Calgon Carbon Corporation

This Calgon wants to take impurities in water and air away. Calgon Carbon makes activated carbons and purification systems and offers purification, separation, and concentration services to industrial process and environmental markets. It operates through three segments: Activated Carbon and Service, Equipment, and Consumer. Its Activated Carbon and Service unit makes granular and powdered activated carbon to remove organic compounds from water, air, and gases. The Equipment unit designs and installs carbon adsorption systems for use at treatment sites, including equipment to control odors at waste treatment plants. Its Consumer unit makes Zorflex carbon cloth, sold to medical, military, and specialty markets.

Calgon Carbon operates in a geographically diverse array of markets, and almost half of the company's sales come from outside the US. Its strategy is to maintain its global coverage while developing or acquiring products and services that complement its existing portfolio.

The company reported net sales of $482.3 million for fiscal 2010, an increase of about 17% over the previous year's at $411.9 million. Net income for the year, however, was down at $34.9 million, compared to $39.2 million in 2009. The company attributed the decline to a planned increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses, as well as non-recurring charges. The 2010 results included a $12 million charge related to settlements of lawsuits and environmental related matters, including a $7.2 million settlement with ADA-ES over a contract dispute. That year Calgon Carbon noted that its recent acquisitions contributed $45 million to its sales during their first year with the company.

In 2010 it acquired Hyde Marine, a maker of ultraviolet light technology systems for eliminating harmful organisms in marine ballast water. The company also completed its acquisitions of Zwicky Denmark and Sweden, which distributed its carbon and service products in northern Europe. In a move to consolidate its market position, that year Calgon Carbon increased its ownership of joint venture Calgon Carbon Japan from partner Mitsubishi Chemical to an 80% share to take control of the operation. It acquired the rest of the venture in 2011, taking full ownership.

For 2011 the company expects to see improved profit margins from not only its traditional businesses but also its expansions in Asia and Latin America. The company has a contract to supply 2.9 million pounds of granular activated carbon (GAC) to a municipal water treatment facility in Wuxi City in China's Jiangsu Provice. It also has a GAC contract for sugar purification in India. In Latin America the company forged an alliance with an activated carbon reactivator in Mexico and planned to found a subsidiary in Brazil. In Europe the company is increasing capacity at its facility in Feluy, Belgium, which it bills as the world's largest reactivation plant. Calgon Carbon also has a leased reactivation plant in New York, as well as reactivation facilities in California and Ohio.

All of the company's activated carbon manufacturing plants are in the US except for a facility in Datong, China, and all are operating at full capacity. The company expects demand for activated carbon to increase by approximately 40%, or 1 billion pounds, by 2017.