All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

Chemtrade Declares Cash Distribution

Canada, News, News Briefs

Toronto-based Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund on June 21 announced that it has declared a cash distribution of $0.05 per unit for the month of June 2023, payable on July 26, 2023, to unitholders of record at the close of business on June 30, 2023.

Holders of units who are non-residents of Canada will be required to pay all withholding taxes payable in respect of any distributions of income by the fund. Chemtrade offers a Distribution Reinvestment Plant (DRIP) that provides a way for unitholders to accumulate additional Chemtrade units without fees and currently includes a 3% bonus distribution.

IFA Opens London Office

London, News, News Briefs

The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) announced on June 20 that it has opened an office in London, within the premises of the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA). The move marks both IFA’s return to London where it was originally established in 1927, and the establishment of a dual presence for the association in both London and Paris. IFA has been headquartered in Paris since 1957 and retains its Paris office.

“IFA has been a UK registered company since its inception in 1927, and the establishment of this office will enable us to become a dual-centered organization, while retaining our strong, experienced employee base in Paris,” said Alzbeta Klein, IFA CEO and Director General. “GAFTA and IFA have complementary offerings, and I believe our two industries will also benefit from this closer association.”

“GAFTA and IFA are both members of the International Agrifood Network (IAFN) and have worked together for many years on UN-focused work to ensure global food security remains a vital priority for policymakers,” said Jaine Chisholm Caunt OBE, GAFTA Director General. “I am sure that this new development will enable further fruitful opportunities for collaborative activities, which will benefit all our members.”

Cinis Gets Permit for Second SOP Plant

News, News Briefs, Specialty, Sweden

Swedish fertilizer producer Cinis Fertilizer AB announced on June 20 that the Swedish Land and Environment Court has granted an environmental permit for the construction of a 200,000 mt/y sulfate of potash (SOP) production facility in Bergsbyn, Skellefteå municipality, Sweden.

Construction of the facility is slated to begin in 2024, with fertilizer production planned in 2025. Cinis recycles waste salts from the Northvolt Ett electric car battery production facility in Skellefteå to produce SOP fertilizer.

Cinis said it has sold all of the SOP production from the Skellefteå facility and another 100,000 mt/y facility in Örnsköldsvik to Van Iperen, a Dutch producer of specialty fertilizer and biostimulants for fertigation and foliar application. Production at the Örnsköldsvik plant is scheduled to begin in 2024.

“It is very gratifying that Cinis Fertilizer receives an environmental permit also for our planned operations in Skellefteå,” said Jakob Liedberg, CEO of Cinis Fertilizer. “We have come a long way in the planning and will use the experience we gain from the ongoing establishment of our production facility in the municipality of Örnsköldsvik. With that knowledge, we can more efficiently build a facility twice as large in Skellefteå, near the electric vehicle battery manufacturer Northvolt.”

EU Import Duties Reimposed on NH3, Urea

Ammonia, Europe, News, News Briefs, Urea

An import duty of 5.5% on ammonia imported into the European Union (EU) from all origins came back into effect on June 17 after a six-month suspension, along with a 6.5% tariff on urea imports. The conclusion of a review by the European Commission on whether to extend the suspension for a further six months is still pending (GM June 9, p. 28).

Certain origins remain exempt from the tariffs, including Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, and Algeria. Duties on ammonia and urea imports originating from Russia and Belarus remained in effect through the six-month suspension.

The EU on Dec. 16 last year adopted the EU Council Regulation to temporarily suspend import tariffs on ammonia and urea from all origins except Russia and Belarus until June 17, amid concerns about rising fertilizer costs and the effect on food prices (GM Dec. 23, 2022).

The Commission is assessing the impact of the tariff suspension and current market conditions in the EU and globally, but members are divided on whether duties should resume. Fertilizers Europe, the Brussels-based European producers organization, welcomed the news that the tariff suspension was ending.

“It sends a strong signal that the EU leaders recognize the domestic fertilizer industry is vital for Europe’s strategic autonomy on fertilizers and food,” a spokesperson for the organization said in an emailed statement to Green Markets. “Today there is no shortage of fertilizers in Europe. Also, market circumstances show signs of significant normalization with EU gas and fertilizer prices at pre-crisis levels.”

Fertilizers Europe had expressed “regret” at the EU Council’s decision to suspend the tariffs last December. The spokesperson this week said the reimposition of duties “is an important step” to ensuring a competitive business environment, “providing a positive factor and incentive for the European producers to re-start temporarily curtailed production.”

Belarus Ups Potash Exports Through Russian Ports

Belarus, News, News Briefs, Potash, Russia

Transshipments of Belarusian potash through Russian ports may increase to 8.4 million mt this year, up from the 3 million mt in 2022, according to an Interfax report on June 19, citing Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev. According to Savelyev, more than 4 million mt of Belarusian potash have been transported since the start of 2023.

Belarus began reorienting transshipment of its potash exports to Russian ports after Lithuania’s government in February 2022 terminated the railway transit contract between the country’s state-owned railway company Lietuvos Geležinkeliai’s (LTG) and Belarusian potash producer Belaruskali OAO over national security concerns (GM Jan. 14, 2022).

The Lithuanian government’s decision came in the wake of European Union and US sectoral sanctions on Belarus, which included, among other things, a ban on the trading and transit of potash. Without the Lithuanian rail route, Belaruskali was unable to export potash or NPKs via the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda, effectively blocking the producer’s key export route.

Before the imposition of Western sanctions, Belaruskali and its marketing/export arm, Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC), shipped 10-11 million mt of potash annually through Klaipėda.

Belaruskali signed a contract in June 2022 with St. Petersburg-based operator Keystone Logistics LLC to transship 2 million mt of potash in containers via the Bronka terminal through 2023, according to Bloomberg, citing a Kommersant report (GM June 24, 2022). Belarus in March was reported to already be using the Bronka terminal to transship its “main export items” (GM March 3, p. 27).

Belaruskali also has increased its exports to China by rail since sanctions were implemented. Belarus railed more than 1 million mt of potash to China in 2022, according to an Interfax report in January, citing Belarus Transport and Communications Minister Alexei Avramenko (GM Jan 6, p. 28).

PhosAgro Touts January-April Rise in Exports

News, News Briefs, Russia

PJSC PhosAgro boosted its January-April exports of fertilizers by 8%, to 4 million mt versus the same period last year, with shipments to Latin America up by 50%, according to an Interfax report, citing PhosAgro CFO Alexander Sharabaika speaking to reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 14-17.

The Russian fertilizer group’s deliveries to North America also increased, but Sharabaika did not disclose the level of the increase nor the export volumes. Sharabaika said export volumes to Europe were down 10% year-over-year, and supplies to Southeast Asia (excluding India) also decreased.

He highlighted, however, that PhosAgro has maintained “high volumes” of shipments to India so far this year following a surge last year. The group reported in April that it increased its exports of agrochemical products to India “more than fivefold” in 2022, reaching 2.7 million mt “in the face of external restrictions” (GM April 28, p. 31).

PhosAgro increased 2022 fertilizer sales by 6.4%, to 11.1 million mt, a volume described by the group as the highest in its history and up from 10.43 million mt the previous year (GM March 10, p. 26).

Sharabaika also reported that PhosAgro’s target to produce 11.3 million mt in full-year 2023 remains on track. If the production target is achieved, it would be a 2% increase over 2022. The group said its output increased by 6% in the first quarter of this year, but provided no actual volumes (GM April 7, p. 26).

PhosAgro Expects Decision on NH3/Urea Complex

Ammonia, News, News Briefs, Russia, Urea

PJSC PhosAgro could make a final investment decision on the construction of a new ammonia and urea complex in the first half of 2024, according to an Interfax report, citing PhosAgro CEO Mikhail Rybnikov speaking to reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 14-17.

Rybnikov said the group is continuing to select licensees for the project and is looking at Asia, and the “chances are high” that the process will be completed this year.

PhosAgro reported in April that it was “actively looking” for a licensor(s) for the ammonia and urea project, with both Cherepovets, some 600 km north of Moscow, and Volkhov, in Russia’s Leningrad region, under consideration as the site for the new production facility (GM April 21, p. 1). The group already has existing production sites at both locations.

PhosAgro has said the new complex would remove the group’s need to buy ammonia for its existing plants at the two locations. The Russian group first announced its plans to build a new ammonia and urea complex in late 2021, indicating at the time a proposed production capacity of 1 million mt/y of ammonia and up to 1 million mt/y of urea (GM Nov. 24, 2021).

It had been targeting a construction start in 2022 and first production for the end of 2025, but Western sanctions on Russia have likely contributed to the project delay. PhosAgro earlier estimated the expected cost of the project at some $1.5 billion.

Anwil Nitrogen Plant 97% Complete in Poland

Ammonium Nitrate, Ammonium Sulfate, News, News Briefs, Nitrogen, Poland

Polish energy group Orlen SA (formerly PKN Orlen SA) is nearing the completion of fertilizer subsidiary Anwil SA’s new nitrogen fertilizer plant in Włocławek in Central Poland. The company said the facility is 97% complete, according to a Polish Press Agency (PAP) report citing a company statement.

When completed the new facility will increase Anwil’s fertilizer production capacity by about 50%, to 1,461,000 mt/y, adding four additional products to its portfolio, including ammonium nitrate (AN), ammonium sulfate nitrate, AN with sulfur, and CAN with magnesium.

The plant was approximately 92% complete by October 2022, and the producer was targeting an end-July 2023 commissioning of the new facility (GM Oct. 28, 2022). Orlen acquired full control of Anwil in 2012

Orlen early this month signed a cooperation and non-disclosure agreement with Poland’s other large fertilizer group, Tarnów-based Grupa Azoty SA, for the potential acquisition of Azoty subsidiary Zakłady Azotowe Puławy (GM June 9, p. 1). The Puławy unit’s produces AN, urea, caprolactam, and melamine, and is the Azoty group’s most profitable entity.

Grupa Azoty Signs Gas Supply Deals with Orlen

News, News Briefs, Poland

Polish fertilizers and chemicals group Grupa Azoty SA and its subsidiaries have signed a series of deals with the energy group Orlen SA (formerly PKN Orlen SA) on supplies of natural gas into late 2027, Azoty said in a June 20 statement.

Azoty said the contracts have an estimated value of Pln18 billion (approximately $4.44 billion at current exchange rates) and will cover at least 90% of the group’s natural gas needs.

Azoty reported in May that it was negotiating new gas supply deals with Orlen to replace an old contract with PGNiG, which is now part of the Polish energy group (GM May 19, p. 29). The existing contracts expire in September.

Minbos Inks EPCM Contract for Angola Project

Africa, Australia, News, News Briefs

Australian mining junior Minbos Resources Ltd. said it signed an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) contract on June 14 with Brazil’s Engenharia e Projetos de Infraestrutura Ltda. and its Angolan subsidiary, EPX Angola, for the construction of its Cabinda Phosphate Fertilizer plant in Subantando, in Cabinda, in western Angola.

The US$4.25 million EPCM contract, which Minbos signed through subsidiaries, formalizes the engagement between the parties that initially started with a Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) agreement inked in February last year (GM Feb. 18, 2022), the Australian company said in a June 16 ASX release.

“Since the LNTP was signed with EPC, the Cabinda Phosphate Fertilizer Plant has been redesigned resulting in savings of over US$10 million, and the relocation from Futila to Subantando will cut in half the trucking distance from the Cácata phosphate mine site,” Minbos said.

Work is already underway at the project site. The Minbos project comprises the mining of phosphate rock from the Cácata deposit, located approximately 60 km from Cabinda, and its transport to a planned granulation plant at Subantando to produce “enhanced phosphate rock” (EPR) granules.

The plan is for the EPR granules to become the P nutrient feed stock to blend with imported nitrogen and potash granules in NPK blending plants. Minbos is looking at an initial production capacity of 150,000 mt/y of EPR granules, with a target to increase to 450,000 mt/y, according to the company’s website.

The output will be marketed domestically as a substitute for fertilizers currently imported. Minbos estimates Angola’s current phosphate fertilizer demand at around 50,000 mt/y P2O5.

The company won an international award for the project in March 2020 (GM March 20, 2020). Minbos owns 85% of the project, while its in-country partner, Soul Rock Ltda., owns the remaining 15% interest.