Producer
Koppers Holdings
Leading US producer of carbon compounds and wood preservation chemicals; supplies copper-based preservatives (ACQ, CA-B) to the pressure-treated lumber industry. Also major railroad tie treater.
3
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
3
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
3 inputs Koppers Holdings supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
chemical
Copper-based wood preservatives (ACQ/CA-B) →
manufactured
Pressure-Treated Wood Utility Poles (Electrical / Telecom Grid) →
chemical
Coal Tar Pitch (Aluminum Smelting Anode Binder) →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Koppers Holdings makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
3 facilities
Koppers -- Somerville, Texas (Utility Poles) →
USSomerville, Burleson County, Texas, USA · manufacturing_plant
Koppers Utility Products Group treating facility. Processes Southern Yellow Pine poles from East Texas forests. Serves Texas and Gulf Coast utility pole market. Koppers is the second-largest North American utility pole treater after Stella-Jones.
Koppers Beech Creek PA Chemicals Plant →
USPennsylvania · manufacturing
Primary carbon compounds and wood preservative chemicals production; supplies copper-based preservatives (ACQ, CA-B) to independent treating plants across the US.
Koppers Holdings -- Clairton, Pennsylvania →
USClairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA · chemical_plant
Major Koppers coal tar distillation facility adjacent to US Steel's Clairton Coke Works (largest coke plant in the Americas). Processes coal tar from Clairton coke ovens into CTP, creosote, naphthalene, and other coal tar distillates. Clairton was the site of a major 2018 fire at the steel plant that affected coal tar production for months.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Railroad & Utility Pole Treatment (Creosote)
40%Performance Chemicals (Wood Preservatives for Construction)
30%Carbon Materials (Coal Tar Chemicals)
30%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Koppers Holdings produces coal tar pitch (used as an anode binder in aluminum smelting) AND treats the wooden railroad crossties that underpin US freight rail — AND provides the copper-based preservatives for residential pressure-treated lumber. Three completely separate critical infrastructure supply chains: (1) Aluminum production infrastructure — coal tar pitch binds the pre-baked carbon anodes that are consumed in every Hall-Heroult electrolysis cell producing primary aluminum; without coal tar pitch, aluminum smelting cannot proceed; (2) US freight railroad infrastructure — creosote-treated wooden crossties are the standard tie type in 90%+ of US freight rail track; each tie lasts 20-30 years and is replaced at a steady rate; Koppers treats tens of millions of ties annually; (3) Residential housing infrastructure — copper-based wood preservatives (ACQ, CA-B) protect the pressure-treated lumber in decks, fencing, retaining walls, and below-grade structural members; Koppers' preservatives are in virtually every residential pressure-treated lumber purchase at Home Depot or Lowe's. The same Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania chemical company is embedded in metal production (aluminum), transportation infrastructure (rail), and housing construction — three sectors that rarely appear in the same supply chain discussion.
Koppers Holdings Inc. ↗Origin2023
Koppers Company was founded in 1912 by Heinrich Koppers — a German-American engineer who had designed coke ovens (used in steelmaking to convert coal to coke). Coal tar is the byproduct of coke production; Koppers built a business distilling coal tar into chemical products — creosote (wood preservative), naphthalene (chemical intermediate), and coal tar pitch (binder for aluminum anodes). The company grew through the 20th century processing coal tar as a byproduct of the American steel industry's coke ovens. As US steelmaking and coke production declined in the late 20th century, Koppers adapted by diversifying into other wood preservation chemicals (copper-based preservatives replacing creosote for residential lumber after EPA CCA phase-out) and acquiring railroad tie treatment facilities across the country. The same company descended from 1912 German-American coal chemistry is now embedded in: aluminum smelting infrastructure (coal tar pitch anode binder), US railroad freight infrastructure (creosote tie treatment), and residential housing construction (copper wood preservatives for pressure-treated decking).
Koppers Holdings Inc. ↗