All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

Russia Extends Fertilizer Export Quotas to May

News Briefs, Nitrogen, NPK, Russia

As anticipated, the Russian government has extended export quotas for nitrogen and complex fertilizers for another six months, from Nov. 30 to May 31, 2024 (GM Nov. 3, p. 31).

The government has set the total export quota for the six-month period at about 17 million mt, which will include a quota of 9.8 million mt for nitrogen fertilizers and over 7.1 million mt for NPK fertilizers, according to a TASS report. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed the decree last week.

The export restrictions have been extended several times since they were first introduced on Dec. 1, 2021, and are aimed at keeping sufficient volumes of fertilizers available for supply to the domestic market (GM Nov. 5, 2021).

The total fertilizer export quota for the June 1-Nov. 30 period was more than 18.5 million mt, after a boost in mid-November from the original 16.3 million mt quota (GM Nov. 17, p. 30).

Russian Fertilizer Production Up 32% in October

News Briefs, Nitrogen, Potash, Russia

Russian fertilizer production increased by 32.4% year-over-year in October, to 2.4 million mt of active ingredient, according to an Interfax report, citing the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Output in October was also up 7.9% from September this year.

Potash production in October increased 84.9% year-over-year, to 0.9 million mt of active ingredient, and was 3.2% higher than September 2023. Phosphate fertilizer output rose 7.8% in October, to 0.4 million mt of active ingredient, 7.8% higher than September.

Nitrogen fertilizer production totaled 1.1 million mt of active ingredient in October, some 15% higher than October 2022 and 12% more than September 2023. Russia produced 21.3 million mt of fertilizers (active ingredient) in the 10 months to Oct. 31, 2023, a year-over-year increase of 8.6%.

Ten-month potash output totaled 7.3 million mt of active ingredient, an 18.4% year-over-year increase, while phosphate fertilizer production rose 1.1% during the period, to 3.6 million mt of active ingredient. Nitrogen fertilizer production for January-October was 5.2% higher year-over-year, to 10.4 million mt of active ingredient.

Acron Extends Option to Buy Back VPC Stake

News Briefs, Potash, Russia

Acron Group has extended an option to buy a 10% share tranche in Verkhnekamsk Potash Co. CJSC (VPC), the subsidiary developing the Talitsky potash project in Russia’s Perm region, until April 2024, Interfax reported, citing a statement from the Russian fertilizer group.

Acron said in August that it had extended an option to buy the 10% tranche from banks until February 2024 and had also extended a 19.9% option until December 2023 (GM Sept. 1, p. 26). Acron  also has an option to buy a 9.99% stake in VPC until September 2025.

Acron owns a 50% plus one share holding in VPC. Russian banks Sberbank Investments, Otkritie Bank, and VTB Group have stakes worth 29.9%, 10.1%, and 10%, respectively. Acron and the banks have call and put options allowing the fertilizer group to sell and the banks to buy stakes in VPC.

Acron in September said construction of Talitsky’s mine and surface facilities was well underway and confirmed plans to start potash production at Talitsky in 2026 (GM Sept. 22, p. 27). The project, which has been delayed several times, will have an initial production capacity of 2 million mt/y of potassium chloride when fully ramped up.

Acron previously stated that Talitsky will have the potential for further expansion to 2.6 million mt/y. According to this week’s Interfax report, the project cost for the Talitsky mining and processing plant project has now risen to $2.7 billion.

Thyssenkrupp to License Perdaman’s Urea Unit

Australia, Germany, News Briefs, Urea

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology GmbH has signed a contract with Italy’s Saipem S.p.A. to provide the licensing, process design package, and main equipment for Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd.’s 2.3 million mt/y granular urea project under construction some 20 km north of Karratha on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula.

Saipem is in a 50:50 joint venture with Webuild Group SpA as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors for the Perdaman project.

Thyssenkrupp said it has been contracted to supply two granulators and two exhaust air scrubbers for the urea granulation. The granulation unit will have a total production capacity of 6,200 mt/d, made up of two identical trains of 3,100 mt/d each. Thyssenkrupp’s licensed UFT fluid-bed urea granulation technology is being used in more than 70 plants globally.

Perdaman broke ground on the long-planned urea project on April 26 this year (GM April 28, p.  1) after achieving financial close for the A$6 billion project (approximately $3.98 billion at current exchange rates). The junior producer expects the plant to be commissioned in mid-2027 (GM April 21, p. 1).

The facility will provide Australia’s Incitec Pivot Fertilisers Ltd. (IPF) with a secure, long-term supply of domestically produced urea. IPF has a 20-year offtake agreement of 2.3 million mt/y of granular urea from the Perdaman plant on its commissioning (GM May 7, 2021).

In an April 26 statement, Perdaman revealed that to achieve financial close it agreed to a strategic equity investment in the project of “over A$2.1 billion” with the US-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in return for GIP taking a 49% interest in the urea development. Perdaman did not disclose the terms of the deal with GIP (GM April 28, p. 1).

Brazil Potash Details Ownership

Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, News Briefs, Potash, U.S.

Prompted by press inquiries, Brazil Potash, Toronto, which is developing the Autazes Potash Project in Amazonas State in Brazil, has detailed its ownership, saying in total it is owned by over 7,000 shareholders mainly located in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Brazil.

The company said its largest shareholder, London-based CD Capital, owns 30.7% and is a natural resource-focused investment fund. The second largest at 20.9% is Sentient Equity Partners, Grand Cayman, also a natural resource-focused fund.

Coming in third is Forbes & Manhattan Barbados at 12.2%, which is a developer of primarily natural resource-focused firms. The company is owned by the Bharti Family Trust, Delhi, India, and includes personal family investments from one of the founders of Brazil Potash who also founded and is the Chairman of Forbes & Manhattan Inc., Toronto, which develops natural resource projects globally.

The fourth largest group, at 12%, includes substantial Brazilian ownership largely by families located in Amazonas State. The remainder, at 24.2%, includes over 7,000 institutional and retail investors predominately located in the US.

Asia-Potash International Eyes Laos K Expansion

Asia, China, News Briefs, Potash

China-based Asia-Potash International Investment (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd. plans to issue as much as CNY2 billion (approximately $282.1 million at current exchange rates) of convertible bonds to fund the next stage of its potash project in Nong Bok district, Khammouane province, central Laos.

The notes will finance the second stage of the project, which is targeting an additional 1 million mt/y of potassium chloride production capacity, according to a report by Chinese news portal Yicai Global, citing the Guangzhou-based company. The Chinese firm in August reported it was accelerating the potash project (GM Aug. 11, p. 31).

The initial phase of the project is already under construction with a targeted production capacity of 500,000 mt/y, according to Asia-Potash International’s website. The company is developing the potash project through subsidiary Sino-Agri International Potash Co., which earlier completed a 100,000 mt/y potash pilot plant as part of the project.

Sino-Agri International began operations in Khammouane province in 2021, owning the mining rights to potassium ore in a 35 square kilometers area in Khammouane, with a proven K-Mg ore reserve of over 1 billion mt, according to Asia-Potash International’s website.

Since then, Sino-Agri International has secured an expansion of its exploration area in Khammouane province, which, as of August this year, totaled more than 214 square kilometers according to a Radio Free Asia report. The company is reportedly seeking approval from the Laotian government to add a further 48 square kilometers in the province.

Most of the potash produced in Laos is exported to China, which imported 606,987 mt of Laotian potash last year, according to Trade Data Monitor.

Yara Partners on Ammonia-Fueled Containership

Ammonia, Germany, News Briefs, Norway

Yara Clean Ammonia AS (YCA) and Norway’s North Sea Container Line AS are establishing a joint venture to launch the world’s first container ship that uses clean ammonia as a fuel.

The JV, NCL Oslofjord AS, will operate the ship Yara Eyde between Oslo and Porsgrunn in Norway, and Hamburg and Bremerhaven in Germany, beginning in 2026 when the vessel is scheduled for delivery, Yara International ASA reported on Nov. 30.

Upon establishment, the NCL Oslofjord joint venture aims to become the world’s first line operator to focus exclusively on ammonia-powered container ships. 

The Norwegian government enterprise Enova has awarded the project just over NOK40 million (approximately $3.76 million at current exchange rates), and Yara described the support as “decisive” for implementing the project.

“Yara Eyde is optimized for the trade corridor between Norway and Germany, making the route the first emission-free route to the continent,” Yara said. “From 2026, Norwegian companies can trade in products emissions-free in and out of Norway.”

Yara International is participating as cargo-owner. The fertilizer produced in Porsgrunn will be shipped emissions-free to Germany, cutting scope 3 emissions with 11,000 mt of CO2 per year, the company said.

”Global shipping accounted for 706 million mt of CO2 emissions last year and it is imperative that we cooperate across the value chains to reach the 1.5 degree critical climate goal by 2030,” said Yara International President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether.

“This unique project takes a major step towards zero-emission supply chains for Yara and demonstrates that clean ammonia will be able to provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly maritime transport,” said YCA President Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand. “Yara Eyde will demonstrate the maturity of ammonia as a maritime fuel.”

Ammonia-Fired Power Eyed for Ireland

Ammonia, Europe, News Briefs

UK-based Centrica plc, Windsor, and London-based Mitsubishi Power Europe Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore the development, construction, and operation of Europe’s first-ever ammonia-fired power generation facility at Centrica’s Bord Gáis Energy’s Whitegate Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station in Cork, Ireland.

It would be one of only two such facilities in the world. The partners said the facility would serve as a global demonstration site for ammonia-fired power generation technology.

First Phosphate, Sun Chemical Partner on LFP CAM

Canada, Lithium, News Briefs, Phosphate

First Phosphate Corp., Saguenay, Quebec, and Sun Chemical Corp., Parsippany, N.J., on Nov. 29 announced a nonbinding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development of intermediates used for the manufacture of lithium iron phosphate-based cathode active material (LFP CAM) to support the developing North American battery market.

Sun will use its North America facilities to manufacture iron phosphate using the phosphate material of First Phosphate and its partners. Sun is a producer of inorganic pigments and is utilizing existing local factory capacity in North America and Europe to support the battery materials market.

The parties said co-precipitation-based cathode materials are manufactured using the same processes, domain knowledge, and equipment as for inorganic pigments, making this a natural fit.

The agreement will include the investigation of the best source of iron to use in the iron phosphate and lithium iron phosphate synthesis process, with preferred consideration for Sun’s current manufacturing capabilities of iron oxide precursors and First Phosphate’s mining source recovery of magnetite.

Sun and First Phosphate may develop a multi-party US Department of Energy grant application in conjunction with committed offtake agreements that could come from First Phosphate’s prospective customers.

First Phosphate is a mineral development company that holds over 1,500 square kilometers of royalty-free, district-scale land claims that it is developing in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec. Its properties consist of rare anorthosite igneous phosphate rock that generally yields high purity phosphate material devoid of high concentrations of harmful elements.

Sun is a subsidiary of DIC Group, which has global exposure to capital and technology. DIC reports combined annual sales of more than $8.5 billion, has over 22,000 employees worldwide, and supports a diverse collection of global customers.

FuelPositive Moves on Green Tech

Canada, Green Ammonia, Green Hydrogen, News Briefs

FuelPositive Corp., Waterloo, Ont., which plans to produce FP 300 modular green ammonia plants (100 mt/y), announced on Nov. 16 that it has placed it first purchase order with Toronto-based Cipher Neutron Inc. for its Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) Electrolyser Technology.

FuelPositive said Cipher’s technology can produce hydrogen without using Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), including Platinum, Iridium, and Ruthenium, making Cipher’s product one of the most affordable and sustainable solutions available to produce high-volume and high-pressure green hydrogen.

Upon successful testing and benchmarking by FuelPositive, the Cipher’s AEM will be used to make green hydrogen to produce green ammonia in their commercial systems. FuelPositive plans to manufacture 30 FP300 systems over the next 12-18 months.