Chlor-Alkali Holdings

Chlor-Alkali Holdings is the holding company of the three trading divisions Walvis Bay Salt Refiners, Botswana Ash and NCP Chlorchem.

Walvis Bay Salt Refiners is the major supplier of industrial salt to the chlor-alkali industry and also produces household salt for the southern African market.

NCP Chlorchem is based at Chloorkop, South Africa and is structured into two business units:

Chlor-Alkali:
The supplier of commodity chlor-alkali products such as bulk chlorine, caustic lye and hydrochloric acid;

Specialities:
The supplier of specialised water treatment chemicals including packed chlorine, inorganic and organic flocculants.

Although Chlor-Alkali Holdings has only been in existence since 2002, it has a history that dates back to 1942 when the South African and British governments built the first chlor-alkali plant at Chloorkop as a joint initiative. From 1950 it was known as KOP (Klipfontein Organic Products), which focused on supplying agricultural chemicals to the developing agricultural market. In 1967 Sentrachem was established with KOP as one of the founder members. The ensuing decades saw a gradual shift from agricultural chemicals to water treatment chemicals. Aquachlor was established in 1973 as a joint venture with Olin to manufacture HTHÒ, the leading brand swimming pool product. This was followed by Ultrafloc in 1994, introducing a range of flocculants. During this period, KOP was merged with NCP to become one of the largest divisions of Sentrachem.

Following the acquisition of Sentrachem by the Dow Chemical company in 1997, Sentrachem was unbundled, which offered the opportunity to once again privatise the company. The company has developed a new spirit of entrepreneurship and drive to expand and grow into one of the major chemical companies in South Africa.