# Denka > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Denka > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Denka.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denka > Source revision: 1332103398 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Japanese chemical company}} {{For|the sky god also known as ''Denka''|Deng (god)}} {{Infobox company |name = Denka Company Limited |type = [Public](/source/Public_Company) ([K.K](/source/Kabushiki_gaisha)) |traded_as = {{TYO|4061}}
[Nikkei 225 Component](/source/Nikkei_225) |ISIN = {{ISIN|sl=n|pl=y|JP3549600009}} |logo = Denka company logo.svg |logo_size = 200px |image = Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower.jpg |image_caption = Denka headquarters in the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower |image_size = 200px |foundation = [Tomakomai, Hokkaido](/source/Tomakomai%2C_Hokkaido), [Japan](/source/Japan) ({{start date and age|1915|5|1}}) |founder = Tsuneichi Fujiyama |location= [Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower](/source/Nihonbashi_Mitsui_Tower), 1-1, [Nihonbashi-Muromachi](/source/Muromachi%2C_Tokyo) 2-chome, [Chuo-ku](/source/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D%2C_Tokyo), [Tokyo](/source/Tokyo) 103-8338, Japan |key_people = Shinsuke Yoshitaka
([Chairman](/source/Chairman) and [CEO](/source/CEO))
Manabu Yamamoto
([President](/source/President_(corporate_title))) |num_employees = 5,944 (consolidated, as of March 31, 2018) |revenue = {{increase}} [JPY](/source/Japanese_yen) 395.6 billion ([FY](/source/Fiscal_year) 2017) ([US$](/source/US_dollar) 3.56 billion) (FY 2017) |net_income = {{increase}} JPY 23 billion (FY 2017) (US$ 207 million) (FY 2017) |industry = [Chemicals](/source/Chemical_industry) |products = {{ubl|Basic chemicals|[Agrochemical](/source/Agrochemical)s|[Petrochemical](/source/Petrochemical)s|[Pharmaceutical](/source/Pharmaceutical)s|[Construction materials](/source/Construction_materials)}} |homepage = {{Official website|http://www.denka.co.jp/eng/}} |footnotes= {{cite web|title=Company Overview|url=http://www.denka.co.jp/eng/corporate/overview.html|publisher=Denka Company Limited|access-date=October 8, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Companies/Denki-Kagaku-Kogyo-Kabushiki-Kaisha |title=Company Profile |work=[Nikkei Asian Review](/source/Nikkei_Asian_Review) |publisher=[Nikkei Inc.](/source/Nikkei_Inc.) |access-date=August 6, 2018 |archive-date=March 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317230837/https://asia.nikkei.com/Companies/Denki-Kagaku-Kogyo-Kabushiki-Kaisha |url-status=dead }} }} {{Nihongo|'''Denka Company Limited'''|デンカ株式会社|Denka Kabushiki-gaisha}}; formerly {{nihongo|Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha|電気化学工業株式会社}} is a [Japan](/source/Japan)ese [chemical company](/source/chemical_company), established in 1915, and headquartered in [Tokyo](/source/Tokyo), manufacturing organic and inorganic chemicals, cement, special cement additives, electronic component transfer materials and [food packaging](/source/food_packaging) materials. The company is listed on the [Tokyo Stock Exchange](/source/Tokyo_Stock_Exchange) and is a constituent of the [Nikkei 225](/source/Nikkei_225) [stock index](/source/stock_index).{{cite web|url=http://indexes.nikkei.co.jp/en/nkave/index/component?idx=nk225#07 |title=Components:Nikkei Stock Average |publisher=[Nikkei Inc.](/source/Nikkei_Inc.) |access-date=July 29, 2014}} ==History== In 1912, Tsuneichi Fujiyama founded a carbide business, '''Hokkai Carbide''', in Tomakomai, a village in Hokkaido. One year later, Fujiyama patented his own process of producing cyanamide, the continuous cyanamide process.{{cite book |first=Anthony S. |last=Travis |title=Nitrogen Capture: The Growth of an International Industry (1900–1940) |date=April 24, 2018 |publisher=[Springer Nature](/source/Springer_Nature) |isbn=978-3-319-68963-0 |page=85}} In 1913, Fujiyama with the help of 22 venture capitalists incorporated a reorganized Hokkai Carbide as Denki Kagaku Kogyo, the current company. Despite its legal status as an independent corporation, Denka was a [Mitsui](/source/Mitsui)-related company.{{cite book |first=Barbara |last=Molony |title=Technology and Investment: The Prewar Japanese Chemical Industry |year=1990 |publisher=[Harvard University Asia Center](/source/Harvard_University_Asia_Center) |isbn=978-0-674-87260-8 |page=141}} The company changed its name from Denki Kagaku Kogyo to Denka Company Limited 2015.{{cite web |url=https://biooekonomie.de/nachrichten/japanische-denka-kauft-hallenser-icon-genetics |title=Japanische Denka kauft Hallenser Icon Genetics |date=August 25, 2017 |work=Bioökonomie.de |language=de |publisher=[Federal Ministry of Education and Research](/source/Federal_Ministry_of_Education_and_Research_(Germany)) |trans-title=Japanese Denka buys Icon Genetics |access-date=August 6, 2018}} == Pontchartrain Works == [DuPont](/source/DuPont) constructed the Pontchartrain Works facility in [Reserve, Louisiana](/source/Reserve%2C_Louisiana) as a [adiponitrile](/source/adiponitrile) plant in 1968, then added [neoprene](/source/neoprene), and eventually exclusively produced neoprene. By 2011 DuPont was considering selling the plant as they were aware of [chloroprene](/source/chloroprene) emissions, which are classified as "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" by the EPA. The company sold the plant to Denka in 2015, but DuPont still owns the land.{{Cite web |title=Revealed: chemicals giant sold Louisiana plant amid fears over cost of offsetting toxic emissions |author=Oliver Laughland |work=the Guardian |date=17 February 2021 |access-date=2 June 2025 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/17/revealed-chemicals-dupont-giant-sold-louisiana-plant-fears-offsetting-toxic-emissions}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisiana-reserve-history-slavery|title=First slavery, then a chemical plant and cancer deaths: one town's brutal history|last1=Laughland|first1=Oliver|date=2019-05-06|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-05-07|last2=Lartey|first2=Jamiles|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/national-air-toxics-assessment/2014-national-air-toxics-assessment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017101926/https://www.epa.gov/national-air-toxics-assessment/2014-national-air-toxics-assessment|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2018|title=2014 National Air Toxics Assessment|last=US EPA|first=OAR|date=2018-07-09|website=US EPA|language=en|access-date=2019-05-06|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news |last1=Russell |first1=Gordon |last2=The Times-Picayune |last3=The Advocate |title=In "Cancer Alley," Toxic Polluters Face Little Oversight From Environmental Regulators |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/in-cancer-alley-toxic-polluters-face-little-oversight-from-environmental-regulators |access-date=25 December 2019 |publisher=[ProPublica](/source/ProPublica) |date=19 December 2019}} Up to 755 times the safe air value of 0.2 μg/m3 of chloroprene has been recorded at the fifth ward elementary school in close proximity to the plant. The cancer risk in Reserve is 1,500 times the national average and is thought to be due to chloroprene levels. Denka voluntarily agreed to reduce its emissions in 2017, though chloroprene emissions remained above the 0.2 μg/m3 level.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report|title='Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer'|last1=Lartey|first1=Jamiles|work=The Guardian|date=2019-05-06|access-date=2019-05-06|last2=Laughland|first2=Oliver|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|df=mdy-all}} In February 2023, the US Justice Department sued Denka for violating the [Clean Air Act](/source/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)) and endangering public health.{{Cite web |title=US justice department sues two companies over pollution in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' |author=Oliver Laughland |work=the Guardian |date=28 February 2023 |access-date=2 June 2025 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/28/us-justice-department-lawsuit-cancer-alley-louisiana-dupont-denka}} The EPA under the Biden administration created a rule to limit pollution of ethylene oxide and chloroprene in 2024. Denka's facility is the only chloroprene emitter in the US.{{Cite web |title=New rule mandates 200 US plants to reduce toxic emissions linked to cancer |author1=Aliya Uteuova |author2=Oliver Laughland |work=the Guardian |date=9 April 2024 |access-date=2 June 2025 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/09/epa-chemical-plants-rules |quote=i }} In March 2025, the Justice Department under the Trump administration dismissed the suit, referencing [Executive Order 14151](/source/Executive_Order_14151), stating it fell under [diversity, equity, and inclusion](/source/diversity%2C_equity%2C_and_inclusion) and was "advancing ideological priorities".{{Cite web |title=Justice Department Dismisses Suit Against Denka, Delivering on President Trump's Mandate to End Radical DEI Programs |author= |work=justice.gov |date=7 March 2025 |access-date=2 June 2025 |url= https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-dismisses-suit-against-denka-delivering-president-trumps-mandate-end |quote=The dismissal fulfills President Trump’s day one executive order, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and PreferencingLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link.,” signed to eliminate ideological overreach and restore impartial enforcement of federal laws. Concurrently, EPA withdrew its referral of the case to the Justice Department to align with Administrator Lee Zeldin’s pledge to end the use of “environmental justice” as a tool for advancing ideological priorities. }} Denka temporarily suspended operations the facility in May 2025 after reporting an "extraordinary loss" in company earnings.{{Cite web |title=Louisiana: controversial Denka plant suspends production after dire losses |author=Oliver Laughland |work=the Guardian |date=13 May 2025 |access-date=2 June 2025 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/louisiana-denka-plant-cancer-alley}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Japan|Chemistry|Engineering|Companies}} * [http://www.denka.co.jp/eng/ Denka official site] {{in lang|en}} * [https://www.denka.co.kr/ Denka Korea] (in Korean) {{Nikkei 225}} {{Authority control}} Category:Chemical companies based in Tokyo Category:Cement companies of Japan Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Category:Companies in the Nikkei 225 Category:Chemical companies established in 1915 Category:Japanese companies established in 1915 Category:Mitsui Category:Japanese brands {{Japan-manufacturing-company-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Denka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denka) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denka?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.