Last week, the Savannah Economic Development Authority honored aluminum sulfate manufacturer Chemtrade for its 70 years in Savannah with a plaque presented by Gov. Nathan Deal.
Never heard of Chemtrade? How about the much-more-familiar Allied Chemical or General Chemical?
Regardless, if you drink city tap water, you’ve sampled what Chemtrade does.
“We’ve been in the same place along the river since 1944,” said plant manager Gary Griffin. “But we’ve only been Chemtrade since early this year.”
The manufacturer began in Savannah as Allied Chemical, a name it would retain for 45 years until Allied decided to get out of the aluminum sulfate business. In 1989, a subsidiary of Allied known as General Chemical took over for the next 24 years before it was acquired in January by Chemtrade.
A publicly-traded, Canadian-based company, Chemtrade operates a diversified business providing industrial chemicals and services to customers in North America and around the world.
“We are one of 40 Chemtrade aluminum sulfate production facilities across the country and its largest bauxite grinding facility in the U.S.,” Griffin said, adding that the bauxite processed in Savannah supplies raw materials for the production of aluminum sulfate in 17 of Chemtrade’s U.S. plants.
Bauxite is the primary ore in aluminum. Once it’s processed into a ground product, it is shipped by rail to the other manufacturing plants, Griffin said.
Not surprisingly, most of the aluminum sulfate produced in Chemtrade’s Savannah facility is used in the pulp and paper industry and the water and wastewater treatment industries.
“It’s relatively inexpensive and effective solution for a broad range of treatment problems,” Griffin said.
“It removes organic carbon, suspended solids and other elements and clarifies potable, process and wastewater.”
Among Chemtrade’s customers is the city of Savannah, which pulls water from Abercorn Creek for treatment.
“Aluminum sulfate – commonly referred to as alum — is used in the initial treatment phase to remove all the silty solids,” he said.
Other customers include International Paper, the city of Charleston’s Hanahan Water Treatment Plant, and Rayonier in Jesup, where the company has developed a different application for a new product the mill is manufacturing.
A widely used and versatile industrial chemical, alum is also used in the production of aluminum chemicals, fire extinguisher compounds, soil additives and fertilizer, soaps, greases, drugs and cosmetics.
“It’s used in the poultry industry, where we developed process for abating ammonia buildup in the chicken houses,” Griffin said. “That was a big deal, as the buildup was killing chickens.”
And it’s used to clarify water in lake restorations and retention ponds, especially those attached to manufacturing plants.
But Griffin’s favorite use for the product his plant produces involves major league baseball.
“You know how baseballs used by the professionals have to be durable enough to withstand the punishment they get game in and game out? It’s aluminum sulfate, used as an additive during the tanning process, that gives major league baseball covers their hard, tough hides,” he said.
Griffin said he’s proud of his company’s longtime reputation for quality and its relationship with the community.
“In short, we have been a consistent and safe manufacturing presence here in Savannah for the past 70 years and will be for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We’re proud to play our part in the continued success of Savannah’s economy.”
ABOUT CHEMTRADE
Canadian-based Chemtrade is a publicly traded, diversified business providing industrial chemicals and services to customers in North America and around the world. It is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CHE.UN In January of this year, Chemtrade acquired General Chemical Corp. for $860 million in US currency. Chemtrade’s Savannah plant, located at 211 Brampton Road, has six employees.