Chemours Explained

The Chemours Company
Type:Public
Traded As:
S&P 400 Component
Industry:Chemical
Location:Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Area Served:Global
Revenue Year:2021
Net Income Year:2021
Assets Year:2021
Num Employees:6,600[1]
Num Employees Year:2022
Footnotes:Financials .
References:[2] [3]

The Chemours Company is an American chemical company that was founded in July 2015 as a spin-off from DuPont. It has its corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, United States.[3] Chemours is the manufacturer of Teflon, the brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), known for its anti-stick properties.[4] It also produces titanium dioxide and refrigerant gases.[5] It is currently being sued by the PA Attorney General, for knowingly exposing the public to PFAS. (https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-06-02-Commonwealth-v.-EIDP-Inc-et-al_Filed-copy.pdf).

History

In October 2013, DuPont announced that it was planning to spin off its "performance chemicals" business into a new publicly traded company in mid-2015.[6] DuPont filed its initial Form 10 with the SEC in December 2014 and announced that the new company would be called "The Chemours Company."[7] The name is a portmanteau of the words chemical and Nemours, a nod to DuPont's full name, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The company's CC ticker symbol, is also a play on DuPont's DD symbol; it was also formerly used by the electronics retail Circuit City prior to its bankruptcy in 2009.[8]

The spin-off was completed on July 1, 2015, and Chemours' stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the same date.[9]

Chemours has assumed various liabilities arising from lawsuits against DuPont.[10] Additionally, Chemours' plant in Bladen County, North Carolina, was found to be dumping vast quantities of a chemical dubbed "GenX", a precursor of Teflon, into the Cape Fear River.[11] This story is recounted in the 2018 documentary film The Devil We Know, which centers on Parkersburg, West Virginia, where the DuPont facility that manufactured Teflon was located. The documentary follows the personal stories and tribulations of several people who worked at the Parkersburg facility.

In June 2023, Chemours (together with Dupont and Corteva) settled claims that they contaminated U.S. public water systems with toxic "forever chemicals" (PFAS) for $1.19 billion, with Chemours paying $592 million and DuPont and Corteva paying the rest.[12]

In September 2023, a court in The Netherlands declared Chemours liable for pollution caused by the Teflon producing plant in the city of Dordrecht, South Holland.[13] The court stated that Chemours' predecessor DuPont had willingly withheld crucial information between 1984 and 1998 about the harmful effects of the substances it used and emitted, which made the pollution unlawful.

In February 2024, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Newman, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jonathan Lock, and Financial Controller Camela Wisel were placed on administrative leave by the company's board due to members of senior management delaying payments to some vendors to aid incentive compensation and obtain a bigger bonus. The officer's actions violated the company's standards for ethics.[14] [15]

Products

Chemours manufactures and sells performance chemicals falling within three segments: Titanium Technologies (titanium dioxide); Fluoroproducts (refrigerants and industrial fluoropolymer resins and derivatives including Freon, Teflon, Viton, Nafion, ECCtreme ECA and Krytox); and Chemical Solutions (cyanide, sulfuric acid, aniline, methylamines, and reactive metals).

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Chemours Company - Financials - Annual & Proxy . 2022 . April 6, 2024.
  2. Web site: February 17, 2022 . The Chemours Company 2021 Annual Report (Form 10-K) .
  3. Web site: Chemours. Fortune. 2018-12-30. January 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200128155150/https://fortune.com/fortune500/chemours/. dead.
  4. Web site: The Teflon™ Brand and Continuous Innovation . 2024-01-01 . www.chemours.com . en.
  5. Web site: Brands and Products The Chemours Company . https://web.archive.org/web/20231221225440/https://www.chemours.com/en/brands-and-products . December 21, 2023 . 2024-01-01 . www.chemours.com . en.
  6. News: Casey . Simon . October 24, 2014 . DuPont to Spin Off Performance Chemicals Unit to Shareholders . . December 22, 2014.
  7. News: DuPont Names Planned Performance Chemicals Spinoff . Tess. Stynes . . December 18, 2014 . December 22, 2014.
  8. Tullo . Alexander H. . January 5, 2015 . DuPont Names Spin-off 'Chemours' . Chemical & Engineering News . American Chemical Society . 93 . 1 . 0009-2347 . 2022-08-28.
  9. DuPont Completes Spin-off of The Chemours Company . Wilmington, Del. . PRNewswire . July 1, 2015 . July 1, 2015.
  10. Information Statement The Chemours Company . The Chemours Company . June 17, 2015 . Cover, 2, 182, F-51.
  11. Web site: Otterbourg . Ken . Teflon's River of Fear . Fortune . 3 January 2020 . 2018-05-24.
  12. News: Mindock . Clark . 2023-06-02 . Chemical makers settle PFAS-related claims for $1.19 billion . en . Reuters . 2023-07-05.
  13. Web site: September 27, 2023 . Chemours handelde onrechtmatig met uitstoot van PFOA . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231019140648/https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/Organisatie/Rechtbanken/Rechtbank-Rotterdam/Nieuws/Paginas/Chemours-handelde-onrechtmatig-met-uitstoot-van-PFOA.aspx . October 19, 2023 . Rechtspraak.nl.
  14. Web site: Chemours probe centers on delaying payments as way to boost cash flow targets tied to incentive pay . Delaware Business Now! . Staff . March 6, 2024 . March 7, 2024 .
  15. Web site: Audit alleges CEO violated ethics to get a bigger bonus . Matthew . Korfhage . Delaware News Journal . March 7, 2024 . March 8, 2024.