Sulfur Services

We gather molten sulfur from refiners, primarily located on the Gulf Coast, and from natural gas processing plants located in the southwestern United States. In the U.S. recovered sulfur is mainly kept in liquid form from production to usage at a temperature of approximately 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of the temperature requirement, the sulfur industry uses specialized equipment to store and transport molten sulfur. We have the necessary transportation, storage assets and expertise to handle these unique requirements utilizing our inland and offshore barges, rail cars and trucks .

The sulfur prilling assets we acquired from the acquisition of Bay Sulfur in April 2005 are located at the Port of Stockton in California and are used to process molten sulfur into pellets. These dry, bulk pellets are stored and loaded at our facility at the Port of Stockton. The sulfur pellets are sold into certain U.S. and international agricultural markets. Our facility at the Port of Stockton can process approximately 1,000 metric tons of molten sulfur per day. In January 2007, we completed the construction of a sulfur priller at our Neches facility in Beaumont, Texas. This facility has the capacity to process approximately 2,000 metric tons of molten sulfur per day. Our sulfur prilling facilities provide refiners with an alternative market for the sale of their residual sulfur.

In late September 2007, we completed construction of a sulfuric acid production facility at our Plainview, Texas location. This facility processes molten sulfur to produce approximately 500 short tons of sulfuric acid per day. Burning sulfur creates sulfur dioxide, which is subsequently oxidized and dissolved in water to create sulfuric acid. Our sulfuric acid facility provides our Plainview fertilizer plant with an economical supply of sulfuric acid and it uses approximately one third of the sulfuric acid produced by the Plainview facility. The remaining sulfuric acid production is sold to Martin Resource Management Corporation which markets the product to third parties.

Fertilizer and related sulfur products are a natural extension of our molten sulfur business because of our access to sulfur and our distribution capabilities. Sulfur-based fertilizers are manufactured chemicals containing nutrients known to improve the fertility of soils. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur are the four most important nutrients for crop growth. These nutrients are found naturally in soils. However, soils used for agriculture become depleted of these nutrients and frequently require fertilizers rich in these essential nutrients to restore fertility. These products allow us to leverage the sulfur services segment of our business.

We manufacture and market the following sulfur-based fertilizer and related sulfur products:

• Plant nutrient sulfur products: We produce plant nutrient and agricultural ground sulfur products at our two facilities in Odessa, Texas. We also produce plant nutrient sulfur at our facility in Seneca, Illinois. Our plant nutrient sulfur product is a 90% degradable sulfur product marketed under the Disper-Sul trade name and sold throughout the United States to direct application agricultural markets. Our agricultural ground sulfur products are used primarily in the western United States on grapes and vegetable crops.
• Ammonium sulfate products: NPK products and related blended products. We produce various grades of ammonium sulfate including coarse and standard grades, a 40% ammonium sulfate solution and a Kosher-approved food grade material. We also produce nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium products (commonly referred to as NPK products). Our NPK products are an ammoniated phosphate fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potash that we manufacture so all particles have a uniform composition. These products primarily serve direct application agricultural markets within a 400-mile radius of our manufacturing plant in Plainview, Texas. We blend our ammonium sulfate to make custom grades of lawn and garden fertilizer at our facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. We package these custom grade products under both proprietary and private labels and sell them to major retail distributors, and other retail customers, of these products.
• Industrial sulfur products: We produce industrial sulfur products such as emulsified sulfur, elemental pastille sulfur, and industrial ground sulfur products. We produce emulsified sulfur at our Texarkana, Texas facility. Emulsified sulfur is primarily used to control the sulfur content in the pulp and paper manufacturing processes. We produce elemental pastille sulfur at our two Odessa, Texas facilities and at our Seneca, Illinois facility. Elemental pastille sulfur is used to increase the efficiency of the coal-fired precipitators in the power industry. These industrial ground sulfur products are also used in a variety of dusting and wettable sulfur applications such as rubber manufacturing, fungicides, sugar and animal feeds.
• Liquid sulfur products: We produce ammonium thiosulfate at our Neches terminal location in Beaumont, Texas. This agricultural sulfur product is a clear liquid containing 12% nitrogen and 26% sulfur. This product serves as a liquid plant nutrient used directly through spray rigs or irrigation systems. It is also blended with other NPK liquids or suspensions. Our market is predominantly the Mid South and Coastal Bend area of Texas.

Please visit the Martin Resources web site for more information.

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