History

Construction of the Vallée de la Chimie industrial pole and the existing Kem One production site in Saint-Fons (France)

Construction of production sites at Saint-Auban and Fos-sur-Mer (France)

Construction of the Hernani production site (Spain)

Construction of the Lavéra production site (France)

Construction of the Aquitaine Plastique plant, the current production site in Balan (France)

Purchase of land and drilling of the first wells at the Vauvert (France) salt extraction site, for the production of soda and chlorine, then used to produce VCM*.

Creation of Arkema, following the reorganisation of the Total group's chemicals branch. Kem One's current activities are developed within Arkema's Vinyl Products segment.

On July 2, Arkema sold its vinyls business to the Klesh group.

Creation of Kem One, head office in Lyon (69), 7 production sites in France and 1 in Spain. Kem One, fully integrated into the vinyls industry, has become the 2nd largest PVC producer in Europe.

The company is placed in receivership by the Lyon Commercial Court. The company will emerge from receivership in 2018, 6 years ahead of schedule.

In February, Alain de Krassny, a French industrialist, bought the company and became President of Kem One. An ambitious investment and modernisation plan is being implemented

Industrial modernisation: start-up of a new membrane electrolysis unit. This is the best technology available on the market for significantly reducing electricity and gas consumption, and consequently the company's environmental impact (around 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year).

Product innovation:launch and first sales of the MK68F mass PVC grade. This new grade offers greater flexibility for the same application and requires fewer additives than its suspension PVC equivalent.

• Sale of Kem One to US investment fund Apollo Global Management
• Publication of the first Kem One CSR report
• Product innovation: launch of the first pre-consumer recycled PVC for general use (ReMPVC, UL certified in 2023) and a tin-free post-chlorinated PVC.Find out more about these more sustainable products:  KEMAIA

• Kem One celebrates its 10th anniversary with all its 1,400 employees
• Record production and financial results: over €1.5 billion in sales
• Commissioning of a new ethylene storage tank (raw material for the manufacture of VCM*) at the Fos-sur-Mer site. This tank has the 2nd largest capacity in Southern Europe.
• New corporate strategy - vision 2030

• Two hybrid (diesel-electric) bargesput into service to transport VCM* on the Rhône between two Kem One production sites. The company is the first shipper on the Rhône to green its fleet, reducing CO2 emissions by 2,000 tonnes a year. WATCH THE BARGE LAUNCH VIDÉO
• All the company's production sites are ISCC+ (International  Sustainability & Carbone certification) certified.
• Sale of the first tonnes of bio-attributed PVC. Read the KEMAIA page to find out more information. 

• Launch of Kemaia: a range of products with an improved environmental footprint. Find out more: KEMAIA
• CSR strategy: deployment of the strategy developed jointly with employees 
• Single certification of all Kem One production sites :ISO 9001 quality, ISO 14001 environment and ISO 45001 safety

*VCM: vinyl chloride monomer, produced by Kem One and then polymerised to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC).