Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand (D) on Jan. 30 sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice seeking to block OCI Global’s $3.6 billion sale of its Iowa Fertilizer Co. plant in Wever, Iowa, to Koch Industries Inc. (GM Dec. 22, 2023). A group of 18 agriculture and environmental groups sent a similar letter on Jan. 22 (GM Jan. 26, p. 1).
Sand said the project received more than $500 million in local, state, and federal funds and was pitched to Iowa taxpayers as a project that would encourage competition in a heavily consolidated industry.
“Less than a decade later, OCI Global is cashing out, with Koch Industries seeking to reap the benefits by buying the plant,” Sand said in the letter. “But the fact that it wouldn’t be owned by Koch was a justification for the massive commitment of tax dollars in the first place.”
“If this acquisition by Koch Industries is allowed to proceed, the cost of fertilizer to farmers will likely increase due to further industry consolidation,” he continued. “That hurts Iowa producers. It also negates the original intent of the deal that OCI Global reached with Iowa taxpayers to increase competition in the industry.”
To date, Sand is the only Iowa statewide official to speak out against the deal. He is also the only statewide official that is a Democrat and he is seen as a possible future candidate for governor.
“Reneging on a deal may not seem like a big deal to a big corporate entity like OCI or Koch Industries, but for most Iowans, our word is our bond,” he added. “In 2013, promoting the largest tax incentive package in Iowa history, Governor Branstad said, ‘the Koch Brothers don’t want the competition […] We want competition.’ I agree with the former governor. This deal should be rejected.”