The Antwerp factory

The development of the location in Belgium in the 1970's progressed rapidly. After only 18 months in construction, the first production facility of Degussa Antwerpen N.V. went into operation on April 3, 1970. The reason for establishing a large new production location outside Germany was the increased demand for the important products hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching and oxidation agent, the bleaching agent sodium perborate and AEROSIL, which among other things optimizes the properties of paints, pastes, powders and dyes.

The new start in the Flemish port was at the same time a return to an old stamping ground. As far back as 1887, Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt (Degussa AG since 1980 and predecessor of the Chemicals Business Area of Evonik) together with Frankfurter Metallgesellschaft AG had founded the Usine de Désargentation S.A. in Hoboken near Antwerp. This joint venture de-silverized and refined lead ores from the Spanish town of Mazaron. As a result of the Second World War this Degussa location was destroyed.

The new production site, covering a total of 110 hectares, was created in October 1968 on an artificially reclaimed island between the Schelde and Antwerp, Europe's second largest industrial port. Silt was used to raise the site by six to nine meters. The Antwerp location also placed Degussa at the heart of the competition geographically. Home to BASF, Bayer, Solvay, DOW and other chemical and petrochemical companies, Antwerp is Europe's most important chemicals location and the world's second largest after Houston, Texas.

Degussa forged ahead with the development of other products at the new location. When Degussa Antwerpen N.V. was officially opened on October 7, 1970, further plants producing AEROSIL, sodium perborate, hydrogen peroxide and cyanuric chloride (a raw material needed among other things for intermediate products in plastic synthesis), were already up and running.

In the following years, the production facilities were expanded further and further and new ones were added. In 1974, the production centre for feed additives in the methionine product group was put into operation; One year later, the production facilities for silicon tetrachloride, a raw material for the production of silica, and triazine (including as a raw material for crop protection products) were put into operation. In the same year, a new flame tube plant was built for the production of AEROSIL.

In July 1976, Degussa Antwerpen N.V. began producing the organosilane Si 69, an important additive in the rubber industry that optimizes the material properties of car tires and technical rubber articles, for example.

After a planning and construction period of less than a year, the first plant for pressure hydrogenation was put into operation in 19780, which produces, among other things, 1,2,6 hexanetriol, a straight-chain polyalcohol that is required as a raw material for various plastics. This was followed in 1982 by the expansion of the production facilities in Antwerp with the construction of a nicotinic acid amide plant in which B3 vitamins for human medicine and as feed additives are produced. In 1993, Degussa Antwerpen N.V. founded its own research and development department. Among all chemical companies based in Antwerp, this was a unique initiative that underlines the global nature of research and development activities.

The infrastructure was significantly expanded in Antwerp in 1995 with the construction of a large hydrogen peroxide fuel depot with its own pier and pipeline. In 1996, the construction of another production plant for the organosilane Si 69 began, which was put into operation in September of the same year. Degussa thus increased its capacity in the field of organosilanes to 12,000 metric tons per year worldwide.

From the year 2000 onwards, the site is continuously expanded by the expansion of existing plants and the construction of new ones. The expansion is reflected in the growth in the number of employees. The new location began operations in 1969/70 with around 400 employees. In 2024, almost 1,100 employees worked there.

Antwerp is one of Evonik Industries' most important international subsidiaries.