Arkema was launched on October 1, 2004, as a result of the reorganization of Total's chemicals business. Arkema has tremendous potential and counts on the experience and expertise of its 18,600 employees worldwide to create a company of innovation, growth and performance.

To see the evolution of Arkema Inc., click on a date on the interactive timeline below.

	1850-1899
1850	Company organized by five Philadelphia Quakers and incorporated as The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company.
1860	Pennsylvania Salt shipped 500 barrels of oil to London, the first refined petroleum exported from the U.S.
1898	Theodore Armstrong, one of the principals in the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, purchased the "Wyandotte" property in Riverview, MI for an operating facility. Underneath that 100-acre property lay salt deposits, estimated large enough to supply 180,000 tons a year for 150 years. The first product manufactured at this facility was caustic soda (lye) and chlorine was a byproduct. Salt was also mined and sold to the meatpacking industry. Back to Top
	1900-1949
1908	Goldschmidt Detinning Company formed.
1911	Home of the Wire Mills Production Department, the Homer, NY plant of R. H. Miller Company began operations. (Pennwalt acquired R. H. Miller in 1967.)
1918	Goldschmidt Detinning changed its name to Metals and Thermit Company.
1925	Ozark-Mahoning Company started its Fluorine Specialties plant in Tulsa, OK.
1929	Pennsylvania Salt opened its caustic soda and liquid chlorine plant in Tacoma, WA.
1940	In Monrovia, CA, Pennsylvania Salt began manufacturing post-harvest agrichemicals. Pennsylvania Salt acquired the Cornwell Heights, PA plant. A division of the Rohm and Haas Company began manufacturing Plexiglas® acrylic resins in Bristol, PA. (In October 1992, Rohm and Haas and Elf Atochem S.A. became partners in the AtoHaas joint venture for the manufacture of Plexiglas acrylics. In 1998, Elf Atochem became sole owner of the Plexiglas business.) Pennsylvania Salt constructed a plant in Portland, OR to produce chlorates and commodity chemicals.
1949	Pennsylvania Salt's new plant in Calvert City, KY was completed and began making hydrofluoric acid. Back to Top
	1950-1959
1952	Pennsylvania Salt began operations in the Houston, TX area.
1953	A plant in Memphis, TN began manufacturing hydrogen peroxide, with a capacity of 14 million pounds per year. (Elf Atochem North America, Inc., purchased the facility from DuPont in 1998.) Pennsylvania Salt's Geneseo, NY facility, currently manufacturing a wide range of organic peroxides, began operations in the Livingston County area of Western New York.
1954	Pennsylvania Salt's Chemical Specialties Division plant opened in Delaware, OH.
1955	Pennsylvania Salt acquired a major interest in Index Chemical Company of Houston, the first U.S. company to produce ethyl and methyl mercaptans, as well as other synthetic organic sulfur compounds for commercial sales.
1956-1958	Pennsylvania Salt entered the refrigeration and aerosol propellant fields. Two new Forane® chlorofluorocarbon plants were constructed in Calvert City, KY.
1957	Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company changed its name to Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation. Sodium chlorate plant expanded at Portland, OR. Metals & Thermit Company opened its zircon milling plant in Andrews, SC.
1958	Pennsalt constructed a plant in Portland, OR for production of ammonium perchlorate for solid propellant used in missiles. The company also increased hydrofluoric acid facilities in Calvert City, KY by 50% and began its industrial lubricants operations in Oakville, Ontario. Metals & Thermit Company opened a plant in Carrollton, KY producing organotin chemicals. Back to Top
	1960-1965
1960	Pennsalt entered plastics field with development of Kynar® polyvinylidene fluoride resin.
1961	Production facilities for organic sulfur chemicals expanded at Pennsalt's Houston, TX plant. Pennsalt's technical service laboratories were transferred to King of Prussia, PA with completion of the first unit of a new $9 million Technology Center.
1962	Metals & Thermit changed its name to M&T Chemicals.
1963	Seven buildings at Pennsalt's King of Prussia, PA Technology Center completed. Technical Division transferred operations from Whitemarsh Laboratories. Pennsalt declared dividend on common stock for 100th consecutive year.
1965	Pennsalt completed plant for production of Kynar® polyvinylide fluoride resin at Calvert City, KY. Racon, Inc., began refrigerant manufacturing operations in Wichita, KS. (In 1989, Elf Atochem purchased Racon, Inc.) Back to Top
	1966-1969
1966	Two Pennsalt specialty resin units located within the Equistar Chemicals complex in Channelview, TX began production of SMA® resins. (Production of Poly bd® resins began at the same complex in 1971.)
1967	Pennsalt acquired R. H. Miller, Homer, NY a leading supplier of wire drawing lubricants.
1968	The Rohm and Haas Company began manufacturing Plexiglas® acrylic resins in Louisville, KY. (In October 1992, Rohm and Haas and Elf Atochem S.A. became partners in the AtoHaas joint venture for the manufacture of Plexiglas acrylics. In 1998, Elf Atochem became sole owner of the Plexiglas business.)
1969	Wallace and Tiernan, Inc., merged into Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation. Corporate name changed to Pennwalt Corporation. Viking Chemical Company began operation of the epoxidized resin plant in Blooming Prairie, MN. (M&T Chemicals acquired Viking in 1987.) Back to Top
	1970-1975
1970	Pennwalt moved its corporate headquarters to new building at Three Parkway in Philadelphia.
1971	Rilsan Industrial, Inc., a subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine, opened a new plant in Birdsboro, PA for the production of nylon II. Pennwalt opened a new plant for production of low-temperature polymerization initiators in Geneseo, NY.
1972	A major expansion of Pennwalt's Houston mercaptan plant was completed.
1974	Pennwalt acquired Ozark-Mahoning, Tulsa, OK the largest producer of fluorspar in the U.S. and manufacturer of fluorine-bearing specialties.
1975	Plant for production of methyl and ethyl mercaptans completed at Beaumont, TX making Pennwalt the world's leading producer of these chemical intermediates. The industry's first continuous process for the manufacture of peroxydicarbonates started at Pennwalt's plant in Geneseo, NY. Pennwalt formed an Thio & Fine Chemicals division in recognition of the growing sales specialization needed to penetrate vital growth markets. The Rohm and Haas Company began manufacturing Plexiglas® acrylic resins in Kensington, CT. (In October 1992, Rohm and Haas and Elf Atochem S.A. became partners in the AtoHaas joint venture for the manufacture of Plexiglas acrylics. In 1998, Elf Atochem became sole owner of the Plexiglas business.) Back to Top
	1976-1979
1977	M&T Chemicals, Inc., was acquired by Elf Aquitaine.
1978	Pennwalt announced plans for a new 10-million-pound continuous process peroxyester facility at Crosby, TX. Plant completed in 1979. New mercaptan plants at Beaumont, TX and at the Pennwalt Holland B.V. subsidiary were completed.
1979	Pennwalt reached billion-dollar mark in sales on December 6. Back to Top
	1980-1985
1981	Pennwalt's Geneseo, NY plant expanded, doubling the capacity of retone peroxides used in the manufacture of polyester plastics. M&T Chemicals, Inc., opened its Mobile, AL plant to manufacture plastic additives.
1984	Elf Aquitaine formed Atochem, Inc., a maker of industrial and specialty chemicals. Back to Top
	1986-1989
1986	Elf Atochem S.A. and Air Liquide S.A. began hydrogen peroxide operations in Becancour, Quebec, Canada as Oxychem Canada, Inc. (In 1998, Elf Atochem Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Elf Atochem North America, Inc., became sole owner of the Becancour plant.)
1987	A division of the Rohm and Haas Company began manufacturing Plexiglas® acrylic sheets in Matamoros, Mexico. (In October 1992, Rohm and Haas and Elf Atochem S.A. became partners in the AtoHaas joint venture for the manufacture of Plexiglas acrylics. In 1998, Elf Atochem became sole owner of the Plexiglas business.)
1988	Centaur Partners attempted a hostile takeover of Pennwalt.
1989	Atochem, Inc. purchased Racon, Inc., operator of a Wichita, KS refrigerants plant. Elf Aquitaine initiates friendly tender offer for Pennwalt. Atochem North America, Inc., was formed on December 31 as a result of the merger of Pennwalt Corporation, M&T Chemicals, and Atochem, Inc. Back to Top
	1990-1999
1991	M&T Harshaw was formed as a 60/40 joint venture between Atochem and Englehard Corporation in the metal plating business.
1992	Name of company changed from Atochem North America, Inc., to Elf Atochem North America, Inc. AtoHaas was formed as a global joint venture between Elf Atochem S.A. and Rohm and Haas for the production and sale of acrylic and polycarbonate sheet products and acrylic molding resins. Elf Atochem acquired Englehard's interest in the M&T Harshaw joint venture and Schering's metal plating business. These businesses were combined to form Atotech. Oxychem Canada, Inc., Elf Atochem's joint venture with Air Liquide at Becancour, Quebec is renamed Chemprox Chemical, Inc.
1993	Elf Atochem North America moved its headquarters from 3 Parkway to 2000 Market Street in Philadelphia. Elf Atochem North America completed the multi-purpose unit (MPU) facility at the Crosby, TX plant.
1997	Elf Atochem North America completed construction of its largest plant for the manufacture of Forane® 134a refrigerant in Calvert City, KY.
1998	Elf Atochem S.A. acquired Rohm and Haas' share of AtoHaas. The new division was named Atoglas and continued operations at the Bristol, Kensington, Louisville, and Matamoros plants. Elf Atochem acquired Air Liquide's share of the hydrogen peroxide joint venture in Becancour, Quebec, Canada. Plant is now totally owned by ATOFINA Canada Inc., a subsidiary of ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc. Elf Atochem purchased DuPont's 70,000 tpa hydrogen peroxide plant in Memphis, TN.
1999	TotalFina S.A. acquired 95% of the shares of Elf Aquitaine. Elf Atochem North America, Inc., announces the creation of ATO Portland.
2000	Totalfina and Elf Aquitaine were reorganized to form TotalFinaElf, the world's fourth largest oil company. The chemical operations were combined to create ATOFINA, and Elf Atochem North America became, ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc. ATOFINA Worldwide is the fifth largest chemical company in the world. LithChem acquires Ozark-Mahoning Inorganic Fluorine compounds business from ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc. Cornwells Heights, PA plant and laboratory closes. ATOFINA Chemicals organizes Elf Atochem Agrichemicals as independent subsidiary to be named Cerexagri. Back to Top
2001	Sartomer acquires SMA® and Poly bd® resins. Henkel acquires Metals & Aviation, along with the Homer, NY and Delaware, OH plants. ATOFINA Chemicals suspends operations at Portland plant. Kaufman Holdings acquires Lubricants Division of ATOFINA Canada. Grupo Industrial Trebol acquires Ceramic Opacifiers business, along with the Andrews, SC plant. Back to Top
2003	TotalFinaElf changes its name to Total. Back to Top
2004	Total announces plan to spinoff Atofina chemical business.
	Total Unveils new name for Atofina: Arkema Back to Top
2006	Arkema Inc. announces increased production capacity for its line of Vikoflex® epoxidized oils at its Blooming Prairie, Minnesota facility.
	Arkema announces $45 million investment for a Fluorochemicals plant at its Calvert City facility in the United States. Back to Top
2007	Arkema finalizes sale of Cerexagri, which specializes in the formulation and production of plant protection products, to the Indian company United Phosphorus Limited (UPL).
	Arkema announces the sale to Taminco of its Specialty Amines activity produced in the Riverview (Michigan) facility. Back to Top