Elkem Celebrates Anniversary

Started in 1904 as the Norwegian Stock Company for Electrochemical Industry, today’s Elkem is a leading provider of silicon-based materials with 7,300 employees globally. Elkem notes that the year 2024 also marks the 200^th anniversary of when silicon was first isolated and described as an element by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius. Best known for its semiconductor characteristics, silicon is the second most abundant chemical element in the earth’s crust behind only oxygen. The element is not found alone in nature, however, typically being derived from quartz or quartzite, which it forms in conjunction with oxygen.

Elkem notes that around three grams of its high-purity silicon can be found inside most of the world’s smartphones, with additional advanced silicones from the company also present in more than 2 million electric vehicles globally.

Recent milestones for the company include the integration of a chemical business in France in 2015; the addition of two plants in China in 2017; and being listed again on the Oslo Stock Exchange from 2018. Today, the company has more than 550 employees working in research and development, with new products introduced in the past five years representing more than 20% of its turnover.