Sumitomo Corporation expands market presence and function in U.S. sulfuric acid business with acquisition of Saconix LLC

Date:06-09-2023

Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) together with its parent, Sumitomo Corporation Japan (SC) announced its acquisition of Saconix LLC (Saconix), a company engaged in the procurement, sale, storage and distribution of sulfuric acid in the Western U.S. and the Gulf Coast region, expanding its market presence in the Sulfuric Acid business in North America.

Sumitomo agreed to fully acquire Saconix from Dallas based owners, Copperbeck Energy Partners, a portfolio company of Tailwater Capital, LLC. Saconix is one of the leading sulfuric acid distributors in North America providing logistics and storage solutions with strategically located assets, adding value through its functions and services that are very similar to Sulphuric Acid Trading Company (SATCO) Tampa, FL, another SC Group company.

Sulfuric Acid Terminal in Nevada, USA

With this acquisition, SC expands its footprint in the U.S. sulfuric acid business, adding operations and access now in both the Gulf region and West Coast region, including California, Nevada and Arizona.

"We identified Saconix as a strategic investment because its business model is extremely compatible with our current investments, and brings a high potential of growth synergy for our Sulfuric Acid business in the U.S., increasing our global competitiveness," said Masaya Sato, Basic Chemical Group General Manager of SCOA.  "We expect to provide additional value and high service to our customers through the strong synergies of our global Sulfuric Acid business."

Sulfuric acid is the most widely distributed basic chemical in the world, and it is an essential chemical for people's lives because its uses span an extremely wide range of fields, including agriculture, industry, mining and textiles. Sulfuric acid is becoming increasingly important because of its increasing use at mining sites, such as copper, lithium and rare earth metals, which supports the realization of expecting a green society, and in the agricultural and fertilizer sectors, due to the increasing demand for food as the global population grows.

Market assessment and Sumitomo Tank Locations in the USA

The Sumitomo Corporation Group's sulfuric acid business began with the export of sulfuric acid produced from the smelting of nonferrous metals from Japan, and since 1994, when it acquired INTERACID TRADING S.A. (Lausanne, Headquarters), parent company of SATCO.  The SC group company handles one of the world's largest sulfuric acid maritime transport transactions and provides a wide range of logistics services in countries such as the U.S. and Chile, including the trading of sulfuric acid by sea, the regional distribution, and the storage of sulfuric acid. INTERACID owns and operates its own storage tanks for sulfuric acid, providing customers with just-in-time delivery of product, and if needed, leasing of storage tank space to customers requiring personalized logistics services.

Saconix owns, leases and operates in 7 strategic logistics facilities in the U.S. Gulf and West Coast. After the acquisition, we will firmly secure the leading position in the industry with handling more than 3.5milion tons of sulfuric acid by utilizing 19 tanks with approximately 330,000 tons capacity as the group total.

This acquisition represents Sumitomo Corporation's ongoing commitment to expanding business and facilitating global carbon reduction to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.