West Palm Beach, Fla.-Several sources last week reported that the Oxbow Group was in talks to acquire International Commodities Export Corp. (ICEC), Houston, or that a transaction may have already occurred. Neither of the very private companies would confirm or deny the reports, though an Oxbow spokesman did say on Nov. 22 that any report that a deal had been done would be premature. Founded by Bill Koch, Oxbow is a major energy and commodities trading company. According to its Web site, Oxbow’s Oxbow Carbon and its two affiliated companies Gunnison Energy and Oxbow Steel International have yearly sales of $2.4 billion, combined assets of nearly $2 billion, and over 1,100 employees worldwide. Oxbow’s primary businesses are the mining and marketing of energy and commodities such as coal, natural gas, petroleum, and metallurgical and calcined petroleum coke. It has some 15 locations in the U.S. and 21 internationally. ICEC was founded in 1948 by a group that included industry stalwart and now-retired ICEC CEO Emil Sherer Finley. ICEC operates in some 20 locations around the world as a marketing, logistics, and distribution company specializing in sulfur, sulfuric acid, and fertilizers.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain