Junior sulfate of potash (SOP) producer Salt Lake Potash Ltd. (SO4), Perth, Western Australia, announced it has inked a binding term sheet with Helm AG, Germany, for the sale of SOP from its Lake Way project. The volume commitment under the agreement is for 50,000 mt/y for 10 years, and will be for key geographical markets within Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

SO4 said it has now secured 220,000 mt/y of offtake, representing 90 percent of total planned production for five and ten-year terms from the start of shipping in 2021 with take-or-pay arrangements on product resale.

OCP Group said it is temporarily curtailing its phosphate production plans by 500,000 mt, effective mid-December through the end of February 2020.

It said this decision to reduce its planned production is driven by recent weather conditions and forecasted consignments at Moroccan ports that are expected to continue until the end of February 2020.

Given current demand levels, OCP said it does not believe that this temporary reduced production will affect supply to the company’s customer base. It added that it continues to expect that demand will increase in 2020, and it will be ready to adjust its phosphate production levels to meet its customers’ needs.

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) announced on Dec. 11 that it has selected Corey Rosenbusch as its new President and CEO. Rosenbusch, who currently serves as President and CEO of the Global Cold Chain Alliance, will start work at TFI on Feb. 6, 2020. Rosenbusch succeeds Chris Jahn, who left TFI in October to lead the American Chemistry Council.

The Mosaic Co. is in the process of restarting its Louisiana phosphate production plants, which were idled Oct. 1, according in The Advocate, citing a Mosaic spokesperson, who said the company was hoping the plants would be fully operational by mid-December.

The Abu Qir selling tender for 25,000 mt of granular urea closed with a slight drop in the price of the product. Sources reported the winning bid came in at $228/mt FOB. This price is a $2/mt drop from last week and is reflective of a soft global urea market. The prilled portion of the tender, also for 25,000 mt, was delayed, according to industry sources.

KraftPowercon Sweden AB, Gothenburg, Sweden, has acquired 100 percent ownership of Marsulex Environmental Technologies Corp. (MET), a U.S.-based provider of Air Quality Control Systems (AQCS), specifically in the control of particulate (dust) and gaseous emissions from power plants and industrial boilers. In the U.S., MET maintains facilities in Lebanon, Penn. and Hampton, N.J., while operating globally, predominantly in the Americas and Europe.

K+S Group, Kassel, Germany, said Dec. 10 that it may sell Bethune, Sask., potash assets, according to a Bloomberg report, as well as specialty fertilizer and salt assets as a way to rapidly cut debt.

The death toll has reached nine and 50 injured from a Dec. 6 ammonia accident in the western Mexico state of Michoacan. A 7,925-gallon (30,000 liter) tank trailer broke loose from a truck and crashed off a highway, rupturing the tank and sending a cloud ammonia gas floating over the road, according to an Associated Press report.