Pentacarbon

What Pentacarbon does

PentaCarbon GmbH is a German privately-held specialty chemicals company that trades, distributes, and produces industrial carbon black. Founded circa 2007-2010 (company history indicates a 10th anniversary in 2017; firmographics list 2010), the company is headquartered in Haltern am See, Germany, and operates regional offices in Poland and Ukraine under a three-country European footprint. Its portfolio comprises over 200 carbon black grades organised into two lines: standard rubber carbon blacks (N-Types, ASTM D graded, N-100 through N-900 series, including a high-purity 'Clean Series') and specialty carbon blacks (P-Types) covering conductive, gas, flame, pigment, thermal, low-PAH, fibre, and customised grades. Customers are industrial buyers in tires/rubber, plastics, paints/coatings/printing inks, electronics/batteries, fibres/textiles, metallurgy/refractory, construction, and cosmetics, with compliance documented against ISO 9001, REACH, FDA 21 CFR 178.3297, EC 10/2011, and OEKOTEX 100.

The company earns revenue on a quote-based, contract-driven model across two streams: international trading and distribution of carbon black in flexible packaging forms (small containers, paper/PE/EVA bags, big bags, flow bins, silo trucks, rail), and bespoke customisation of industrial carbon blacks to customer specifications. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales through the German HQ plus country sales directors in Poland (Lukasz Piglowski) and Ukraine (Sergey Siryy), supplemented by industry trade show participation (K Trade Fair, European Coatings Show, DKT, Carbon Black World), LinkedIn/Facebook/Instagram presence, and a technical Wiki. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is set per grade, volume, packaging, and delivery specification.

PentaCarbon operates with 11-50 employees and no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or external funding. It is led by sole Managing Director Marko Sonnemann. Recent strategic activity has centred on product launches (fiber carbon black in 2020, pressure-pipe P-Type in 2021, specialty battery grade in 2024), positioning the firm to move up-mix from commodity rubber blacks into higher-margin specialty and EV-adjacent conductive grades. The 2022 geopolitical disruption, which affected ~40% of European carbon black capacity tied to Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, remains a material operating exposure given PentaCarbon's own Ukrainian office.

Name

Pentacarbon

Legal name

PENTACARBON GmbH

Website

https://pentacarbon.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PentaCarbon GmbH is a German privately-held specialty chemicals firm that trades, distributes, and produces over 200 carbon black grades for European industrial customers in the tire, rubber, plastics, coatings, battery, textile, and cosmetics industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Carbon Black

NAICS

Resin and Synthetic Rubber Manufacturing (32521)

SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbon Black & Bulk Pigments (IMAEAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Black Masterbatch & Carbon Black-Filled Rubber Mixing (IMANAJAD), Functional Carbon Fillers (Carbon Black, Graphite) (IMAEAFAO), Masterbatch Manufacturing (Color, Additive, White/Black) (IMANABAD)

Keywords

• Carbon black trading
• Rubber carbon blacks
• Specialty carbon blacks
• Carbon black production
• Industrial pigment blacks

Headquarters

HQ city

Haltern

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Carbon Black Trading and Distribution: International trading, distribution and production of carbon black. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of over 200 carbon black types delivered in various packaging forms including small containers, paper bags, polyethylene bags, EVA bags, big bags, flow bins, silo trucks, and rail transport.
2. Customized Carbon Black Production: Production of customized industrial carbon blacks based on specific customer requirements and manufacturing processes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PentaCarbon GmbH trades, distributes, and produces industrial carbon black, offering more than 200 grades spanning standard rubber blacks (N-Types following ASTM D standards such as N-115 through N-991) and specialty blacks (P-Types) for applications including tires, rubber goods, plastics, paints, coatings, printing inks, batteries, electronics, fibres, metallurgy, construction, and cosmetics. Products are delivered in flexible packaging configurations and supported by just-in-time logistics across the company's German, Polish, and Ukrainian locations.

Product overview

PentaCarbon GmbH is an international carbon black supplier, trader, and distributor operating in Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. The company offers over 200 carbon black types divided into two main product lines: Rubber Carbon Blacks (N-Types) for tire and rubber applications, and Special Carbon Blacks (P-Types) for specialized technical applications. Rubber Carbon Blacks include standard ASTM D-graded products (N-100 through N-900 series) and High Purity Clean variants for technical rubber articles. Special Carbon Blacks encompass conductive, gas, flame, pigment, and thermal blacks with various PAH levels for applications including plastics, printing inks, fibres, seals, construction, batteries, and electronics. The company also provides customized industrial carbon blacks and high-quality alternatives to major global manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rubber Carbon Blacks (N-Types) Standard rubber carbon blacks following ASTM D standards, covering N-100 through N-900 series (e.g., N-115, N-220, N-330, N-550, N-660, N-990). Used as reinforcing fillers in tires and technical rubber goods to deliver abrasion resistance, tensile strength, and UV protection.
• High Purity Rubber Carbon Blacks (Clean Series) High purity variants of standard rubber carbon blacks (N-115 Clean through N-991 UP Clean) designed for technical rubber articles requiring extremely low heavy metal and impurity levels to meet additional industry standards and customer specifications.
• Conductive Carbon Black Semi-conductive, conductive, and super-conductive carbon blacks with small primary particles and high structural values. Used in battery electrodes, antistatic applications, and conductive compounds for electronics.
• Gas Black Particularly clean industrial carbon blacks produced by cracking of acetylene gas. Typically used in batteries, paints, cables, and conductive compounds.
• Flame Black Carbon blacks with high structural values that disperse easily and offer unique colour characteristics. Used in paints, plastics, and a range of special applications.
• Industrial Carbon Black with Low PAH Industrial carbon blacks with low polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels, compliant with EC 10/2011, Oekotex 100, and FDA 21 CFR 178.3297 for household goods, tools, inks, plastics, and selected rubber articles.
• Pigment Carbon Black Industrial carbon black used as pigment to achieve specific colour strength, viscosity, colour shade, UV resistance, and dispersibility for paints, coatings, and printing inks.
• Industrial Carbon Black for Fibres Fibre carbon blacks that provide colour and UV resistance with special micro-dispersibility for good spinning properties in technical textiles. Meet OEKOTEX standards for low PAH values.
• Thermal Carbon Black Thermal blacks with the largest particle size combined with the lowest surface area and structure. Very pure form of carbon black using natural gas as raw material. Used in sponge rubber, gaskets, wiper blades, and metallurgy.
• Customised Industrial Carbon Blacks Bespoke industrial carbon blacks produced to customer specifications based on manufacturing process and required product properties.

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tokai Carbon: Japanese carbon black producer with global operations across rubber, specialty, and battery-grade blacks. A comparable broad incumbent serving many of the same end-uses PentaCarbon addresses, including emerging battery applications.
• Continental Carbon: Specialty and commodity carbon black producer serving rubber, plastics, and specialty applications. Comparable in the rubber carbon black and specialty trade-up product sets that PentaCarbon distributes.
• Cabot Corporation: Global specialty chemicals and performance materials company with a major Carbon Black business serving tires, rubber, plastics, inks, and batteries. Competes head-to-head with PentaCarbon in specialty grades and recently expanded into battery materials — comparable product and end-market overlap.
• Birla Carbon: World's largest carbon black producer (Aditya Birla Group), supplying both rubber-grade and specialty carbon blacks globally. Direct competitor to PentaCarbon across the rubber (N-Type) and specialty (P-Type) portfolios, but at vastly larger scale and with backward integration into feedstock.
• Phillips Carbon Black: Large Indian carbon black manufacturer (RPG Enterprises) supplying rubber, specialty, and conductive grades globally. A relevant peer in both rubber and specialty carbon black, particularly for European industrial buyers sourcing Asian volumes.
• Black Cat Carbon Black: One of China's largest carbon black producers with both rubber and specialty grades for global export. Comparable product mix to PentaCarbon across N-Type rubber blacks and specialty P-Types.
• Orion Engineered Carbons: Leading global supplier of specialty and rubber carbon black with European manufacturing presence. Directly comparable to PentaCarbon across both rubber carbon blacks and specialty grades (including conductive and pigment blacks for inks, plastics, and coatings).

Emerging players

• Toyo Ink Group / Specialty Carbon Black: Specialty carbon and pigment black producer (formerly part of Toyo Ink) serving printing inks, coatings, plastics, and electronics. Comparable in the high-purity and pigment specialty grades that compete with PentaCarbon's P-Type portfolio.
• Imerys (Carbon Solutions): Specialty minerals group with a carbon-based solutions business serving batteries, polymers, and coatings. Comparable to PentaCarbon in moving industrial carbon into high-end conductive/functional applications, particularly for batteries.

Direct peers

• Rheinfelden Carbon: German specialty carbon black producer serving coatings, inks, plastics, and battery industries from Germany — the most geographically and product-line-comparable competitor to PentaCarbon in the European specialty space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/people/PentaCarbon/100057734886548
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pentacarbon-gmbh
• Instagraminstagram.com/carbonblack_sport
• Xx.com/pentacarbon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pentacarbon