19th century Dutch sugar refining company
The Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij (Amsterdam Steam Sugar Refinery) was a big Dutch sugar refining company. It produced white sugar by refining raw sugar from sugar cane. The company existed from 1833 to 1875 and was one of the most important industrial companies of Amsterdam.
Context.
In the nineteenth century, sugar was a very important commodity. Its cultivation was the main driver behind the Atlantic slave trade, which transported slaves to plantations, mainly in the Caribbean and South America. The sugar plantations grew sugar cane, and processed this in sugarcane mills that produced raw sugar. The raw sugar still contained impurities that were extracted in the so-called refinery process. At the time that the predecessors of the Amsterdam Steam Sugar Refinery were founded, the Netherlands had a colony in Surinam, but sugar production in the Dutch East Indies had also become very important.
The traditional sugar refinery in Amsterdam was a building strongly influenced by the highly regulated size of house lots in the city. Many of these measured 9.5 by 47 m. In order to get an efficient ratio between the parts of the production process on such a plot, the standard refinery used four boiling pans and had 4 or 5 storys. This limited processing capacity to about 600 tons of raw sugar a year. An innovation that could make these small refineries more efficient was the use of tubes that conducted steam to heat the pans. It meant that only one fire could heat all pans, and gave much more control over the process.
The invention of the vacuum pan by Edward Charles Howard changed the traditional sugar refinery process. It required high investments and a lot of space that the traditional refineries did not have. This and other developments led to a type of specialized building for sugar refineries. It had to be located near a clear river or a well with steam pump. It had to be spacious and fire resistant and to have enough room for storage. Above all, it was an almost absolute necessary to allow the sugar liquor so far as possible to descend by gravitation during the different processes, and so to avoid pumping. Therefore, refineries were 7-8 stories high. Raw sugar was inserted at the top, and the refined article was discharged at the bottom. This explains the exterior of the sugar refinery Java, that the Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij built in 1846–1847.
Predecessor companies.
Firma M. Udink &amp; Co..
Barend Udink (1710-1775) probably came from Enschede. By 1747 he was in a business partnership with a Mr. ten Broeke and was trading to the West Indies. Barend was succeeded by his son Marten (1748-1808), who married Lamberdina Kooij in 1774, and Cornelia Margaretha la Grand in 1778. Marten continued his father's business together with Ten Broeke, which was further specified in a 1785 contract. Marten Udink's name is known from several ship transactions. The partnership with Ten Broeke seems to have ended by 1797. Marten became prominent in Amsterdam. He was a representative for the city under the Batavian Republic (1795-1806), and in 1804 he was president of the Aalmoezeniers orphanage.
When Marten Udink died childless in 1808, he was succeeded by his nephew Joannes Kooij (1785-1870). Joannes was the son of Marten's brother in law Barend Kooij. It is supposed that Joannes already worked in the shipping company by about 1800. On 1 January 1808 a partnership with the name (firma) Marten Udink &amp; Co. was formed. It included Marten Udink, his 23 year old nephew Joannes Kooij, and Hendrik Nijhoff, Marten's 47 year old bookkeeper. Marten brought in 80,000 guilders, and Joannes Kooij and Hendrik Nijhoff each 40,000, which they borrowed from Marten. It is supposed that Kooij and Nijhoff used the profits to gain complete ownership of the partnership, while retaining the name.
Traces of M. Udink &amp; Co.'s activities are found in 1821, when the frigate "Vrederijk" sailed to Berbice and potential passengers could address themselves to M. Udink &amp; Co. In 1828 and 1833 the coppered frigates "Marco Bozzaris" (1824) and "Zeemanshoop" (1826) were mentioned as managed by the firm. In 1834 "Admiraal de Ruyter" built at De Oranjeboom was mentioned as belonging to the firm.
The activities of M. Udink &amp; Co. were not strictly limited to shipping. In 1824, it offered to sell a small part of a coffee plantation in Surinam. In 1829 M. Udink &amp; Co. participated for 2,000 guilders in the foundation of the Nederlandsche Zee Assurantie Maatschappij. On 1 January 1834 Joannes Kooij became a managing director of the Netherlands Trading Society, which was a very profitable position.
The business of Barend Kooij Joanneszoon (1834-1855).
Barend Kooij joins the shipping company.
On 1 January 1834 Barend Kooij Joanneszoon (1814-1855) became a partner in M. Udink &amp; Co. The reason for becoming a partner at such a young age was that his father could no longer be officially involved in such a business after becoming a director of the Netherlands Trading Society. Udink &amp; Co. now entered a phase of great expansion. It ordered the construction of the big ships "Neptunes", "Admiraal Jan Evertsen", "Triton", "Sara Alida Maria", "Waterloo" and "Philips van Marnix". By 1841, Kooij. was the biggest Amsterdam shipping company sailing to the Dutch East Indies.
In 1839 Hendrik Nijhoff died, and on 24 February 1840 his widow died. After some time, the partnership M. Udink &amp; Co. was then dissolved with a date of 14 March 1839. Barend Kooij Joanneszoon now formally managed the shipping company on his own, but was no doubt still assisted by his father.
On 31 December 1843 the president of the Netherlands Trading Society, H.C. van der Houven retired. He was succeeded by F. van der Oudermeulen because the other directors were said to lack the required skills. For Joannes Kooij this must have been a disappointment. He also came into conflict with Van der Oudermeulen on the subject of his other activities and on 1 January 1848 he retired from the NHM. It is supposed that Joannes Kooij was then again more effectively involved in the shipping and trading business.
Like his father, Barend Kooij was active in several enterprises. He became a member of the Amsterdam municipality in September 1851 and lived in the prestigious house Keizer Adolf at Keizersgracht 203, where he kept a large collection of paintings. In 1846 Barend participated in founding the insurance company "Phoenix". At his death in 1855, Barend had parts in all 10 ships that the shipping company managed or owned.
The sugar refineries of Barend Kooij.
The start of Barend Kooij's activities in refining sugar is not that clear. It is known that he had at least three sugar refineries. Two of these were converted to use steam power and became part of the Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij in 1856.
The relatively large sugar refinery "L'Union" was situated on the northern side of the Bloemgracht at number 148. It was auctioned in April 1841. In April 1845 the equipment of this refinery was sold, perhaps due to Kooij acquiring the Schoonenburgh refinery in February 1844. The house at Bloemgracht 150 was also part of this refinery. On 21 September 1849 one of the buildings of the sugar refinery "L'Union" on the Bloemgracht burned down. At the time B. Kooy Jz was the owner. In November 1849 the house and the grounds of the burned down refinery were offered at an auction. It did not become part of the public company Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij in 1856.
The sugar refinery "Schoonenburg" was acquired by Barend Kooij on 26 February 1844. It was located on the south side of the Bloemgracht, (now) number 57. Barend had the inventory auctioned in March 1844. This auction probably had to do with an overall modernization of this sugar refinery. In 1856 it used steam power.
The sugar refinery "De Eendragt" was acquired by Barend Kooij in 1849, that is after he built the probably much more efficient refinery "Java". It was located on the Lijnbaansgracht near the Elandstraat and had an exit on that street. By 1856, a tube connected it to a building on the other side of that street. When "De Eendragt" was acquired in 1849, it already used steam power. It can be traced back to at least August 1841, when it was put to auction. In July 1849 the tools of the Eendragt were auctioned.
The steam sugar refinery Java is built.
The steam sugar refinery Java was notable for being a purpose-built refinery and for operating on a much larger scale than was usual before. In 1846 and 1847 Barend Kooij bought the buildings of the shipyards 'De Oranjeboom' and 'Het Eiland Terschelling' and two houses or buildings on shipyard 'Het Fortuin', all on Bickerseiland in the Westerdok of Amsterdam. He then built the steam sugar refinery Java on these premises. Bickerseiland was situated in the Westerdok, a wet dock that allowed ships to anchor very close to the quays. In effect, the refinery got a pier that allowed ships to directly unload bags of raw sugar to the factory.
For Amsterdam, the sugar refinery "Java" was a very big building. It had a surface of 1,400 m2 and 25 m high walls. The construction was tendered on 28 May 1846. The order was given J. Galman and J. Helt for 160,000 guilders. In April 1847 150 construction workers celebrated that the roof was closed. Kooij later got a new 50-year lease of the terrain, which would start on 1 November 1850.
The end of the Kooij shipping company.
After the death of Barend Kooij, his father Joannes began to wind down the shipping business. By 1860 only two of the ten ships were left. In 1868 the last ship was sold. Joannes Kooij died in 1870, aged 85.
The Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij (1855-1875).
Foundation of the Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij.
On 15 December 1855 Barend Kooij Jzn died at age 41, leaving his widow S.A.M. van der Meulen with 10 still very young children. On 9 April 1856 a public limited company (in Dutch law a: Naamloze vennootschap) was then founded to continue his sugar refinery business. Share capital was to be 1,600,000 guilders in shares of 1,000 guilders each. B. Kooij's widow Sara Alida Maria van der Meulen took 1,000 shares for herself and their nine underage children. Joannes Kooij (Barend's father) took 170; Johanna van Marwijk widow of J.H. van der Meulen took 100; Joannes Kooij junior, rope manufacturer 100; Pieter Kooij, steam 'kandij' manufacturer 100; 130 more shares were divided over 9 smaller shareholders.
Kooij's widow paid for her shares by bringing in: The steam sugar refinery called 'Java' in the Grote Bickerstraat on grounds of the municipality; The steam sugar refinery called 'Schoonenburg' on the Bloemgracht; Three warehouses called 'Bergen', 'Drontheim' and 'Finmarken' also on the Bloemgracht; and finally the steam sugar refinery called 'De Eendragt' on the Lijnbaansgracht and a connected building close by. All the other shares were paid in cash.
The managing directors of the new company were four: Joannes Kooij Jr., Pieter Kooij, Hermanus Carel Scholten and Isaac Pierre van der Toll. The supervisory board was formed by Joanned Kooij, David van der Vliet and Charles August van Hemert. Directors were obliged to possess at least 15 shares, supervisors at least 10. Every shareholder was bound to a maximum of 6 votes, for which he needed to have 50 shares. This was a measure to protect the interests of the minority shareholders.
In business.
The first five years of the Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij went quite well. It paid a dividend of 3% over its first business year, which ended on 31 March. In 1859, 1860 and 1861 the company also paid a dividend. In 1861 and 1862 the Dutch sugar refineries were in general quite busy. In 1861 114,982,232 kg and in 1862 104,966,259 kg of raw sugar was imported. However, prices began to decline in July 1861. The Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij reacted by letting the "Schoonenburg" refinery on the Bloemgracht remain idle in 1861 and 1862. Official publications mentioned foreign and unfair foreign competition as causing the low prices for refined sugar.
By the end of the first five years, in 1862, there were 20 sugar refineries in Amsterdam. 11 of these used steam power. In 1862 18 Amsterdam refineries processed 76,033,090 kg of raw sugar. The big companies were: The Amsterdamsche Stoom Suikerraffinaderij which processed 16,000,000 kg of raw sugar with about 285 people; The Nederlandsche Suikerraffinaderij, which processed