All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

Potassium Thiosulfate

California, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Potassium Thiosulfate, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

Potassium thiosulfate pricing was down to $700/st FOB Terre Haute, below the prior $730/st FOB level.

Western Cornbelt:

Potassium thiosulfate is now reportedly being offered in the Iowa market at a price of $700/st FOB Waterloo.

California:

Potassium thiosulfate slipped to $700/st FOB Sacramento for the latest offers, down $10/st from last report.

Simplot to Close Lathrop Fertilizer Facility

California, Featured, U.S.

The J.R. Simplot Co., Boise, Idaho, reported on Sept. 21 that it has decided to close its fertilizer manufacturing facility in Lathrop, Calif., no later than Aug. 31, 2024. The company announced the decision now in an attempt to minimize disruption to employees, community members, customers, and other stakeholders.

“We recognize the very real and often difficult impact a plant closure has on people and the community,” said Garrett Lofto, J.R. Simplot President and CEO. “We want to thank all of our Lathrop employees who have supported our efforts. This decision does not reflect the effort, pride, and commitment they’ve shown over the years.”

Simplot said it has experienced decreasing demand for products distributed from its Lathrop facility and increasing operating costs at the location for several years. The Lathrop facility was built in the 1950s, and after thorough examination the company determined that updating the facility to meet current and future demands would not be feasible.

The closing timeline will enable Simplot to make sufficient plans for its continued support for customers who may be impacted. Simplot employs about 150 people at its Lathrop facility. Many employees will remain at the location through its closing date. The plant at one time had DAP/MAP capacity of 100,000 mt/y, according to the Green Markets Database.

“We are committed to our customers and partners and will work closely with them to minimize disruption and facilitate a smooth transition,” said Doug Stone, President of Simplot’s AgriBusiness Division. “We will continue to provide high quality products and excellent service to our fertilizer customers in California and throughout North America.”

The Lathrop outage could easily be made up from Simplot’s recent five-year agreement to take 100% of the MAP produced at Itafos Inc.’s Conda, Idaho, plant beginning on Jan. 1, 2024 (GM Sept. 8, p. 1).

Itafos puts Conda’s phosphate production capacity at 550,000 mt/y, which includes MAP, MAP with micronutrients, superphosphoric acid, merchant-grade phosphoric acid, and ammonium polysulfate. Approximate MAP capacity has been put at 340,000 mt/y, with 170,000 mt/y for the other phosphate products. The company also has hydrofluorosilicic acid capacity of approximately 27,000 mt/y (GM July 1, 2022).

Simplot also has phosphate production capacity of 500,000 mt/y at its Rock Springs, Wyo., facility, and 450,000 mt/y at its Pocatello, Idaho, plant, according to the Green Markets database.

Sollio Agriculture Opens New CRF Plant in Ontario

Canada, Eastern Canada, Featured, Northeast, Urea

Montreal-based Sollio Agriculture, the Agri-business Division of Sollio Cooperative Group (formerly La Coop fédérée), on Sept. 18 inaugurated CRF Agritech, a new controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) production plant in St. Thomas, Ont.

The project was launched in 2021 after Sollio Agriculture entered a joint venture with several of its cooperatives in Québec, its Agromart retail partners in Ontario and the Maritimes, and fertilizer technology provider Pursell, Sylacauga, Ala. (GM Sept. 3, 2021).

With an area of 25,800 square feet, the new plant required an investment of more than C$25 million. At full capacity, it will manufacture over 100,000 mt/y of next-generation CRF, including PurYield, for farmers across Eastern Canada and the Northeastern US. It will also be able to produce other coated fertilizer for uses other than agricultural. 

“This strategic partnership between Pursell and the Sollio Agriculture network allows us to expand the potential market for this technology and support nutrient management initiatives associated with the use of fertilizer products,” said Sollio Agriculture CEO Casper Kaastra. “PurYield is an exciting addition to our portfolio, providing substantial benefit to farmers across the region.”

 “We’re proud to extend the scope of our technology to new markets and establish ourselves for the first time in Canada with a partner recognized in the agricultural industry,” said Pursell CFO Joe Brady. This was the first license of Pursell technology outside of the US.

Pursell, which opened its flagship fertilizer coating plant in Sylacauga in early 2018, is also operating a newer plant in Savannah, Ga. (GM May 28, 2021).

 As part of the Fertilizer Accelerating Solutions & Technology Challenge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Ontario, CRF Agritech was awarded C$154,000 (GM April 28, p. 29). This grant made it possible to speed up production and farmers’ adoption of the new generation of fertilizer technology.  

Initial studies conducted by the Sollio Agriculture research team and McGill University show that the use of PurYield fertilizer has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. Additional scientific testing and validation is currently underway.

Thanks to a grant of C$180,000 awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, announced in August, McGill researchers will be able to compare PurYield fertilizer to commonly used uncoated urea fertilizer for its ability to increase growth, yield, and quality of corn grain, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sollio has committed to providing an additional $30,000 per year in cash and in-kind contributions for three years. The research project is also in collaboration with Avantis Cooperative, Sainte-Marie, Quebec.

In addition to CRF products that contain nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, as well as customized plant nutrition options, Pursell technology also enables the addition of micronutrients, biologicals, growth enhancers, and soil health promoters.

Cinis to Build SOP Plant in Kentucky; K+S Agrees to Offtake, MOP Supply

Featured, Germany, Northeast, Saskatchewan, South Central, Sulfate of Potash, Sweden, U.S.

Swedish green technology company Cinis Fertilizer will invest 1 billion Swedish kronor ($89.4 million) in a new 300,000 mt/y sulfate of potash (SOP) production plant in Hopkinsville, Ky., after signing a 10-year agreement with US battery material manufacturer Ascend Elements, Westborough, Mass.

Ascend is currently building a new battery plant in Hopkinsville and it will supply Cinis with 240,000 mt/y of input sodium sulfate starting in 2026.

Cinis expects to begin SOP production in 2026. It has signed a letter of intent with Germany’s K+S Minerals regarding the offtake of the finished product. In addition, K+S will supply potassium chloride from its mine in Saskatchewan.

Cinis and K+S also have offtake and supply agreements in Sweden (GM Sept. 8, p. 26; July 1, 2022), where Cinis is currently building its first production facility, which has a planned start early next year. A second Swedish facility, in Skelleftea, is scheduled to start production in mid-2025. Cinis plans to have 1.5 million mt/y of SOP capacity by the end of 2030 at six facilities, three of which are now designated.

“In the past year, we have experienced massive international interest in our environmentally friendly fertilizer, where circularity and fossil-free production are key,” said Cinis Founder and CEO Jakob Liedberg. “For manufacturers of batteries, it is important that the entire production chain meets high requirements for resource efficiency and environmental friendliness. The agreement with Ascend Elements in addition with the letter of intent with K+S, which includes the purchase of our full plant production capacity, gives us the confidence we need to establish Cinis Fertilizer on the American market.”

The facility will be built in close vicinity to Ascend’s operations in Hopkinsville, which entails cost-effective logistics solutions. Cinis has entered into an agreement with the city of Hopkinsville regarding the purchase of land for the plant and has begun discussions with a regional power supplier regarding the supply of fossil-free electricity.

“The fast growth of industrial in connection with the Inflation Reduction Act, currently taking place in USA contributes to our decision to carry out Cinis Fertilizer’s expansion in North America,” Liedberg added. “This was further strengthened by the great interest shown by prominent investors in their recent investments in Ascend Elements.”

Cinis said it will produce the world’s most environmentally friendly mineral fertilizer by recycling industrial waste products from the car battery manufacturing industry as well as the pulp and paper industry. It said the patent protected technology will use half as much energy as today’s production methods, resulting in a fertilizer with a close to zero carbon footprint.

OCP Welcomes Court Decision in Phosphate Trade Cases; Mosaic Downplays

Featured, Morocco, Phosphate, Russia, U.S.

Morocco’s OCP Group has praised two recent decisions (Sept. 19 and Sept. 14) by the US Court of International Trade (CIT). In the Sept. 19 decision CIT remanded a decision by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in which it found material injury in its final decision in the countervailing duty investigations with respect to imports of phosphate from Morocco and Russia (GM March 11, 2021).

OCP said it prevailed on its objections to a key Commission finding that, according to the Court, was “factually unsupported” and yet “undergirds the Commission’s determination across all statutory factors.” OCP said it looks forward to continuing to cooperate fully with the Commission as it reconsiders its determination on the basis of the Court’s ruling.

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.

CIT particularly zeroed in on the testimony of Donal Lambert, President, EuroChem North America Corp. EuroChem was a consolidated plaintiff in the case. Plaintiff’s motion was supported by plaintiff-intervenors PhosAgro PJSC, International Raw Materials Ltd., and Koch Fertilizer LLC.

Another factor offered by plaintiffs was that domestic producers had idled capacity during this timeframe, thereby necessitating the need for even more imports.

Mosaic on Sept. 21 said CIT appeals are common in trade remedy cases, and in most cases remanded to the ITC for reconsideration. It said the original finding of injury is affirmed.

Mosaic said CIT remanded on one specific factual issue out of many that the ITC relied upon. It said neither the ITC nor the US Department of Commerce (DOC) have thus far changed anything from their earlier determinations, and as a result, countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizers remain in effect with no changes to the rates applied at the border.

“The basic facts that led to countervailing duties on imports from Morocco and Russia remain unchanged,” said Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke. “We will continue to participate actively before the agencies and the courts to defend the original findings.”

CIT directed ITC to take new evidence, reconsider existing evidence, or take any other action allowed by its procedures on remand to come to a conclusion supported by substantial evidence. ITC is directed to file its remand redetermination within 120 days of the Sept. 19 date. Thereafter, all the parties will have time to file comments.

CIT’s Sept. 14 decision addressed the 19.97% duty on imports of phosphates from Morocco. The Court sent the matter back to the DOC to reconsider the calculations it made in the case, particularly with respect to its decision to exclude certain OCP costs. CIT gave the DOC 90 days to submit its remand redetermination, with the parties allowed time to comment thereafter.

As for Russian duties, the rate was 9.19% for PhosAgro, 47.05% for EuroChem, and 17.2% for other Russian companies (GM Feb. 12, 2021).