Founding Helm AG traces its origins to the company
Karl O. Helm, founded in 1900 by Karl Otto Helm as an import and export business based in Hamburg. The company traded products such as furniture, porcelain, fragrances, and spices.
Takeover by Hermann Schnabel and establishment of the chemical trading business In 1950, Hermann Schnabel acquired the company and expanded it further. He gradually developed the business into the trade of chemical products. By 1970, the company employed 300 people. In 1978, it was renamed Helm AG.
Expansion under Dieter Schnabel In 1984, Dieter Schnabel took over as CEO, becoming the second generation of his family to lead the company. In 1986, Helm AG partnered with the U.S.-based company Proman and entered
methanol production. This business segment was expanded in the following years with several large-scale methanol plants in
Oman,
Trinidad and Tobago, and
Texas, amongst other locations. Methanol remains the company's largest source of revenue as of 2025. Following the death of Hermann Schnabel in 2010, Dieter Schnabel joined Helm AG's supervisory board in 2012
New business areas under Stephan Schnabel In 2020, Stephan Schnabel took over as CEO of the family business in the third generation. Under his leadership, Helm AG began a strategic realignment with investments, acquisitions, and joint ventures in the field of sustainable processes and alternative chemical methods. This included, for example, the joint venture
Qore, founded together with
Cargill, which is active in the production of bio-based chemicals. Helm AG is also investing in the digitalisation of agriculture and has acquired stakes in apps that can detect plant diseases, amongst other things. In January 2022, Helm AG founded a joint venture with the British company
Leverton Lithium, which now operates under the name
Leverton Helm and acts as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company refines and recycles lithium, cleaning and processing it so that it can be reused in various industrial sectors. == Company structure ==