All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

CVR Strike Passes Three-Month Mark

News Briefs, Nitrogen, U.S.

Some 94 members of the local United Auto Workers, Local 1391 (UAW) union were still on strike at CVR Partners LP’s East Dubuque, Ill., nitrogen plant as of Jan. 24, easily passing the three-month mark. The strike began on Oct. 18 (GM Oct. 20, 2023). CVR told Green Markets production continues at normal operations.

The UAW said a major point of contention is the maintenance of CVR’s 401K match, saying the company froze the match program in the past and did not pay a match one year, before later reinstating it. The UAW wants language to ensure that this does not happen again, claiming executives have received huge bonuses and shareholders have benefited.

“We are just another piece of equipment to them,” said one UAW member. UAW1391 said that in their most recent vote, 92% wanted to continue the strike and rejected CVR’s offer. CVR has not commented on the issues involved.

IPL Details Return of A$500 M to Shareholders

News Briefs, U.S.

Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL) expects to return around A$500 million (approximately $329 million at current exchange rates) of surplus capital to shareholders on Jan. 29.

The company in December (GM Dec. 8, 2023) confirmed its intention to return up to A$1 billion of the proceeds from the sale of its Waggaman, La., ammonia production complex to CF Industries Holdings Inc. The sale was completed on Dec. 1 (GM Dec. 1, 2023).

IPL said the roughly A$500 million will be returned by way of a A$0.1557 per share equal capital reduction, totaling A$302,404,437.02 in aggregate, and an unfranked special dividend of A$0.1017 per share, totaling A$197,524,285.45 in aggregate.

In addition to the distribution, IPL is also undertaking an on-market share buyback of up to A$500 million.

OCP Reportedly Developing Moroccan Potash Mine

Morocco, News Briefs, Potash

OCP Group SA and Morocco’s mines and hydrocarbons agency Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) have partnered on a potash mining project in Khemisset, 80 kilometers east of Rabat in northern Morocco, according to a North Africa Post report, citing the country’s Hespress news portal.

According to the report, OCP won two licenses covering 176 square kilometers and has commissioned an engineering subsidiary company, Casablanca-based JESA, to assess best mineral extraction and processing. OCP has also reportedly partnered with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University to undertake research on mineral extraction. OCP has not commented publicly on the reports.

Isle of Man-registered potash junior Emmerson plc has been developing a potash project at Khemisset for some time, securing the mining license for its 100% owned project in February 2021 from the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines, and the Environment (GM Feb. 12, 2021). The potash junior is targeting the production of 810,000 mt/y of potash at peak production and 1 million mt/y of salt.

However, the project has met with delays in securing environmental approval. Earlier this month, Emmerson reported that it was still waiting for Morocco’s Ministerial Committee to meet to discuss the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (EISA) for the Khemisset project (GM Jan. 12, p. 28).

The project’s environmental approval was referred to the national Ministerial Committee in July 2023 after the local regional committee was unable to approve the application due to concerns about the Khemisset project’s impact on water resources (GM July 14, 2023).

In its fourth-quarter activities report, Emmerson said it had been repeatedly assured that the EISA meeting will take place “as soon as possible” and that no further significant issues remain. Emmerson had not responded to Green Markets for comment on this week’s Moroccan media reports.

Russia Plans 2Q Launch of Taman NH3 Terminal

Ammonia, Black Sea, News Briefs, Russia, Ukraine

The new ammonia terminal in the Russia Black Sea/Azov Sea port of Taman could start operations in the second quarter of this year, according to an Interfax report on Jan. 26, citing Russia’s Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Mikhail Yurin.

Uralchem and Togliattiazot, which is controlled by Uralchem, had been targeting the end of 2023 for a launch of the first phase of the new terminal, which has capacity of up to 2 million mt/y of ammonia (GM Nov. 23, 2022).

Yurin said in this week’s report that there were unforeseen factors affecting the project, but “the period sometime in the second quarter of this year is when the terminal will be launched.”

The start-up of the new export facility will enable Togliattiazot, Russia’s biggest ammonia producer and exporter, to return to full capacity after having to reduce production following the company’s suspension of ammonia transit through the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline on Feb 25, 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A second development stage is aimed at taking the terminal’s total handling capacity to 3.5 million mt/y of ammonia and 1.5 million mt/y of urea. Construction of the second phase originally was scheduled for 2024-2025.

Russia Boosts Fertilizer Output in 2023

News Briefs, Russia

Russia produced nearly 60 million mt of mineral fertilizers in physical weight in 2023, according to an Interfax report, citing Mikhail Yurin, the country’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

The 2023 data are preliminary and the exact figure was not reported, but Yurin said the data represented “a growth of 9%” on 2022 output. According to data cited by this week’s report, Russia produced 54.3 million mt of mineral fertilizers in 2022, down 7% from 2021’s output of 58.6 million mt.

Early this month, the head of the Russian Fertilizers Producers Association (RFPA), Andrey Guryev, reportedly said he expected the country’s fertilizer production to total 59 million mt in full-year 2023 after reaching 53 million mt in the first 11 months through November (GM Jan. 5, p. 25).

RFPA said if current capacity utilization at Russia’s fertilizer plants is maintained, the association expects fertilizer production this year to reach more than 64 million mt.

Acron Sees 1% Uptick in 2023 Fert Production

Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate, Calcium Nitrate, CAN-17, News Briefs, NPK, Russia, Urea

Russia’s Acron Group reported a 1% uptick in its commercial fertilizer production in 2023, to 7.053 million mt, up from 6.974 million mt the previous year.

The group posted year-over-year increases in the production of ammonia (+5%), granular urea for agricultural use (+37%), CAN, and NPK fertilizers (+7%), while output of most other fertilizer products fell. Ammonia production, all of which is now used in-house, grew to 2.95 million mt in 2023, up from 2.82 million mt the previous year.

Acron’s total production of industrial products, including low-density and technical-grade ammonium nitrate and industrial urea and industrial CAN, was up 7% year-over-year, to 1.202 million mt from 1.128 million mt.

Acron Commercial Fertilizer Production (‘000 mt)

Product 2023 2022 % change
Nitrogen Fertilizers 4,630 4,653 (0.5)
Ammonium Nitrate 1,968 2,083 (5.5)
Prilled Urea 526 617 (14.7)
Granular Urea 930 681 +36.6
UAN 1,107 1,264 (12.4)
Calcium Nitrate 99 9  
Complex Fertilizers 2,423 2,321 +4.4
NPKs 2,343 2,185 +7.2
Bulk Blends 80 136 (41.0)
Total Commercial Fertilizers 7,053 6,974 +1.1

Romania’s Azomureş Resumes Production

Europe, Natural Gas, News Briefs

Romania’s biggest fertilizer producer, Azomureş SA, resumed production on Jan. 24 after suspending production in early December due to rising natural gas costs (GM Dec. 8, 2023), according to a report by Romania Insider.

Fertilizer production will begin at 50% of the plant’s capacity, according to the report, citing Ion Sterian, director of  Romania’s natural gas transport system operator Transgaz, and also  confirmed by Azomureş executives. According to the report, Azomureş will be using mainly imported gas.

EuroChem to Start Operations at Serra do Salitre

Brazil, DAP/MAP, News Briefs, Phosphate Rock, SSP, Sulfuric Acid, Switzerland, Triple Superphosphate

EuroChem Group AG reported late last month that it has received the license to start operations at the sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid units at its Serra do Salitre Mining Industrial Complex in Brazil’s southeastern Minas Gerais state.

Permission from the state’s Council for Environmental Policy (Copam) was the last authorization the Switzerland-based group needed to start activities. EuroChem said the Salitre complex was 95% complete and operations at the site are expected to begin in February-March 2024.

On completion, in addition to sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid production, the Salitre complex will have a production capacity of 1 million mt/y of phosphate fertilizers comprising MAP/NP and SSP/TSP products.

EuroChem said it will ramp up production gradually and expects to produce around 500,000 mt of fertilizers in the first year of operation. The company expects to reach full production in 2025.

EuroChem bought the Serra do Salitre project from Yara International ASA in 2021, when the project was 50% complete (GM Aug. 6, 2021). EuroChem paid a cash consideration of some $410 million for the Serra do Salitre phosphate assets.

The acquired assets also included phosphate mining operations at an open pit, including a tailings dam, with an annual production capacity of approximately 1.2 million mt/y of phosphate rock. The mine has more than 350 million mt of reserves and is EuroChem’s first mine outside of the European continent.

Gustavo Horbach, EuroChem’s Head of South America, said in September 2023, when the project was 85% complete, that the facility will meet some 15% of Brazilian demand for phosphate fertilizers once it is fully ramped up (GM Sept. 8, 2023). He put the total capex for the project at $1 billion.

According to Horbach, EuroChem aims to reach a capacity of 10 million mt/y of installed and operating fertilizer production capacity in Brazil by 2025, and had already achieved some 8.8 million mt/y by August 2023.

Unigel Seeks $150 M, Says Report

Brazil, News Briefs

Financially-troubled Unigel is trying to raise $150 million from a group of bondholders led by American manager Pimco, according to Brazil’s Valor Economico, without revealing how it obtained the information.

The company is seeking to raise funds in the midst of a renegotiation of debt of $530 million in foreign bonds that mature in 2026. Unigel reportedly failed to pay some $23.2 million related to the interest on the bond coupon in October.

Pursell, Yara Partner on PurMidas™

News Briefs, Nitrogen, Sulfur, U.S.

Pursell Agri-Tech, Sylacauga, Ala., and Yara International ASA, Oslo, on Jan. 23 announced the availability of PurMidas™, a controlled-release fertilizer specially designed for turf that delivers a 7:1 ratio of nitrogen to sulfur.

The product is formulated as a homogeneous granular fertilizer and includes nitrogen and sulfur on each particle, which the partners said prevents nutrient segregation, enhancing the consistency of spreading without noticeable striping and irregular growth patterns.

“This partnership brings together Pursell’s innovative coating technology and Yara’s proven nutrition solutions to provide customers with a competitively priced product that more fully meets their needs for both nutrient delivery and sustainability,” said Joe Brady, Pursell CFO.

PurMidas ensures an optimal supply of nitrogen that is critical for chlorophyll and protein formation for stimulating growth and building strong turf, according to the partners, who said the soluble sulfur component is readily available for uptake to maximize green-up and enhance plant stress tolerance.

Pursell said its coating technology offers users the flexibility to adjust coating weights and tailor nutrient release rates to meet nutrient demand and soil temperatures of any region. It said it also protects granule integrity, eliminates risk of lock-off, minimizes nutrient loss, and significantly reduces environmental impact.

Pursell said when compared to uncoated urea, its products minimize leaching by up to 27%, reduce volatilization by up to 95%, and lessen N2O emissions by up to 45%.