London—Elenilto, a subsidiary of Engelinvest Group, a privately held holding company owned by Israeli businessman Jacob Engel, announced March 23 that it has created a new division that will market phosphate and fertilizers to West Africa. The new division is being created prior to completion of Elenilto’s $1.4 billion phosphate project in Togo (GM Sept. 14, 2015). Elenilto says it will buy phosphate concentrates and fertilizers in the market and distribute them in West Africa, mainly to the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. The company said it would create distribution channels and required logistic facilities to bring the fertilizer to the farmers. It said once the Togo facility is complete, it will market Togo’s product exclusively to these markets. Plans call for the production of 5 million mt/y of rock, of which 60 percent will be exported. The remaining 40 percent will be used for downstream production of fertilizers. The proposed plant will have a capacity of 1.3 million mt/y and will produce DAP, MAP, and TSP for the regional West African as well as the international market. “Elenilto’s variety of fertilizer products and its location of its planned fertilizer plant will be our major advantage with the zero time and low distance to market, enabling it to enjoy its low logistic costs,” said CEO Alon Avadani. He earlier told Green Markets that the Togo facility will target South America, India, South Korea, and the Philippines. The timetable calls for mining operations to commence in 2018 and fertilizer production the following year. This will depend on a financial closing, which the company expects during 2016.

Al-Jubail—Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (Safco) is considering buying Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp.’s (Sabic) stake in ammonia and urea producer National Chemical Fertilizers Company (Ibn Al-Baytar) and taking full control of the company, Safco said in a filing March 13. Al-Jubail-based Ibn Al-Baytar is a 50-50 joint venture between Safco and Sabic and also produces compound and liquid fertilizers. Safco said it is conducting an economic feasibility study on the possible acquisition of the stake, but it emphasized that this does not represent a preliminary agreement, nor does it impact Safco’s assets, operations, or financial position. Sabic owns a 42.99 percent interest in Safco.

Moscow—Uralkali said March 16 that it has approved plans to raise a total of $3.9 billion from PJSC Sberbank in two credit lines, which will be split between a $2 billion line and a $1.9 billion line. The funds will be used for the refinancing of earlier credits received from the bank, as well as other general corporate purposes, the potash producer said. The announcement followed an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on March 15, where the decision – first announced in January – was formally approved.

Tel Aviv—Israel Chemicals Ltd.’s (ICL) CEO Stefan Borgas may be on his way out, according to major Israeli media. Three Israeli economic newspapers say that ICL controlling shareholder Idan Ofer is dissatisfied with the company’s performance. Unnamed sources were quoted as saying that Borgas may follow the exit of ICL Board Chairman Nir Gilad, who is set to leave the company Sept. 1 (GM March 11, p. 12). ICL said in a statement that there was no change in the status of Borgas and the company would not be drawn into comments on media speculation. The speculation comes as the company began a roadshow with institutional investors for its upcoming bond issue. Investors have expressed concern about the company’s profitability, which has declined sharply in the past two years, as well as its dividend strategy. Last week ICL said the board of directors would be taking up the issue of dividends and will re-examine ICL’s dividend policy at its upcoming meeting and may make changes (GM March 18, p. 14). Borgas took over from Akiva Mozes in September 2012. According to The Marker, Borgas is in talks with ChemChina to be appointed CEO of Syngenta. In February ChemChina issued a tender offer to acquire the huge agricultural chemical company for $43 billion (GM March 4, p. 14). ChemChina also owns a majority stake in Israeli-based Adama Agricultural Solutions.

Kassel—K+S Group says it doubts solely reducing saline content in Germany’s Werra and Weser Rivers will improve environmental conditions, as is proposed under a government plan approved March 21. The “Saline Reduction Masterplan,” green-lighted by The Weser River Basin Association environment ministers, is a special program tied to the Weser River Basin Association management plan. K+S said there still are no firm findings that would support the feasibility of certain key measures proposed by the plan; these measures largely comprise the successful storage of saline wastewater underground. Nevertheless, the masterplan already assumes a positive result, the potash and salt producer said in a March 21 statement. “The plan even anticipates cutbacks in potash production to achieve its objective. Such a move, which has not been reviewed in terms of its proportionality, will not be accepted by K+S, and we reserve the right to seek a judicial review,” said K+S. The company said it will commit “substantial” resources to determining the successful storage of saline wastewater underground, a concept that requires intensive research and evaluation over the coming years to determine its feasibility. Should such storage prove to be unsuccessful or insufficiently successful, K+S said the timely realization of its proposed supplementary Upper Weser long-distance pipeline by the end of 2021 will be “a key cornerstone” for a long-term solution for disposing of saline wastewater and ending the practice of injecting saline wastewater into the plate dolomite. The company secured provisional approval in December to resume the injection of saline wastewater from its Werra plant until Dec. 31, 2016, to a limited extent, after its previous water-law permit expired at the end of November (GM Jan.1, p. 13). Early this month, prosecutors in Meiningen in Germany’s Thuringia state charged 14 at K+S AG, including CEO Norbert Steiner and other members of the management board, with illegally disposing of saline waste water and polluting waters (GM March 4, p. 16). The charges relate to the injection of waste water into the Gerstungen trough between 1999 and 2007.

Santiago—Up to nine companies are reported to have signed a confidentiality agreement that allows them to participate in the sale of some or all of Sociedad de Inversiones Oro Blanco SA’s 88.62 percent shareholding in Sociedad de Inversiones Pampa Calichera SA (GM Dec. 31, 2015). Pampa Calichera directly owns a 19.96 percent stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM). Among those participating in the sale process are companies from Israel, the U.S., and China. China’s CITIC CLSA Capital Markets Ltd. late last year had indicated its intention to participate in the sale of Oro Blanco’s stake in Pampa Calichera, according to Oro Blanco (GM Dec. 31, 2015). Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., which already owns a 32 percent shareholding in SQM, has attempted to gain control of the company in the past. Oro Blanco is one of the four cascading holding companies that former SQM CEO Julio Ponce uses to control SQM. At press time, there were also unconfirmed reports that Potasios de Chile, another of the holding companies, was also considering the sale of its stake. Earlier this month, Chile’s Mining Minister, Aurora Williams, said the government would not block a foreign takeover of SQM (GM March 11, p. 13). In other news last week, SQM announced that two board members had resigned – Herman Buchi and Wolf von Appen. Both were on the board with the backing of Pampa Calichera.

Rotterdam—Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV, which on March 21 announced it was changing its name, rebranding as Louis Dreyfus Co. BV, effective immediately, said the process for seeking partners for its Fertilizers and Inputs business is underway. CEO Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena said the company had received offers for the unit, including offers from companies to buy the entire fertilizer business. He said the company would prefer to retain ownership via a partnership. “As we have said before, we are open to all strategic opportunities to drive forward the growth of our Fertilizers and Inputs business, whether organically or through external options,” a Louis Dreyfus spokesperson told Green Markets. “With this in mind, a bank has indeed been appointed to review those strategic options for the platform, and we are currently reviewing those options.” The spokesperson said it was too early to discuss timelines to finalize a deal for the unit, and in the meantime, the company continues to grow the Fertilizers and Inputs Business in its existing form. Louis Dreyfus confirmed in early January it was assessing “all options” for the unit (GM Jan. 8, p. 13; Feb. 5, p. 14). The company is also looking for strategic partners for its metals, dairy, and orange juice business lines, preferably those that could help improve the units, rather than financial investors. The company is seeking to shore up its finances and reduce investment (GM Feb. 5, p. 14). Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV reported a 67 percent drop in net income to $211 million on revenues of $55.7 billion last year, down from $648 million and $64.7 billion, respectively in 2014, the company said on March 21.

Port Neal, Iowa—A contract worker was killed and another was injured March 19 at CF Industries Holdings Inc.’s facility here. The worker, Arturo Castor-Cavanzon, 44, Tecumseh, Neb., died at the scene after falling to the bottom of a tank. Initial assessments were that it may have been due to a lack of oxygen. The contractor, Performance Contractors Inc., Baton Rouge, La., said that while it did not know all the facts surrounding the incident, it was conducting a full investigation and cooperating with authorities. CF said the incident occurred at a part of the facility that was not in operation. CF is in the final stages of a major expansion at the Port Neal plant.