Hydrofluoric Acid (Anhydrous HF)

Division of Orbia (formerly Mexichem). World leader in pharmaceutical-grade HFA propellants under the Zephex brand. Zephex 134a in ~75% of global pMDIs. Only FDA-registered active HFA-134a supplier in the US. Opened world's first commercial HFA-152a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at Runcorn, UK in March 2022.

Belgian specialty chemical company (Euronext: SOLB, HQ Brussels; ~€4.9B revenue after 2023 split); major global HF (hydrogen fluoride) producer and the world's largest producer of fluorine-based specialty chemicals. Solvay's HF is produced at multiple European sites (Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, France; Rosignano, Italy) via reaction of fluorspar (CaF2) with sulfuric acid. HF is the gateway chemical for Solvay's entire fluorine chemistry chain: HF → fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF), refrigerants (HFCs/HFOs), specialty fluorinated gases (NF3 precursor), and electronic-grade HF for semiconductors. Solvay split into two companies in December 2023 — the new 'Solvay' retained the specialty chemicals (including HF and fluorine) while 'Syensqo' retained the advanced materials — so the HF supply chain is now within the post-split Solvay entity. Solvay was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay, inventor of the Solvay process for soda ash (sodium carbonate) production — the same Belgian industrial dynasty that revolutionized 19th-century chemical manufacturing now controls a critical node in 21st-century semiconductor supply chains.

American industrial conglomerate (Nasdaq: HON, HQ Charlotte NC; ~$36B revenue); Advanced Materials division produces HF and a range of fluorinated specialty chemicals at Geismar Louisiana (one of the world's largest HF and fluoropolymer production sites). Honeywell's Geismar LA facility is a major supplier of HF to industrial and specialty chemical markets, as well as fluorinated refrigerants (Solstice series HFOs) and NF3 precursor HF. Honeywell's fluorine chemistry heritage traces to AlliedSignal (merged with Honeywell 1999) which itself acquired the fluorine chemistry business of Allied Chemical — which owned the original US fluorspar-to-HF process patents dating to the Manhattan Project era, when HF was needed for uranium enrichment (UF6 gaseous diffusion). The same US HF production infrastructure built for nuclear weapons development now supplies semiconductor-grade fluorinated gases.