30-01-2013, 10:13 AM
DSM (company)
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History
DSM was established in 1902 as a state-owned coal mining company. Through the years the company diversified into fertilizers and other chemicals. After 1965, when the decision was taken to phase out the mining operations, this diversification was accelerated. By the time the last mine closed (in 1973), DSM had transformed into a chemical company.
In 1989 DSM was privatized and its shares were floated on the stock exchange. In 1998 the company merged with the Dutch food products and biotechnology group Gist-brocades. In 2000 it acquired the US company Catalytica Pharmaceuticals. In 2002 DSM sold its petrochemical division (naphtha crackers and polyolefin plants) to SABIC of Saudi Arabia. In 2003, DSM acquired the nutritional products business (including vitamins) of Roche. In 2005 NeoResins, the coating resins business of Avecia was purchased. In 2010 the Agro and Melamine business groups were sold to Orascom Construction Industries.
Name
The name DSM is the acronym of the English translation of the company's original Dutch name, De Nederlandse Staatsmijnen (Dutch State Mines). In 1973, after the last mine was closed, the company decided to carry the acronym as its name.
Company information
DSM's end markets include human and animal nutrition and health, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, coatings and paint, electrical and electronics, life protection and housing. DSM has annual net sales of about €8 billion[2] and employs some 22,700 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations on five continents. DSM is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
Activities
DSM's activities are grouped into five clusters: Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Performance Materials, Polymer Intermediates and Base Chemicals and Materials.[3]
The Nutrition cluster comprises DSM Nutritional Products and DSM Food Specialties. These nutrition and food ingredients businesses serve the food, feed, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The nutrition cluster has customized formulation activities in more than 44 locations and a marketing/sales presence reaching over 60 countries. Manufacturing technologies in the Nutrition cluster are largely based on biotechnology, fermentation, chemical process technology and particle engineering.
The Pharmaceuticals cluster comprises the business groups DSM Pharmaceutical Products and DSM Anti-Infectives. DSM is a leading independent supplier to the pharmaceutical industry. Many of today’s medicines around the world contain ingredients produced by DSM. DSM Anti-Infectives is one of the few penicillin producers outside of China.
The Performance Materials cluster comprises the business groups DSM Engineering Plastics, DSM Dyneema and DSM Resins. The business groups’ products are used in a wide variety of end-use markets: the automotive industry, the aviation industry, the electrical and electronics industry, the sports and leisure industries, the paint and coatings industry and the construction industry.
The Polymer Intermediates cluster consists of DSM Fibre Intermediates. DSM Fibre Intermediates produces caprolactam and acrylonitrile, which are raw materials for synthetic fibers and engineering plastics. Other products include ammonium sulfate (a fertilizer), diaminobutane, sodium cyanide and cyclohexanone.
The Base Chemicals and Materials cluster consists of DSM Elastomers. DSM Elastomers manufactures synthetic rubbers (EPDM) for use in cars and other transportation vehicles, white goods, various industrial products and construction materials and as motor-oil additives. In December 2010 DSM announced it was to complete its divestment program with the sale of DSM Elastomers to LANXESS. The intended sale is expected to close in early 2011. With this sale DSM's Base Chemicals and Materials cluster will cease to exist.
Business groups
DSM Nutritional Products is the world's largest supplier of nutritional ingredients, such as vitamins, carotenoids (antioxidants and pigments), enzymes, other biochemicals and fine chemicals and premixes for humans and animals. Its main customers are feed, food, beverage, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical, personal care and flavor/fragrance companies.
DSM Food Specialties is a manufacturer of food enzymes, cultures, yeast extracts and other specialty ingredients for the global food and beverage industries. DSM Food Specialties supplies advanced ingredients for the food industry, mainly manufactured with the aid of fermentation and enzyme technology, among other technologies. These ingredients are found in well-known food brands for the dairy, baking, fruit juice, beer, wine, savory and functional food segments.
DSM Pharmaceutical Products provides custom contract manufacturing and development services to the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Customers are serviced from five manufacturing sites in the United States and Europe. These customers include pharmaceutical companies and agrochemical multinationals as well as a large number of biotech, specialty and emerging companies across the globe.