Koppers Holdings KOP

Koppers Holdings Inc. is a leading integrated global provider of treated wood products wood preservation chemicals and carbon compounds. The company operates manufacturing facilities in North America South America Australasia and Europe. Its core activities include the production of pressure treated railroad ties utility poles and lumber as well as the manufacture of wood preserving chemicals and carbon based materials derived from coal tar. These products serve niche applications across the railroad specialty chemical utility residential lumber agriculture aluminum steel rubber and construction industries.

Koppers Holdings Inc. generates revenue primarily through the sale of treated wood products such as railroad crossties utility poles and lumber as well as through the sale of wood preservation chemicals including chromated copper arsenate micronized copper azole and fire retardant formulations. Revenue also comes from the sale of carbon materials derived from coal tar such as creosote carbon pitch and naphthalene which are used in wood treatment aluminum steel production and concrete manufacturing. The company sells these products directly to industrial customers utilities railroads lumber treaters and other end users under long term contracts and purchase orders. Its global manufacturing and distribution network enables timely delivery to customers across multiple continents.

The company operates through the following segments: Railroad and Utility Products and Services Performance Chemicals and Carbon Materials and Chemicals.

• The Railroad and Utility Products and Services segment produces pressure treated railroad crossties switch ties and lumber for railroad bridges and crossings. It also treats transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities and supplies untreated wood products rail joint bars and inspection services. The segment operates eighteen wood treating plants and one rail joint bar manufacturing facility located in the United States Canada and Australia. Its primary product railroad crossties is treated mainly with creosote sourced internally from the Carbon Materials and Chemicals segment. The segment serves the North American railroad industry and the utility markets in the United States and Australia.
• The Performance Chemicals segment manufactures copper based wood preservatives such as micronized copper azole alkaline copper quaternary amine copper azole dichlorooctylisothiazolinone and chromated copper arsenate. It also produces fire retardant chemicals for pressure treated wood used in commercial construction. The segment has sales and manufacturing facilities in the United States Canada Europe South America and Australasia. It supplies a large share of the lumber treating companies in North America and sources scrap copper to produce its copper compounds internally.
• The Carbon Materials and Chemicals segment distills coal tar to produce creosote carbon pitch naphthalene and related chemical intermediates. Creosote is used primarily in the treatment of wood crossties utility poles and lumber. Carbon pitch serves as a critical raw material for aluminum and steel production while naphthalene functions as a surfactant in concrete manufacturing. The segment operates three coal tar distillation facilities and two carbon materials terminals in North America Europe and Australia. It supplies creosote internally to the Railroad and Utility Products and Services segment and sells the remainder to external customers in the global market.

Koppers Holdings Inc. holds leading market positions in each of its three business segments. In the Railroad and Utility Products and Services segment it is the largest supplier of railroad crossties to Class I railroads in North America and the second largest producer of utility poles in the United States. In the Performance Chemicals segment it is recognized as a global leader in wood preservation chemicals and supplies a majority of the top lumber treating companies in North America and Canada. In the Carbon Materials and Chemicals segment it is the largest global supplier of creosote to the North American railroad industry. Principal competitors include Stella Jones Inc. in the railroad tie market Rain Carbon Inc. in the carbon materials market and various regional chemical producers. Competitive advantages stem from vertical integration internal sourcing of creosote and copper compounds a geographically diverse plant network and long term customer contracts that provide supply security and pricing stability.

The company serves a diverse customer base that includes North American Class I railroads major electric and telephone utilities in the United States and Australia lumber treating companies and industrial users of carbon materials. Specific customers referenced in the filing are the North American Class I railroads which purchase approximately seventy percent of all crossties produced in the region and eight of the top ten utilities based on customer base and revenue in the United States. Additionally the Performance Chemicals segment supplies ten of the eleven largest lumber treating companies in the United States and four of the five largest lumber treating companies in Canada. The Carbon Materials and Chemicals segment sells creosote carbon pitch and naphthalene to aluminum steel concrete and chemical manufacturers worldwide.