H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC

What H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC does

H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC is a 170+ year-old, family-owned international commodities firm organized as a Connecticut LLC since 2016, headquartered operationally in The Woodlands, Texas. The company is the world's largest independent sulphur marketer and distributor, moving 'millions of tons' of sulphur annually across origins and destinations worldwide, and operates North America's largest and newest independent sulphur railcar fleet (1,400+ specialized cars). Vertically integrated infrastructure includes three sulphur forming plants (Stockton CA, Wilmington CA, Southampton UK) with combined annual capacity above 400,000 tons, and six sulphur/sulphuric acid transloaders with 750,000 tons of combined capacity across the US and Canada.

The company serves fertilizer producers (which account for nearly 70% of its liquid sulphur volume), metal mining operations, metal smelters, chemical manufacturers, power producers, and farmers using sulphuric acid for soil pH control; emerging end uses such as lithium-sulphur batteries are also targeted. International offices in Kazakhstan, China, Canada, the Netherlands, and Latin America support direct enterprise sales globally, complemented by the Sultran partnership providing a major Vancouver stockpile position for sulphur exports. The 2019 acquisition of Oxbow Sulphur Group relaunched the ICEC brand, extending the firm into project management, transportation, financing, brokerage, construction planning, and engineering services.

A parallel animal nutrition franchise (Feed Fat oils/fats, MetaboLys® bypass lysine for dairy, plus Brazilian operations Rumiphos Industria and Mineral Fanton) complements the commodity side, with sub-brands like PRO-PAK® protein concentrate. Revenue is generated through transaction fees on commodity trade and logistics services via a sales-led, B2B enterprise field-sales model; pricing is quoted directly per customer and is not publicly disclosed.

Name

H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC

Legal name

H. J. Baker & Bro., LLC

Website

https://hjbaker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1850

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

H.J. Baker & Bro. is a 170+ year-old, family-owned international sulphur marketer and distributor operating North America's largest independent sulphur railcar fleet and global forming/transloading assets, serving fertilizer, mining, chemical, smelter, and agricultural customers worldwide with commodity sulphur and animal nutrition products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sulphur and Animal Nutrition

NAICS

Fats and Oils Refining and Blending (311225), Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (324)

SIC

Fats & Oils (2070), Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172)

akta.pro primary industry

Edible Oils & Fats Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Edible Animal Fats Rendering & Refining (Tallow, Lard) (AFAKAEAF)

Keywords

• Sulphur marketing distribution
• Sulphur forming services
• Liquid sulphur logistics
• Animal feed ingredients
• Sulphuric acid supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Shelton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Sulphur Trading and Distribution: Marketing and distribution of millions of tons of solid sulphur every year from multiple origins to multiple destinations around the world. Revenue generated through product sales and logistics services.
2. Liquid Sulphur Marketing: Distribution of liquid sulphur in North America (Canada, USA, Mexico) through the largest liquid sulphur railcar fleet. Nearly 70% handled for fertilizer producers, remainder for metal smelters and chemical producers.
3. Sulphuric Acid Distribution: Marketing and logistics of sulphuric acid ensuring regular and reliable source for customers throughout North America. Distribution via extensive railcar fleet to mining operations, power producers, and farmers.
4. Feed Fat Products: Supply of feed fat products including pure vegetable oils, all-vegetable blended feed fat, A-V blended feed fat, yellow grease, and poultry fat for animal nutrition.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC is an international commodities company that markets, distributes, and processes sulphur and sulphuric acid while also supplying animal feed ingredients. The company operates sulphur forming plants in California and the UK, runs North America's largest independent liquid sulphur railcar fleet, and through its ICEC subsidiary serves as the world's largest independent marketer and distributor of sulphur. Feed Fat products (vegetable oils, blended feed fats) and MetaboLys bypass lysine round out its offerings for animal nutrition.

Product overview

H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC is a 170+ year-old international commodities company specializing in sulphur and animal nutrition. The company operates as a unified portfolio of complementary business units: the core sulphur division offers Liquid Sulphur, Solid Sulphur, and Sulphuric Acid products backed by owned railcar fleet and transloading infrastructure; the Sulphur Forming facilities process molten sulphur into solid forms for export; ICEC (acquired 2019) provides international marketing, distribution, financing, and engineering services as the world's largest independent sulphur marketer; and the Feed Products division offers Feed Fat ingredients including MetaboLys® bypass lysine for dairy rations. These divisions share logistics infrastructure (railcar fleet, transloaders) and serve overlapping customer bases in fertilizer, mining, and chemical production industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ICEC: Major international marketing and distribution house for sulphur and sulphur-based products, offering business project management, transportation and transport logistics, financing and brokerage services, construction planning and consultancy, and engineering services.
• Feed Fat
• PRO-PAK
• MetaboLys

Products and services

• Liquid Sulphur

Quantifiable outcome

• Continuous and reliable sulphur flow preventing refinery and plant operation interruptions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SultrancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerH.J. Baker has a major stockpile position through its partnership in Sultran in Vancouver, one of the largest sulphur export markets in the world. This partnership enhances H.J. Baker's role as a key player in the Vancouver region for sulphur exports.
• Fertilizer Institute's 4R InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerH.J. Baker is an official partner of The Fertilizer Institute's 4R initiative, supporting nutrient stewardship. The 4R initiative promotes responsible fertilizer use through right source, right rate, right time, and right place.
• BMO Radicale Climate SmartminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerH.J. Baker is working with BMO Radicale Climate Smart to better understand their carbon footprint and how they can work towards becoming a more environmentally friendly organization.
• Responsible AG ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerH.J. Baker supports the Responsible AG program created with leadership from the Agriculture Retailers Association, demonstrating commitment to responsible agricultural practices.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CF Industries Holdings: Major nitrogen fertilizer producer that also uses sulphuric acid in production processes. While primarily a nitrogen player, CF's industrial chemical needs overlap with H.J. Baker's sulphuric acid distribution business.
• Nutrien Ltd. World's largest fertilizer producer and a major sulphur consumer, making it both a customer and adjacent player. Nutrien's scale in potash, nitrogen, and phosphate gives it the option to internalize sulphur supply, posing a competitive threat to H.J. Baker's largest end market.
• Yara International: Global fertilizer giant and major sulphur/sulphuric acid consumer. Yara's worldwide production footprint makes it a significant customer for sulphur marketers and a benchmark for global commodity distribution scale.
• The Mosaic Company: One of the world's largest phosphate fertilizer producers and a key buyer of sulphur. Mosaic's vertically integrated phosphate operations represent a major concentration of H.J. Baker's customer base and a potential competitor if Mosaic insources sulphur logistics.
• Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): Global agricultural processor and animal nutrition provider with extensive commodity trading infrastructure. ADM's feed ingredient portfolio (including fats and oils) directly overlaps with H.J. Baker's Feed Fat business, and its scale in commodity logistics is a comparable benchmark.
• Koch Sulfur Products (Koch Industries): Koch operates one of the largest sulphur production and marketing operations globally as part of its Koch Ag & Energy Solutions platform. Koch's integrated oil & gas-to-sulphur model and global marketing reach make it the largest competitor in the sulphur space H.J. Baker operates in.
• Cargill, Incorporated: One of the largest agricultural commodity traders globally with significant animal nutrition operations. Cargill's animal feed ingredient business overlaps with H.J. Baker's Feed Fat and MetaboLys product lines, and its commodity trading capabilities parallel H.J. Baker's sulphur marketing model.

Direct peers

• Devco (Devco International Holdings): A smaller independent sulphur marketing and trading company with international operations. While smaller in scale than H.J. Baker, Devco is a directly comparable independent sulphur marketer competing for the same producer off-take and consumer contracts in the global sulphur trade.
• ICEC (International Commodities Export Corporation): Acquired by H.J. Baker in 2019 and now operates as a division. ICEC is the world's largest independent sulphur marketer and provides international marketing, distribution, financing, and engineering services - a directly comparable business model to H.J. Baker's core sulphur operations.
• Sultran: H.J. Baker's strategic partner at the Port of Vancouver, one of the largest sulphur export markets. Sultran operates sulphur railcar and export terminal infrastructure that directly complements H.J. Baker's North American distribution network.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hjbakertweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/hjbakerposts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/530399

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC