June 8 2023, David R Brown

Sumitomo Corporation, through Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, has completed the acquisition of sulfuric acid distributor, Saconix LLC. from U.S. private equity fund, Copperbeck Energy Partners LLC, making Saconix a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sumitomo Corporation Group.

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Saconix operates a network of distribution facilities, including storage tanks and transloading facilities at several sites in US West and Gulf, providing local distribution and logistics services. The acquisition means that the Sumitomo Corporation Group will acquire new logistics bases in the western part of the U.S. and the Gulf Coast region, boosting its worldwide sulfuric acid storage capacity to 19 tanks, or about 330,000 tons (including lease assets), and increase its trading volume to about 3.5 million tons of sulfuric acid per year, or around 20% of all seaborne trading volumes.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group's sulfuric acid business has its origins in the export of sulfuric acid, out of Japan, produced in the smelting process of non-ferrous metals. In 1994, the Group acquired 100% ownership of Interacid Trading S.A. (Head Office: Lausanne, Switzerland), which is the world's largest seaborne trader by volume of sulfuric acid. Since then, the Group has been broadly engaged in the provision of services, including seaborne trading, local distribution and storage of sulfuric acid in the United States, Chile and other countries.

Sulfuric acid is one of the world's most used chemical commodities and is used in a variety of industries including agriculture, manufacturing, mining and textiles. It use in the mining of copper, lithium and rare-earth metals is expected to increase its demand inline with the global shift toward decarbonization and, likewise, its use in agriculture and fertilizer production is also anticipated to expand as demand for food rises to meet the needs of a growing worldwide population.

This transaction consolidates the Sumitomo Corporation Group's position as a leader in the sulfuric acid industry.

About Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation is a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company with 109 locations in overseas countries/regions and 20 locations in Japan. The Group consists of approximately 900 companies and more than 70,000 personnel worldwide. Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide sogo shosha general trading companies, and is a diversified corporation. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is a member company of the Sumitomo Group. It is listed on three Japanese stock exchanges (Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka).

Source(s): Sumitomo Press Release

Further Information

Visit: https://www.sumitomocorp.com