 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: SCL S&P 600 Component | |
| Industry | Chemicals |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founders | Alfred C. Stepan, Jr.[1] |
| Headquarters | |
| Revenue |  US$1.925 billion(2017)[2] |
| US$146.2 million(2017)[2] | |
| US$91.6 million(2017)[2] | |
| Total assets | US$1.471 billion(2017)[2] |
| Total equity | US$741.1 million(2017)[2] |
Number of employees | 2,096(2017)[2] |
| Website | www |
Stepan Company is an American manufacturer ofspecialty chemicals headquartered inNorthbrook, Illinois. The company was founded in 1932 by Alfred C. Stepan, Jr.,[1] and has approximately 2,000 employees. It is currently run by his grandson, F. Quinn Stepan, Jr. The company describes itself as the largest global merchant manufacturer ofanionicsurfactants, which are used to enhance the foaming and cleaning capabilities of detergents, shampoos, toothpastes, and cosmetics.[3]
In its earliest days, Stepan Company was just Alfred C. Stepan Jr., who began distributing chemical products to control road dust on country roads in Illinois. His first location was a rented desk at Chicago’s North Pier Terminal.[4]
Stepan produces a wide array of industrial chemicals used as raw materials to make end products in the following industries: agriculture, antimicrobial, beverages, construction, dietary supplements, emulsion polymerization, flavors, food, household, institutional, and industrial cleaning, industrial products, laundry and cleaning, nutrition, nutritional powders, oilfield, personal care, pharmaceutical,phthalic anhydride, andpolyester polyols (for coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, powder coating resins, and rigid foam).[5]
Coca-Cola includes acoca leaf extract as an ingredient prepared by a Stepan Company plant inMaywood, New Jersey.[6] The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959.[7] The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by theDrug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily fromPeru via theNational Coca Company. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free extract is sold toThe Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while thecocaine is sold toMallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.[8]