrid electric vehicle
Hybrid electric vehicle
A hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional...
s. Jewellery and Industrial Metals produces semi-finished precious metals-based products, for jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
and industrial applications and is a major recycler of scrap and residues from the jewellery industry.
The Recycling segment also encompasses a management unit, which sells precious metals in ingot
Ingot
An ingot is a material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. Non-metallic and semiconductor materials prepared in bulk form may also be referred to as ingots, particularly when cast by mold based methods.-Uses:...
form to industrial clients and offers access to related financial instruments for hedging
Hedge (finance)
A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses that may be incurred by a companion investment.A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, many types of...
purposes. The unit is based in Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
, Germany.
Catalysis
Umicore's third business segment, its largest in terms of revenue, is composed of two subdivisions, Automotive Catalysts and Precious Metals Chemistry. In automotive catalystsCatalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a device used to convert toxic exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine into non-toxic substances. Inside a catalytic converter, a catalyst stimulates a chemical reaction in which noxious byproducts of combustion are converted to less toxic substances by dint...
, a field in which the company had begun research in 1968, the company ranks third in global market share behind BASF Catalysts
BASF
BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
(formerly Engelhard
Engelhard
Engelhard Corporation is a former American Fortune 500 company headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey, USA. It is credited with developing the first production catalytic converter. In 2006, the German chemical manufacturer BASF bought Engelhard for $US5 billion....
) and Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey plc is multinational chemicals and precious metals company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
. Umicore increased its presence in the sector with the June 2007 purchase of the catalyst division of troubled American auto parts manufacturer Delphi
Delphi (auto parts)
Delphi Automotive PLC is an automotive parts company headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA. Delphi is one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers and has approximately 146,600 employees ....
for $55.6 million.
Performance Materials
Performance Materials concentrates on the production of specialised items, chiefly from precious metals and zinc. It is organized around five business units: Building Products (the production of zinc-based items for the construction trade), ElectroplatingElectroplating
Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...
(organized in the daughter company Allgemeine Gold- und Silberscheideanstalt AG), Platinum Engineered Materials (platinum for the production of gauze
Gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave.-Uses and types:Gauze was originally made of silk and was used for clothing. It is now used for many different things, including gauze sponges for medical purposes. When used as a medical dressing, gauze is generally made of cotton...
s for fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
production and nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
abatement systems), Technical Materials (including alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
s for brazing
Brazing
Brazing is a metal-joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action. The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting temperature while protected by a suitable atmosphere, usually a flux...
, metallic contacts for use in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
, various materials and components from platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
and materials for hermetic seal
Hermetic seal
A hermetic seal is the quality of being airtight. In common usage, the term often implies being impervious to air or gas. When used technically, it is stated in conjunction with a specific test method and conditions of usage.-Etymology :...
ing and electronic packaging
Electronic packaging
Electronic packaging is a major discipline within the field of electronic engineering, and includes a wide variety of technologies. It refers to enclosures and protective features built into the product itself, and not to shipping containers...
) and Zinc Chemicals (zinc oxides and powders used for corrosion or ultraviolet
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
radiation protection).
It also comprises a 40% shareholding in Element Six Abrasives
Element Six
Element Six is a company specialised in providing synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride and other superhard materials for industrial use. It was created in 1946 and is owned by Umicore and De Beers...
- a joint venture with De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
.
Financial information
| Year ended | Revenue Revenue In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover.... (€ million) |
Earnings before interest and taxes Earnings before interest and taxes In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes is a measure of a firm's profit that excludes interest and income tax expenses. Operating income is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses... (€m) |
Net profit Net income Net income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings... (€m) |
Earnings per share Earnings per share Earnings per share is the amount of earnings per each outstanding share of a company's stock.In the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards Board requires companies' income statements to report EPS for each of the major categories of the income statement: continuing operations,... (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,000 | 324.0 | 248.7 | 2.20 |
| 2009 | 1,723 | 141.2 | 73.8 | 0.66 |
| 2008 | 2,124 | 247.7 | 222.5 | 1.06 |
| 2007 | 1,910 | 334.4 | 225.7 | 1.78 |
| 2006 | 1,685 | 313.6 | 218.3 | 1.70 |
| 2005 | 1,725 | 183.7 | 151.5 | 1.19 |
| 2004 | 1,693 | 269.5 | 174.3 | 1.36 |
| 2003 | 1,358 | 106.5 | 89.6 | 0.79 |
Shareholder structure
At 9 February 2011, five institutions had declared holdings of 3% or greater in Umicore: the company itself in treasury stockTreasury stock
A treasury stock or reacquired stock is stock which is bought back by the issuing company, reducing the amount of outstanding stock on the open market ....
(6.19%), Fidelity International (6.75%), BlackRock
BlackRock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multinational investment management corporation and the world's largest asset manager. BlackRock is headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States and is the leading provider of investment, advisory, and risk management solutions...
(8.33%), Ameriprise Financial
Ameriprise Financial
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is one of the leading diversified financial services companies in the U.S. Ameriprise Financial engages in business through its...
(3.00%) and Fidelity Management and Research (3.22%). The implied free float of the company is 100%.
Sponsorship
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
-based entrant in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 editions of the World Solar Challenge
World Solar Challenge
The World Solar Challenge is a solar-powered car race which covers through the Australian Outback, from Darwin to Adelaide.The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools...
, a solar-powered car race through the Australian Outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
. The germanium substrates
Wafer (electronics)
A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...
in the car's solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
s were also provided by Umicore. The team finished in second place in the 2007 race.
See also
- Element SixElement SixElement Six is a company specialised in providing synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride and other superhard materials for industrial use. It was created in 1946 and is owned by Umicore and De Beers...
, independently-run company jointly owned by Umicore and De BeersDe BeersDe Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea... - NyrstarNyrstarNyrstar N.V is the world’s largest zinc metal producer and is also one of the world’s largest primary lead smelting and refining companies. It was formed on 31 August 2007 through a merger between the zinc alloys operations of the Belgian company Umicore and the zinc and lead smelting operations of...
, company spun off from the zinc and lead smelting assets of Umicore and ZinifexZinifexZinifex was an Australian company which operated two zinc and lead mines, three zinc refineries and a lead smelter. It was created following the insolvency of Pasminco in 2002, taking on Pasminco operations. In 2008 it merged with Oxiana Limited to form OZ Minerals.-History:Zinifex was the...