All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

CHS, GROWMARK Change Collaboration Plans

News Briefs, U.S.

After announcing in January that they were exploring options for further collaboration (GM Jan. 12, p. 27), CHS Inc. and GROWMARK Inc. have decided that “no new opportunities will be pursued at this time,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported, citing CHS.

“CHS and GROWMARK have had a long-standing relationship, and in cooperative spirit, our teams will continue to work collaboratively on key strategic projects in ways that benefit our farmer-owners and customers across both cooperatives,” CHS said in a statement to the newspaper.

GROWMARK is headquartered in Bloomington, Ill., and CHS in Inver Grove Heights, Minn. The two farmer-owned cooperatives have a long-standing relationship and have partnered before on strategic projects, including the formation in 2021 of Cooperative Ventures, a $50 million venture capital fund focused on supporting advancements in breakthrough technologies for agriculture.

CHS is the nation’s largest agricultural cooperative by sales, with more than $45 billion in revenue last year. GROWMARK had about $15 billion in sales in its most recently reported fiscal year. In January the two companies said they were seeking further collaboration to improve agriculture, invest in technology, and bring new solutions to customers.

“We believe that by working together we can better serve our farmer- and cooperative-owners,” said Jay Debertin, CHS President and CEO, in January. “Ultimately, we aim to better meet customer demand for our owners’ products around the world and increase the value of the cooperative system.”

The Andersons Completes R&P Acquisition

News Briefs, U.S.

The Andersons Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of the assets and business of Reed & Perrine Sales (R&P), Manalapan Township, N.J. R&P specializes in manufacturing and distributing premium turf fertilizers and control products to the commercial lawn and landscape markets.

“We are excited to expand our opportunities in the turf business with the acquisition of Reed & Perrine,” said Joe McNeely, President, The Andersons Nutrient & Industrial. “Their strong relationships and experience in this market will increase our opportunity to connect and enhance our turf customer base, including commercial lawn and landscaping and municipalities, and provide those customers access to the full suite of The Andersons premium Turf products.”

Founded in 1916, R&P has grown from a small regional supplier to a Northeast supplier shipping from Maine to Georgia to Chicago.

GreenPoint Opens New Fert Warehouse in Louisiana

Florida, News Briefs, Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium Sulfate, Texas, U.S.

GreenPoint Ag on May 9 announced the grand opening of a new state-of-the-art fertilizer warehouse in Roanoke, La. With roughly 20,000 square feet under roof, the $3.2 million warehouse has the capacity to hold 4,500 tons of crop nutrient products, including nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, and sulfate ingredients.

Greenpoint said the facility is equipped with a state-of-the-art blending system rated to blend roughly 240 tons per hour, capable of loading a 25-ton tender in less than eight minutes. The warehouse also features an inbound conveyor system that can unload straight products into one of seven available bays in seven minutes or less.

Greenpoint said 22,000 tons of fertilizer is expected to move through the site annually, servicing approximately 100,000 acres across eight Louisiana parishes where the main crops are rice, sugar cane, crawfish, soybeans, and grass pastures.

Headquartered in Decatur, Ala., GreenPoint operates more than 100 retail and wholesale locations across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, generating more than $1.8 billion in annual sales.

BRANDT Restructures D&I Unit

Europe, News Briefs, South America, Tampa, U.S.

BRANDT Inc. on May 8 announced that it has restructured its Discovery & Innovation LLC operating company, effective immediately, to give it a broader, global mandate.

Going forward, D&I will sit alongside BRANDT’s revenue-generating units and have dotted line responsibility for research and development efforts with BRANDT Europe and BRANDT South America, in addition to its traditional role as BRANDT’s innovation engine for the US domestic market.

Brian Haschemeyer will continue to lead D&I as Vice President. He will now, however, report to the newly formed BRANDT Executive Team in Tampa. Since BRANDT’s global restructuring in 2020, D&I had been a part of BRANDT Specialty Formulations group under Executive Vice President Bill Engel.

As part of the restructure, BRANDT’s US regulatory team will move into D&I. Stephanie Brenden, Director of US regulatory, will report to Haschemeyer.

“D&I is the lifeblood of our global organization,” said BRANDT President and CEO Rick Brandt. “This move recognizes the great job that Brian has been doing. Going forward, he and his team will be able to look across the entire BRANDT product development portfolio and help bring the best ideas and products to market, no matter where they are discovered or developed.”

D&I will be moving to its permanent home at the Evelyn Brandt Thomas Innovation Center in Pleasant Plains, Ill., later this summer. The unit is responsible for product discovery, field trialing and testing, product registration support, field technical support, and formulation quality control. The company said the structural change will ensure that all BRANDT’s formulations, labs, field trials, and quality controls are held to the same high global standards.

Landus to Offer Products to PCA Members

News Briefs, U.S.

Landus, Iowa’s largest agricultural cooperative, announced on May 8 that it is expanding its full line of product and service offerings to farmers with Producers Cooperative Association (PCA), a regional co-op headquartered in Girard, Kan., that operates grain, agronomy, feed, farm store, and bulk fuel divisions from Girard and Missouri locations at Waco, Liberal, and Moundville.

“We’re excited to share the Landus offering with PCA farmers so they can access these new markets,” said Landus President and CEO Matt Carstens. “Downstream customers are asking for sustainably raised products, and we’re eager to partner with PCA farmers to show the consumer how important sustainability is.”

Landus said the collaboration will allow PCA member-owners to access Landus’ AcreEdge Performance Portfolio, Landus SkyScout, and other Landus products focused on sustainability. The relationship also aims to increase the opportunity for supplemental sources of income for PCA growers through downstream relations with processors and consumer packaged goods.

“The size and scale of Landus, paired with the local knowledge of our employees, makes for a great experience for PCA member-owners,” said PCA President and CEO Doug Graber. “The products and services that Landus offers truly make a difference, not only in the field, but also to the downstream customers that will buy the grower’s crop.”

UAN Spill May Receive Enhanced Enforcement

News Briefs, U.S., UAN

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is expected to ask Iowa’s Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) to refer a March UAN spill (GM March 29, p. 29; March 15, p. 1) to the Iowa Attorney General for enhanced enforcement, according to reports in the Iowa Capital Dispatch and other local media, citing DNR.

DNR’s own administrative fines are reportedly capped at $10,000, but the Attorney General can seek more. Restitution can be sought for the dead fish, which could reportedly be more than $200,000. The EPC may hear the issue as early as May 22.

The agency is reportedly still awaiting more information from NEW Cooperative as to how the spill happened and what has been done to remedy the situation. The co-op has attributed the incident to employee error but declined further comment, according to the Dispatch, and has hired a company to remove contaminated soil.

NEW Cooperative on March 11 notified the DNR of the release from its Red Oak, Iowa, facility. The product was discharged into a drainage ditch, then into the East Nishnabotna River. DNR’s initial investigation found that over 749,000 fish were killed in 49.8 miles of the East Nishnabotna and Nishnabotna Rivers downstream of the spill and ended near the confluence with the Missouri River.

The latest information from DNR is that a valve on a clogged fertilizer line was left open over the weekend. The line then became unclogged and released some 265,000 gallons of UAN-32, which killed almost all the fish and aquatic creatures downstream for about 60 miles.

DNR described the spill as one of the worst river contamination incidents in the state’s history, noting that it was deadly to aquatic life until it reached the Missouri River and was diluted by the larger water flow.

Indiana N Spill Cited for Significant Fish Kill

Ammonia, News Briefs, Nitrogen, U.S.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) reported on May 6 that it was notified of a significant number of dead fish in West Point, Ind., on Sunday afternoon, May 5.

It said the fish kill stretched approximately 10 miles starting in a tributary to Flint Run where it connects to Flint Creek in Tippecanoe County, where dead fish were also observed. Flint Creek flows into the Wabash River, which is being evaluated for immediate impacts.

Elevated levels of ammonia nitrogen were detected at the initial site. IDEM determined the source to be a leak from a 30,000-gallon capacity tank at the nearby Scott Miller Farm containing liquid nitrogen fertilizer. IDEM contacted the property owner, who implemented containment measures to stop the fertilizer leak.

IDEM and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources monitored the area and recommended that the general public and animals stay out of the tributary to Flint Run and Flint Creek while mitigation efforts are ongoing.

Argentina Removes Duties on Urea, UAN

Argentina, Egypt, News Briefs, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, UAN, Urea

Argentina on May 6 officially implemented the removal of duties on urea and UAN, which were 5.4% and 3.6%, respectively (GM April 12, p. 1). In 2023, Argentina imported 825,000 metric tons of urea and 358,000 metric tons of UAN.

Argentine Minister of the Economy Luis Caputo in April posted on social media that the elimination of tariffs would bolster competition in the agricultural sector, and he noted a sharp reduction in prices of inputs, which he attributed to the improving state of the economy.

Argentina’s main urea supplier Egypt enjoyed a duty-free agreement but will now be on the same level playing field as Algeria and Nigeria, which also supply urea to the country. Other large UAN suppliers include Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US.

Argentina has one domestic urea producer, Profertil, which is owned by Nutrien Ltd. and the state-owned energy company YPF SA.

Cinis Starts SOP Production at Plant in Sweden

News Briefs, Sulfate of Potash, Sweden

Sweden’s Cinis Fertilizer reported on May 8 that production of sulfate of potash (SOP) fertilizer has started as the company’s first production facility in Köpmanholmen, just outside of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Cinis broke ground in February 2023 at the site, which will have a production capacity of 100,000 mt/y.

“The fact that we are the first to produce a mineral fertilizer with a low climate footprint in Sweden feels like history in the making,” said Cinis CEO and Founder Jakob Liedberg. “There is a huge demand for fossil-free produced mineral fertilizer, both in Sweden and in the world. This is an important milestone in agriculture’s green transition.”

Liedberg said production will gradually increase over the coming weeks, with full production planned for the second half of 2024. All SOP from the Örnsköldsvik facility will be delivered to the Dutch fertilizer producer Van Iperen International, with the first delivery planned for the second quarter of 2024.

“50 years after Sweden surprised the world with ABBA, it is now reshaping the global fertilizer industry with the first fully sustainable SOP fertilizer and we are very proud to be part of it,” said says Erik van den Bergh, CEO of Van Iperen. “As marketing partner of Cinis Fertilizer, we very much believe in this beautiful project.”

Cinis produces SOP using a patented technology that recycles waste products from battery manufacturing, as well as from the pulp and other industries. The company is planning a second 200,000 mt/y SOP plant in Bergsbyn, Sweden (GM June 23, 2023), and announced in September that it will build a 300,000 mt/y SOP plant in Hopkinsville, Ky., with production slated for 2026 (GM Sept. 22, 2023).

Mubadala Invests in Australian Urea Project

ADNOC - Abu Dhabi, Australia, Green Hydrogen, News Briefs, Urea

Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, on May 7 announced an investment alongside Global Infrastructure Partners in Perdaman’s A$6.4 billion ($4.2 billion) 2.3 million mt/y Western Australia Urea Project (GM April 28, 2023), the largest such plant in Australia and one of the largest urea fertilizer facilities in the world.

Ground was broken on the facility in April 2023, with completion expected in mid-2027. The plant will incorporate the latest technology to ensure optimized energy efficiency and low emissions.

“Mubadala is delighted to diversify our growing portfolio with the investment into Perdaman’s world-class urea project in Australia,” said Saed Arar, Executive Director of Traditional Infrastructure, Mubadala. “The investment aligns with Mubadala’s responsible investing mandate, supporting national and regional food security ambitions while reducing the carbon footprint of urea production.”

In addition to displacing the import of coal-based urea, the plant will adopt clean technologies such as solar energy and green hydrogen to minimize industrial emissions and lower the carbon footprint of fertilizer production. Perdaman plans to make the plant net zero by 2050.

“Building on our long-standing relationship with Global Infrastructure Partners, we are excited to support Perdaman on its impressive and sustainable growth – with a focus on delivering projects that bring benefits to local communities and mitigate the impact of climate change,” Arar added.