The History of Jacobi

The Jacobi Group was founded in 1916 by Ferdinand Adolph Wilhelm Jacobi. A German emigrant from Bremen, Mr. Jacobi set the pace for the company’s future global expansion in the chemical industry through the entire 20th century. From these humble roots, Jacobi Carbons has grown to one of the world’s largest activated carbon companies, celebrating several significant milestones along the way:

1916

The Jacobi Group was founded by Ferdinand Adolph Wilhelm Jacobi. A German emigrant from Bremen, Mr. Jacobi set the pace for the company’s future global expansion in the chemical industry through the entire 20th century.

1965

The company enters the activated carbon business as a distribution partner for Bayer, Germany. At this point in time, the carbon industry was still in its infancy, and most of our business was in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries.

1984

It was time for Ferdinand’s grandson (Anders Jacobi) to take over the helm and under his command the company grew its activities dramatically, not only in activated carbon, but also in other related chemical products.

1987

Jacobi Carbons established its initial contacts in China and rapidly developed the first major investment of any western company in the activated carbon business.

1996

Jacobi Carbons Ltd subsidiary in the United Kingdom is opened.

1997

Jacobi Carbons GmbH subsidiary in Germany is opened.

1999

A management buyout of Jacobi Carbons from the Jacobi Group is completed.

2001

Jacobi Carbons, Inc. (North America) subsidiary opens in Philadelphia, PA.

2003

The company establishes its own facility in Tianjin, China.

Jacobi introduces its Resinex™ brand of ion exchange resins, launching the brand in the softening market in the USA and Europe.

2004

Jacobi Carbons (Asia) Sdn Bhd opens in Malaysia to cater to the growing market in Asia.

2005

Jacobi breaks ground for a new state-of-the-art, 100% wholly owned coconut shell carbon plant in Sri Lanka. The 5000 MT per year plant is the first major “Greenfield” expansion in the coconut shell carbon market in over 10 years.

2008

Jacobi Carbons AG subsidiary in Switzerland opens to cater to South Europe and Africa/Middle East.

Jacobi Lanka expands capacity to a total of 9 000 MT.

2009

Jacobi Carbons India opens what is to become the world’s largest coconut shell carbon plant in Coimbatore, India with an annual capacity of 16 000 MT per year, propelling Jacobi to the top spot in the world in the coconut shell activated carbon space.

Jacobi Carbons (Europe) GmbH establishes operations outside of Berlin, Germany, to provide reactivation services using a state-of-the art plant with an installed capacity of 8000 MT per year.

2011

Jacobi Carbons acquires PICA SASU, a leading activated carbon supplier based in France. This acquisition adds facilities in France, Vietnam, and the United States to Jacobi’s manufacturing base, and expands the company’s customer and product base.

Jacobi announces the formation of Nova Carbons India Pvt Ltd., further growing the company’s manufacturing footprint in India.

The company’s Resinex™ division is reorganized as a standalone business unit, enhancing the quality and the delivery of high performance ion exchange resins.

2014

Jacobi Carbons is acquired by Osaka Gas Chemicals Co., Ltd. (“Osaka Gas Chemicals”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd (“Osaka Gas”). Combined with Osaka Gas Chemicals’ existing subsidiary Japan EnviroChemicals, Ltd (“JEC”), the company becomes the second largest activated carbon company in the world.

2015

Jacobi Carbons opens its newest production facility at Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, adding an additional 20,000 MT of annual capacity and providing production flexibility and assurance of supply to Jacobi’s customer base.

2016

Jacobi establishes a Reactivation Center in Calatayud, Spain.

2017

Jacobi establishes an office in Dubai to serve the Middle Eastern market.

2017

Jacobi establishes an office in Istanbul, Turkey to serve the Turkish market.

2018

Jacobi establishes an office in Moscow, Russia to serve the Russian & CIS markets.

Finex x Jacobi

2020

Jacobi acquires Finex Oy to add to manufacturing of specialist ion exchange resins.