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TRInternational Press Release October 21, 2005
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Chemical trader TRI tackles international markets
Anthony Ridnell, a West Point graduate and a former U.S. National Rugby Team member who played in three
World Cups, brings the same competitive spirit to running TR International Trading Co. Inc.
The company's niche in international chemicals trading and distributing might seem humdrum -- but not
in Ridnell's hands. He takes risks and has pushed into new international territory, in the process
building TR International into a fast-growing company generating about $34.8 million in sales in 2004,
up from slightly less than $22 million the year before.
"I like winning, and I like team building," he said. "I like the leadership aspect of running this
business."
At 6-foot-6, weighing in at 245 pounds of mostly muscle from his rugby days, Ridnell moves with powerful
agility around his office.
There's something big and powerful about his office, too. His computer drives twin 22-inch LCD screens,
looming together over his desk, and the opposing wall is dominated by a huge 42-inch plasma TV. During
a recent visit, Ridnell kept an eye on CNN's images of Hurricane Rita as it bore down on one of his
company's leased Texas warehouses.
The warehouse survived, but Ridnell now faces harrowing new decisions. For instance, at what price
should he lock in contracts for import chemicals to meet U.S. demand, gambling on how long damaged
chemical producers in the Gulf states will be knocked out by hurricanes Katrina and Rita?
"There will be shortages of supply, traditional supply chains will be broken, and we want to get in
the middle of it," he said.
By driving for growth, Ridnell has created a two-faceted company. Half of TR International's business
is chemical distribution, which means that he buys bulk industrial chemicals from large producers and
distributes them to large industrial users. The other half is chemical trading; in recent years he has
bought chemicals from low-cost producers in China, Thailand, India and Europe, and has sold them to
users in the United States.
"There are trading companies and there are distributors. There are not many that are that hybrid we're
trying to create," he said.
While Ridnell's company has profited from the roller coaster of international markets, there's also
danger. He faces an exposure that in 1997 forced his company to make a shuddering about-face to ward
off extinction.
Prior to the 1997 Asian economic crisis, TR International had been primarily an export company. But
when the currencies of Malaysia, Thailand and Korea collapsed, making U.S. exports expensive and snuffing
out those nations' demand, Ridnell had to abruptly transform his company into an importer instead.
"That's one of the things I'm proudest of," Ridnell said of the three-week period when he and his
team tapped their contacts to steer the company into a new direction. "I was so inexperienced, then,
I didn't know how difficult it was. If it was today, knowing what I know now, I might not have
done it."
While the company is nearly invisible in Seattle, just 14 people working in a small office suite
on the 21st floor of the art deco Seattle Tower downtown, it operates 13 leased warehouses around
the nation and owns a blending and manufacturing plant near Chicago. Now Ridnell wants to find a
similar plant elsewhere in the country, and also may open a trading and sourcing office in Asia.
As Ridnell plans future growth, he's also keeping his eye on the danger zones.
One thing that worries him is the possibility that the U.S. dollar will fall even further in value,
which would make his imports less cost-competitive.
He's also keeping a wary eye on China, even though that country has become one of his biggest
suppliers, as well as a purchaser of raw chemicals from which it makes high-level chemicals
for exports.
"I'm not willing to put all my eggs in China's basket; they're the big elephant in this
industry," he said. China may be an importer of some chemicals, he said, but could swiftly
become a net exporter if it develops its production base.
TRInternational Trading Company, Inc.
Seattle Tower, 21st Floor
1218 Third Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (206) 505-3500
FAX: (206) 505-3501
E-mail: info@tritrading.com
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