Growmark Inc. continues to grow within the fertilizer industry, while Bunge North America and parent Bunge Ltd. continue their exits from the business. Growmark said Dec. 31, 2012, that it has agreed to purchase Bunge North America’s share in B-G Fertilizer LLC.
B-G, which was owned by Growmark and Bunge, operates the former CF Industries Holdings Inc. terminal located in Cincinnati, Ohio, to serve the needs of retail customers that provide fertilizer to farmers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Growmark and Bunge bought the terminal in early 2011 (GM Jan. 24, 2011, p. 1). It has approximately 91,000 st of dry and liquid storage capacity. At the time, the parties said it would allow both to tap existing expertise within their organizations while also leveraging Bunge’s grain and oilseed network in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. B-G was part of a 2011 buying spree by Growmark, which also bought storage capacity at Albany and Mapleton, Ill., St. Louis, Mo., (GM Jan. 10, 2011, p. 1), Seneca, Ill. (GM Jan. 10, 2011, p. 10), and East Liverpool, Ohio (GM Feb. 7, 2011, p. 1), for almost 300,000 st of combined storage capacity.
In early 2012, Growmark completed 34,000 st/y of storage capacity at Casey, Ill. (GM Feb. 27, 2012, p. 1).
“We have had a great working relationship with Bunge during the past two years,” said Jim Spradlin, Growmark Agronomy vice president. “The Cincinnati terminal has brought value to the dealers in the areas it serves, and we look forward to continuing to provide the outstanding customer experience for which the team at Cincinnati is known.”
Growmark and Bunge also announced that Growmark will lease Bunge fertilizer assets located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Fulton, Ill. These facilities will be incorporated into the current Growmark portfolio to expand the cooperative’s scope and reach.
“We are pleased to announce the additions of Council Bluffs and Fulton to our existing terminal portfolio,” said Rod Wells, Growmark Plant Food division manager. “There are exciting opportunities at each facility to capitalize on truck transportation to their associated grain terminals in the form of back hauls. This should provide efficient sourcing opportunities for area retailers. The Council Bluffs facility, in particular, is new construction and state-of-the-art. We look forward to serving the dealer network from these two locations.”
Bunge broke ground on a 30,000 dry fertilizer warehouse in Council Bluffs in 2010 (GM Aug. 2, 2010, p. 1). At the time, the company told Green Markets it planned to market the major NPK dry fertilizers from the location, which is adjacent to an existing Bunge soybean crushing plant. The facility is on the BNSF rail line and can receive fertilizer by rail and ship by truck. It is located south of Council Bluffs, near highway I-29. This was Bunge’s first major fertilizer warehouse in the U.S., as at that time the company had leased a smaller one in Fulton, Ill.
Overall, the B-G acquisition and lease agreements represent approximately 130,000 st of dry and liquid plant food storage for Growmark.
“Bunge realized benefits from our North American fertilizer business, including our investment in B-G Fertilizer, but we have decided to focus our investments in our other lines of business,” said Bailey Ragan, vice president, Grain, Biofuels and Fertilizer for Bunge North America. “We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Growmark through the lease of our terminals in Council Bluffs and Fulton.”
Bunge announced in 2008 that it was entering the North American fertilizer market (GM July 21, 2008, p. 12). The plan was to distribute and market fertilizer products, sourcing commodities domestically and internationall