Hydrite Chemical Co. and Thatcher Company of California Inc. announced on July 14 that they have formed a new joint venture called Sacramento Ag Products LLC, which will produce thiosulfate products for the West Coast agricultural market and bisulfites for industrial market applications.
The business is based in Sacramento, Calif., and will be manufacturing fertilizer products – including ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) and potassium thiosulfate – by November 2021 from a new greenfield facility. A greater emphasis will be on potassium thiosulfate due to the product’s stronger demand for nut tree applications in California.
“We are excited to announce the launch of this new joint venture,” said Nate Ludtke, Hydrite Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development. “Thatcher is an ideal partner to help us expand our reach in key markets on the West Coast, and it will allow us to service customers with local sourcing, production, and storage.”
Ludtke said work on the joint venture has been underway for several years, and construction has already started at a site in the northern Sacramento Valley. When operational, the facility will employ approximately 20 individuals, and will have roughly two million gallons of storage capacity onsite.
Founded in 1967, Thatcher Company is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, where it operates an existing chemical manufacturing complex on 28 acres. The company is part of the Thatcher Group, a diversified chemical manufacturer and distributor with more than 500 employees in nine states. The company serves the agriculture, pharmaceutical, mining, food processing, dairy, municipal and industrial water treatment, construction, oil and gas, and power generation markets in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.
“Thatcher Company is pleased to expand our sulfur production footprint to California, allowing us to fully service the California market,” said John Dinsenbacher, Sulfur Products Business Manager for Thatcher. “Hydrite is the perfect partner for our new venture.”
Hydrite is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisc., and operates a network of chemical manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and laboratories located in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, California, and Texas. The company employs nearly 1,000 across 25 states, with services in food and dairy sanitation, organic processing, liquid sulfites, foam control, water treatment, and compliance management. Hydrite also owns and operates a private fleet of more than 255 units, including tractors, van trailers, tankers, and railcars.
Hydrite has been in a recent expansion mode. The company announced in May that it is constructing a new three-million-gallon ATS storage tank at its Terre Haute, Ind., plant, and also recently completed the construction of a 1.8-million-gallon tank at Terre Haute to expand potassium thiosulfate storage (GM May 28, p. 1)
Hydrite expects the new ATS tank in Terre Haute to be completed before year-end, which will bring total ATS storage capacity at the site to 6.8 million gallons. The company’s total potassium thiosulfate storage capacity at Terre Haute is now at 2.5 million gallons.