Yara International ASA made at least a couple of major announcements last week. It bought another blending plant in Brazil, its phosphate investment moved closer to production, and across the globe in Australia, it officially commissioned the long-awaited Yara Pilbara Nitrates plant.
The latest Brazilian acquisition, announced Aug. 25, is for a 300,000 mt/y blending facility from Adubos Sudoeste in Catalão, in Goiás State. The company said that this was its first investment in the state. Most of the production is expected to go to farmers in the states of Goiás and Tocantins.
Yara Brazil President Lair Hanzen noted that Goiás is responsible for a huge part of the main Brazilian export crops, such as soybeans and corn, and is essential to the company’s plans in the country. “To invest in fertilizer distribution in Goiás is strategic for Yara and reinforces our commitment to provide the best solutions to Brazilian farmers. Besides that, we maintain the efforts to increase the fertilizer production in order to reduce the national dependence on imports of raw materials,” said Hanzen.
Hanzen told Bloomberg that Goiás fertilizer use rose some 5 percent per year on average in the last ten years, while the average for Brazil was only 3.7 percent.
“In order to keep our 25 percent market share in Brazil’s fertilizer market, we need to add an asset like this every two years to our blend, distribution portfolio,” he told the news service.
Yara said the deal must still be approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), and once approval is achieved it will begin the process of adapting the unit to the company’s standards.
In recent years, Yara has invested approximately US$1.5 billion in Brazil, including the acquisition of Bunge Fertilizantes (2013), the joint venture with Galvani (2014), the construction and revitalization of the most modern blending units in Sumaré and Porto Alegre, and the announcement of a $250 million investment in its Rio Grande complex, made earlier this year (GM April 15, p. 13).
In other Brazil news, Yara told Bloomberg that it plans to start phosphate mining at the Salitre site (GM Nov. 16, 2015; Aug. 11, 2014), in Minas Gerais in first-half 2017, with phosphate chemical production expected in the second half. This is from its investment in Galvani.
On Aug. 26, Yara officially commissioned the new 330,000 mt/y technical grade ammonium nitrate plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The plant is a joint venture between Yara (55 percent) and Orica Ltd. (45 percent,) and is expected to be operational by the end of 2016.
Yara will operate the plant, and Orica will market the product. The plant is fully integrated with the neighboring Yara Pilbara Fertilizers ammonia plant, which currently exports some 800,000 mt/y of ammonia.
Yara said the AN plant is the first in the world to be built using modularized construction, with key segments of the facility built offshore and shipped to site. At its peak more than 500 workers were required on site to complete the project. The facility will have 70 employees.