All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

The Mosaic Co. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

The Mosaic Co.’s Board of Directors, as part of an internal reorganization, on Oct. 18 appointed Clint C. Freeland to the position of Executive Vice President and CFO, effective Nov. 1. He is currently Senior Vice President and CFO. In his new position, Freeland’s responsibilities will continue to include Mosaic’s Financial and IT/Cybersecurity Management in addition to Strategic Planning.

Also effective Nov. 1, the Board appointed Walter F. Precourt III to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. He is currently Senior Vice President – Strategy and Growth. In his new position, he will have responsibilities for Mosaic’s administrative functions including Human Resources, Public Affairs Procurement, and Enterprise Business Services.

Rio Tinto – Management Brief

Australia, Canada, London, Management Briefs

London-based Rio Tinto on Oct. 25 announced that it has appointed James “Joc” O’Rourke as a Non-Executive Director, effective Oct. 25.  O’Rourke, a dual Canadian/Australian national, will stand for election at the annual general meeting of the company in 2024.

O’Rourke has more than 25 years of experience in the mining and minerals industry. He previously served as CEO of The Mosaic Co. and President of Mosaic until recently (GM Sept. 1, p. 1), in addition to other roles at the company including Executive Vice President of Operations and COO. Before Mosaic, he was President of Australia Pacific for Barrick Gold Corp., where he led ten gold and copper mines in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

O’Rourke currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of The Toro Co. and the Weyerhauser Co.

Marion Ag Service Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs, U.S.

Marion Ag Service Inc., a family-owned ag retail business in St. Paul, Ore., on Oct. 24 announced several new hires and team member appointments. The company hired John Wayland as Horticulture Business Development Lead to grow the company’s horticultural market, with an initial focus on Marion’s suite of controlled release fertilizers.

Marion also added Susan Bradley and Ashlee Spickler to its horticulture business team to support customer relationships, order logistics, and inventory management.

Marion hired Justin Horlacher as Wholesale Sales Representative to grow the company’s wholesale market segment, with an initial focus on Marion’s PurKote technology. Doug Grott has been added as Director of Sales to execute growth across all of Marion’s market segments, and Erin Galvean has been appointed as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer.

In addition, Jeff Freeman, who currently serves as Marion’s Director of Sales and Marketing, will transition to a new role as Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, where he will lead the company’s growth and business development strategies and oversee marketing mixes.

Marion said Wayland has decades of experience in the Pacific Northwest nursery and greenhouse markets, while Horlacher brings more than 20 years of experience networking with western US distributors on value added products. Additionally, Grott has over 20 years of experience in ag retail and business development in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Galvean is a CPA with more than 20 years of experience, the past 15 with A-dec/Austin Industries.

ITC Details Procedures for Phosphate Case Remand

Morocco, News Briefs, Phosphate, Russia, U.S., U.S. Imports

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) on Oct. 23 gave notice of the procedures it intends to follow to comply with the court-ordered remand of its final determinations in the countervailing duty investigations of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia (GM Sept. 22, p. 1).

The US Court of International Trade (CIT) remanded for reconsideration ITC’s factual finding regarding the feasibility of reshipment of phosphate fertilizer from one destination to another. CIT said that while the plaintiffs brought multiple challenges to the ITC ruling, ITC grounded its findings on an unsupported assumption that fertilizer could be reshipped from one destination to another to meet existing demand.

CIT cited industry testimony that it was not economically feasible to ship barges positioned upriver back down the river to meet demand elsewhere, such as the Delta. Plaintiffs had argued that it was more feasible to simply import product to meet those needs, as domestic freight costs were prohibitive. This all relates to the fact that imports grew during a time of low demand spurred on by three seasons of flooding.

The ITC said only those persons who were interested parties that participated in the investigations and were also parties to the appeal may participate in the remand proceedings. ITC said it is reopening the record in these proceedings for the limited purpose of issuing a short supplemental questionnaire to US producers and US importers. It said it is otherwise not reopening the record for the collection of new factual information.

ITC said it will permit parties to file written comments (electronically) limited to addressing new factual information obtained during the remand proceedings. It said these comments must be based solely on the information in the ITC’s record. ITC said it will reject submissions containing additional factual information or arguments pertaining to issues other than those it has defined.

The deadline for filing comments is Nov. 27, 2023. Comments must be limited to a total of 25 double-spaced and single-sided pages of textual material for domestic interested parties, inclusive of attachments and exhibits; and a total of 25 double-spaced and single-sided pages of textual material for respondent interested parties, inclusive of attachments and exhibits.

India Resumes Select Visa Services

Australia, Canada, India, News Briefs

India will begin issuing certain categories of visas for Canadian citizens, in a sign of softening of tensions between the two nations over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, according to Bloomberg.

India will resume issuing visas from Oct. 26 to people of Indian origin and those requiring permits to attend conferences or for business or medical reasons, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa announced on Oct. 25. The decision was taken after a “considered review of the security situation that takes into account some Canadian measures in this regard,” it said in a statement. The Indian High Commission and consulates will also address any emergency situation, according to the statement.

The move comes days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration forced the North American nation to cut its diplomatic staff in India (GM Oct. 20, p. 28), which External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said was triggered by concerns about interference by Canadian diplomats in his country’s internal affairs. Diplomatic ties between the two countries deteriorated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of helping orchestrate the killing of a Sikh separatist activist on Canadian soil.

New Delhi called the allegation “absurd” and retaliated with several measures, including a suspension of visas for Canadians. India asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence and make it equal to the number of Indians who have diplomatic immunity in Canada.

In Canada-India trade news, India’s lentil imports from its major supplier Canada are steady, according to a Bloomberg report citing a top government official, allaying concerns that a diplomatic row between the two nations is hurting trade. 

The administration hasn’t asked traders to refrain from purchasing the commodity from Canada, as speculated by some traders, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. 

“The flows from both Canada and Australia are seamless. We don’t distinguish between the country of origin, but of course we will go by the quality that we receive at ports,” he told reporters on Oct. 26. 

However, The Economic Times, citing industry sources it didn’t identify, reported on Oct. 25 that no new contracts were being signed for imports of lentils from Canada as traders were worried that retaliatory tariffs could be imposed.

Lentil imports by India more than doubled from a year earlier to 1.09 million tons between Jan. 1 and Oct. 17, Singh said. Inbound shipments included 601,000 tons from Australia, 463,000 tons from Canada, and 18,000 tons from Russia, he said.

India has been trying to keep domestic food prices under control ahead of polls in five key states next month and the national election in early 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third term in office. It has restricted exports of wheat, rice, and sugar, besides cracking down on hoarding and selling farm commodities from state reserves. 

The forthcoming election may bode well for all Canadian agriculture-related products, including fertilizer. Canpotex inked a new three-year contract with three Indian companies last year which is good through Dec. 31, 2025 (GM Sept. 30, 2022; Sept. 22, p. 1).

NTSB Issues Report in Fatal NH3 Accident

Ammonia, News, News Briefs, U.S.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Oct. 25 issued a preliminary report on a tanker truck accident on Sept. 29 near Teutopolis, Effingham County, Ill., that resulted in the death of five people and injured 11 (GM Oct. 6, p. 1).

The tanker truck, with approximately 7,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia, was traveling west on US Highway 40, a two-lane road, according to NTSB. At the same time, an oncoming eastbound vehicle was approaching the westbound tanker truck, and a westbound passenger vehicle was passing the tanker truck in a no-passing zone.

The driver of tanker truck stated that to prevent a collision between the westbound passenger vehicle and the oncoming eastbound vehicle, he took evasive action by steering to the right. The tanker truck then left the road and traveled into a shallow roadside drainage ditch.

The tanker truck struck the end of a 12-inch-diameter corrugated metal pipe culvert installed beneath a field entrance, and the vehicle jackknifed and rolled onto its right side with its cargo tank sliding forward. The exposed front end of the cargo tank struck the tow ring of a utility trailer that had been parked adjacent to the roadway on private property. The tow ring punctured the front of the cargo tank, which led to the release of anhydrous ammonia.

The driver of the tanker truck vehicle sustained injuries as a result of the crash and exposure to the ammonia. Additionally, five people in the area of the crash died and 11 others sustained injuries ranging from minor to severe due to their exposure to ammonia.

NTSB noted that the information in the report is preliminary and subject to change. It said all aspects of the crash remain under investigation while it determines the probable cause, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar events.

On Oct. 5, the Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Criminal Investigation reported that it was able to identify the vehicle passing the tanker truck and the individual believed to be involved in the accident, using information provided by the community, including surveillance video. ISP did not identify the individual.

The tanker truck was owned and operated by Prairieland Transport Ltd., Brownstown, Ill. The ammonia was owned by Nutrien Ltd. and was en route from the company’s Lima, Ohio, nitrogen facility to a company retail location in Warrensburg, Ill.

AgBiome Files Lay Off Notice

News Briefs, U.S.

Agtech startup AgBiome Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C., has developed plans to lay off potentially all of its employees, according to a letter from the company received by the North Carolina Department of Commerce on Oct. 17.

Consistent with these plans, separation notifications were expected to begin Oct. 16, with employees terminated effective Dec. 15, 2023. AgBiome said that it anticipates these changes, when finalized, to be permanent. The company said the timetable was based on the best information currently available, but that various factors may still affect the timing on any employment terminations.

The company supplied a list of some 123 employees that were in affected positions. The list includes AgBiome’s two Co-CEOs, Scott Uknes and Eric Ward. The company noted than none of the employees were represented by a labor union and that no bumping rights exist.

AgBiome issued a statement saying the company will “continue to produce, market, sell, and support our products for the foreseeable future” and that “our business is doing better than it ever has.”

“Unfortunately, we needed to raise capital in an extremely challenging VC and private equity market,” it said. “Many excellent companies, including AgBiome, are struggling to raise capital. We are continuing ongoing discussions with potential partners and investors that would push forward the company’s products, platform, and science.”

AgBiome’s proprietary Genesis™ platform captures microbes for agriculturally relevant applications and screens them for insect, disease, and nematode control. The company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions, including the fungicides Howler and Theia. The first of these, Howler, can be used on a broad variety of crops.

Founded in 2012, AgBiome has received multiple grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Other major investors include Bayer’s Leap, Novozymes, 180 Capital Corp., Aliment Capital, Novalis Life Sciences, Polarispartners, Utimco, Blue Horizon, and Arch Venture Partners.

In 2021, The Mosaic Co. announced that it would collaborate with AgBiome with the aim of launching novel biological approaches to enhancing soil fertility (GM March 26, 2021). Mosaic had not responded to inquiries at press time.

New House Speaker has Farm Bill on Agenda

News Briefs, U.S.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) told Bloomberg Government on Oct. 27 that he remains optimistic that a new farm bill will be negotiated this year.

Thompson said newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pledged in the run-up to the leadership vote this week to bring the full farm reauthorization to the floor this year. Thompson also spent the last three weeks of a leaderless House laying the groundwork for a five-year bill in meetings with multiple House Democrats, including ranking Democrat David Scott (Ga.).

The new speaker is “very supportive of agriculture,” Thompson said, adding that Johnson “campaigned on and identified the farm bill” as must-pass legislation in December.

There remain significant obstacles to that year-end timeline, including deep divisions between the parties over conservation funding and a Republican push to reclaim billions of dollars for climate-related funding from the 2022 climate law.

Thompson also noted that there is still a need for a short-term extension given the current farm bill expired Sept. 30, but he said this extension “should be clean” and avoid substantive changes to the current farm bill, leaving those debates to the five-year bill.

In the Senate, however, Bloomberg Government reported that many Republicans are more focused on moving a one-year extension of the current farm bill, with few signs of progress on a bigger farm bill. And momentum is building for using the spending bill that must be passed next month to avert a government shutdown to carry it.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D), who serves on both the Senate agriculture committee and Republican leadership team, said a farm bill extension could be included in a supplemental spending measure to aid Israel and Ukraine, as well as in several upcoming “minibus” spending bills to fund agencies for fiscal 2024.

Key Senate voices including the agriculture committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), last week said it is time to abandon hopes of getting a five-year farm bill this year and move instead on a one-year extension.

House Democrats haven’t made a decision to back an extension and remain hopeful of moving a bipartisan farm bill, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) told reporters on Oct. 27. House Republicans “continue to play ideological games” as some tout deep cuts in the next farm bill, Jeffries said, but “at the end of the day, there’s no circumstance where any meaningful piece of legislation is moving through the House of Representatives unless it is bipartisan.”

Court Rules Against Intrepid on Water Rights

News Briefs, Potash, U.S.

The New Mexico Court of Appeals on Oct. 18 issued an opinion affirming a lower court decision (GM Aug. 20, 2021; Dec. 31, 2020) that most of Intrepid Potash Inc.’s water rights to the Pecos River were either forfeited or abandoned before 2017.

While Intrepid had not returned calls at press time, it has previously said that the loss of the water rights would have no impact on its potash and Trio production and it can meet its other water sales obligations without the Pecos water.

The plaintiffs, Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District, the Carlsbad Irrigation District, and the Otis Mutual Domestic Water Consumers & Sewage Works Association, had argued that Intrepid water rights were forfeited years ago due to non-use and thereby abandoned. Initially procured for potash production, Intrepid more recently wanted to use the water to sell to the oil and gas industry. Intrepid had argued that any interruption in its use was brought on by drought and other conditions out of the company’s control.

Another plaintiff concern was the Pecos River Compact, an agreement between New Mexico and Texas that guarantees Texas will get its share of water from the river. Plaintiffs had argued that if Texas did not get its water, it could take a priority claim on New Mexico water users.

Intrepid had also argued that it had been granted water permits by the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE) in 2017 and 2018. Plaintiffs argued these were illegal since there were no public hearings prior to their issuance.

Brazil, Bolivia Discuss $2.5 B Fertilizer Plant

Brazil, Lithium, News Briefs

Brazil’s oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and Bolivia’s Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) have been in talks about a possible joint investment of $2.5 billion to build an ammonia and urea plant in Puerto Quijarro, on the border of the two countries. While acknowledging the talks, Petrobras cautioned that no final investment decision has been made.

“The progress of these initial rapprochement talks between the two countries will be mutual and gradually constructive,” Petrobras said in a statement. The company is studying the best alternatives for executing its strategy in the fertilizer sector, it added.

Brazil consumes 80% of Bolivia’s current fertilizer output, according to YPFB, and the proposed plant is expected to produce 4,200 mt/d. Bolivia’s only urea plant at Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz (formerly Bulo Bulo) produces 2,100 mt/d. The discussions were unveiled by YPFB in an Oct. 25 statement after a Petrobras delegation visited the country (GM Sept. 8, p. 27).

Petrobras had meetings at Bolivia’s Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energies to discuss natural gas supplies, renewable energy, fertilizers, lithium, and investments in oil and gas exploration and production in the country, Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Petrobras has shown an interest in resuming investments in neighboring countries Venezuela and Bolivia, which Prates said makes “geopolitical sense” due to their vast potential for oil and gas. The easing of sanctions on Venezuela “seriously inspires” Petrobras to think about investing in the oil-rich nation, which will need funds to rebuild its deteriorated industry, Prates said in an interview this week with Bloomberg.