The Mosaic Co. announced on Sept. 2 that North American phosphate operations are expected to be negatively impacted by damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Wind damage to the Faustina and Uncle Sam facilities in Louisiana is expected to result in reduced production as repairs are completed over the next 8-9 weeks.
In addition, an Aug. 18 phosphoric acid tank failure at the company’s New Wales, Fla., facility is also expected to impact production. The contents from the tank were released into the immediate area, a company spokesperson told local news channel WFLA, but most were captured in another container. Mosaic was to assess its other tanks at the site. No injuries were reported, and no further details were provided.
As a result of the outages, Mosaic said third-quarter production is expected to be off 300,000 mt. Fourth-quarter operating rates are expected to improve sequentially, but production may still be down from historical averages.
Mosaic also reported that Ida caused navigational issues on the Mississippi River, which could cause congestion during the busy fall application season and create logistical risks for Mosaic’s production. Both of Mosaic’s Louisiana plants were shut down and secured ahead of Ida. As of Monday morning, Aug. 30, the company said roads were still impassable and it was too early to know the full extent of the impact.
Mosaic plans to provide an update, including estimated financial impacts of the hurricane, when it reports third-quarter results. As it completes repairs to operations, it said it is supporting its employees and communities through a $100,000 disaster relief grant to the Capital Area United Way and by providing affected employees with access to funds through the company’s employee-to-employee assistance plan.
By late Wednesday, Sept. 1, Nutrien Ltd. said its Geismar, La., facility was “currently in the process of restarting” after ceasing operations ahead of Ida. The plant did not lose power and saw no major damage or flooding.
As of Aug. 30, CF Industries Holdings Inc. said its production facility in Donaldsonville, La., did not appear to have sustained any significant damage after initial assessments of the plant. CF said it was working to resume production “as soon and safely as possible.” CF initiated a controlled shutdown of all production units at the facility on Aug. 28 ahead of the storm. No updates were available as of late Thursday, Sept. 2.
A spokesman for Australia-based Incitec Pivot Ltd., Southbank, Victoria, said its Dyno Nobel WALA unit, which has an ammonia plant at Waggaman, La., does not provide ongoing commentary on the status of its manufacturing plants.
Cornerstone Chemical Co., which operates at the Waggaman site, said that on Aug. 28, in advance of Ida’s landfall, it gave advance notice to its customers and suppliers that the weather event excused its performance as a force majeure event. The company produces acrylonitrile, melamine, and sulfuric acid at the location. It said the path of Ida crossed near the site at 7 pm and the entire complex lost external power supply due to a catastrophic failure of the Entergy power grid, which remained offline as of late Sept. 2.
Cornerstone said it had auxiliary power to operate and maintain key safety and environmental equipment. There were no environmental releases and no injuries to Cornerstone personnel, and initial assessments indicate no significant damage to Cornerstone assets. Minor repairs to wind-damaged structures were underway. It said assessment teams will fully evaluate the facility before restarting operations.
San Antonio-based NuStar Energy LP told Green Markets on Sept. 2 that the Louisiana segment of its anhydrous ammonia pipeline has been fully assessed and sustained no major damage. It said it was ready for service as soon as its customers are up and running.
Bayer Crop Science confirmed that its Luling, La., facility, which is the largest producer of glyphosate, was offline as of Aug. 28 following the company’s regular hurricane emergency preparedness protocol. Bayer did not provide an update on the extent of damages at the site, if any, nor on the duration of the pause in production.
Ida had a significant impact on a number of large grain storage facilities in Louisiana, according to wire reports. Global grains trader Cargill Inc. confirmed extensive damage at its grain export facility in Reserve, La., and also reported that its Westwego terminal sustained damages from the storm.
CHS Inc. is diverting export shipments through its Pacific Northwest terminal through next month, the company told Reuters, because of downed transmission lines that power its Gulf Coast facility in Myrtle Grove, Miss. The company said it may take 2-4 weeks for power to be restored to the facility. Other grain shippers, including Bunge Ltd. and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., were reportedly without power and still assessing damages to their locations.
Cargill and CHS have a joint venture in three Pacific Northwest elevators, and have loaded a combined three bulk carriers over the past week, according to vessel data.
Uncertainties about the extent of elevator damage and the duration of power outages in the Port of South Louisiana, which handles more than 50 percent of all U.S. grain export annually, roiled the commodity markets during the week.
By Thursday morning, corn had fallen to a fresh seven-week low and soybeans continued a recent slump as efforts continued to get exports back on track, Bloomberg reported. Corn retreated 0.9 percent, to $5.18 a bushel in Chicago, and touched the lowest since July 12 for a most-active contract. Prices were down about 30 percent from a peak in May.
Soybeans lost 0.2 percent to head for a sixth straight decline, the longest run of losses since May. Wheat futures also declined, Bloomberg reported, reaching the lowest since early August.
Ida’s impact on barge and rail traffic was also significant. Prior to Ida’s arrival, the Coast Guard ordered a complete barge evacuation of the Mississippi River south of Mile 73, while an Aug. 28 Port Condition Zulu order halted navigation on the lower river below Mile 305. No firm estimates on a return to navigation were immediately available, although some speculated that barge movements in the area could require weeks to normalize.
On Aug. 28, local officials reported 22 barges on the loose in the lower Mississippi, with one hitting a bridge in Laffite, La. Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, reported observing numerous barges sunk and at least five ships grounded during a flyover of the river. Strain told reporters on Sept. 1 that the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard anticipated opening the upper Mississippi later that day from Baton Rouge northward, in an effort to start moving vessels.
Kansas City Southern (KCS) shut its main line in Louisiana, halted exchanges between railroads in New Orleans, and also shut a line in Mississippi from Gulfport to Hattiesburg, Bloomberg reported. The railroad on Aug. 31 reported that its Gulfport Subdivision was back in service, with service resuming at its New Orleans Subdivision on Sept. 2.
Norfolk Southern Corp. reported that it planned to resume interchange operations in New Orleans and Mobile on Sept. 2, but said the Intermodal Terminal in New Orleans would remain closed through the remainder of the week. Norfolk Southern said it was working to identify opportunities to detour interline traffic through alternative gateways where possible,
The remnants of Ida also impacted the northeastern part of Norfolk Southern’s network, the railroad said, with widespread flooding, commercial power outages, and downed trees and powerlines blocking mainline routes to the greater New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.