Our Story
The Marl Chemical Park story begins on May 9, 1938. As part of the four-year plan of the government at that time, IG Farbenindustrie AG and the mining company Hibernia AG participated in the founding of Chemische Werke Hüls GmbH.
The Marl site was designed to produce the fundamental raw material needed for tire manufacturing: synthetic rubber.
During the postwar “Economic Miracle,” following a period of production bans and decommissioning, the plant evolved into a world-class company with new product lines – managed by VEBA AG beginning in 1979.
The 1970s also saw the rise of C4 chemistry in Marl. We have been producing C4 chemicals here for more than 50 years. That experience has allowed us to build a cross-site production network that is the only one of its kind in the world. At our two independent, networked production sites in Marl and Antwerp, we produce around two million tons of raw material each year. That corresponds to five tank wagons an hour.
The two production sites in Marl and Antwerp were significantly expanded in 2015. We also introduced an innovative, one-of-a-kind process at our C4 plant in Marl. With this technology we can now handle material flows from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes as well. The innovation allowed us to further solidify our position as a technology leader.