PQ Group Holdings Inc.

PQ Group Holdings Inc., established in 1831 and based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, operates as a global supplier of specialized catalysts, materials, chemicals, and related services. Its market reach extends across the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and numerous other international regions. The company's operations are divided into four primary segments: 1. Refining Services: This segment manages the recycling of sulfuric acid and offers complete logistical support for producing alkylate. It also furnishes virgin sulfuric acid, which is vital for applications in water treatment, mining, and various industrial sectors. 2. Catalysts: Focusing on catalytic solutions, this division provides both silica and zeolite catalysts, primarily serving producers and licensors within the polyethylene and methyl methacrylate industries. 3. Performance Materials: This segment manufactures microspheres designed for transportation safety, integrated into binders such as paint and epoxy coatings. It additionally produces engineered glass materials, including both solid and hollow microspheres and particles. These are crucial for applications like strengthening and light-weighting plastics and polymer additives, cleaning and peening metal surfaces, and enabling conductivity or shielding in electronic devices. 4. Performance Chemicals: This comprehensive segment delivers a broad spectrum of chemical products. It supplies sodium silicates used in construction, cleaning agents, water treatment, pulp and paper manufacturing, foundry and refractory applications, green tires, electronics, and refining catalysts. Moreover, it offers specialty silicas that serve as ingredients in personal care products, foods, edible oils, and beers, as well as for industrial purposes like gloss control in coil, wood, general industrial leather, and other surface coating systems. The segment also develops other silicate derivatives, specifically metasilicates, spray-dried silicates, and magnesium and potassium silicates, which are utilized in cleaning, specialized fertilizers, oil and gas, mining, paints, food, and cosmetic formulations. Finally, it provides zeolites, commonly employed as builders in detergents and as stabilizers in the production of polyvinylchloride (PVC), among other uses.