All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

Crops/Weather

Crops/Weather, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, South Central, Southeast, Southern Plains, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

Highs in the mid-80s were reported across much of Illinois during the week. Strong storms moved through parts of northern Indiana, Ohio, and southern Michigan on Aug. 29-30, prompting several severe thunderstorm warnings and widespread power outages in Michigan.

With 2-3% of the regional corn crop rated as mature by Aug. 28, USDA assigned good or excellent ratings to 69% of the acreage in Illinois, 58% in Ohio, and 54% in Indiana. Some 86-92% of the regional soybean crop was setting pods by that date, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 66% of the acreage in Illinois, 59% in Ohio, and 54% in Indiana.

Western Cornbelt:

Heavy weekend rains were reported across a swath of central Iowa, with 2.75 inches reported in Waterloo and 2.15 inches in Fort Dodge. Most of the state stayed dry during the following week, however.

Temperatures in the 90s were common across the whole of Nebraska as the week progressed, with slightly cooler weather on tap for the Labor Day weekend. Drought conditions expanded across the state in late August, with areas of extreme-to-exceptional drought reported in southwestern and northeastern Nebraska on Sept. 1.

Corn Wheat Soybean Index

Springfield, Mo., was hit with heavy rain at the start of the week, with nearly a foot falling in some areas, prompting flash flood warnings. Temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s were common across Missouri for the balance of the week.

Good or excellent ratings were assigned to 63-64% of Iowa’s corn and soybeans on Aug. 28, with 3% of the corn crop described as mature. Nebraska’s corn was 8% mature, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 39-43% of the state’s corn and soybeans.

Missouri’s corn and soybeans were 52-54% good or excellent, with 15% of the corn mature. The state’s cotton crop was 52% good or excellent, while the Missouri rice crop was rated at 53% good or excellent. Nebraska’s sorghum remained at 20% good or excellent on Aug. 28, with 60% of the crop rated as poor or very poor.

Southern Plains:

High heat and humidity were reported across Kansas and Oklahoma during the week, with highs commonly approaching the 90s. Parts of Kansas were also hit with afternoon showers earlier in the week, although the spotty rains were “not drought-busting,” according to one source.

The Sept. 1 U.S. Drought Monitor showed major improvement for Central Texas after roughly 1-4 inches of rain fell across the area over the past week. Extreme-to-exceptional drought continued to be reported across a wide swath of the state, however, along with southern and western areas of Oklahoma and Kansas.

One Texas contact said the recent precipitation has been “great for the folks who were way behind on hay production, not so great for those who are beginning cotton harvest.” Just 15% of the Texas cotton crop was rated as good or excellent on Aug. 28, compared with 5% in Oklahoma. Poor or very poor ratings were assigned to 53-55% of the cotton in those two states.

The drought has also impacted corn and soybeans in the region. With 72% of the Texas corn crop described as mature, just 17% of the acreage fell in the good or excellent categories in late August, compared with 52% rated as poor or very poor. The Kansas corn crop was 24% mature, with 22% rated as good or excellent and 50% as poor or very poor. Colorado’s corn was 25% good or excellent and 40% poor or very poor.

The regional sorghum crop also showed significant drought damage. Good or excellent ratings were assigned to just 11% of the acreage in Oklahoma, 17% in Texas, 19% in Kansas, and 45% in Colorado in late August.

South Central:

Temperatures reached the low-90s across much of Arkansas and Tennessee early in the week, preceding a cold front that produced strong thunderstorms in both states on Aug. 29. Heavy rains and flash flooding were reported in some areas as the system pushed through the region.

High heat and humidity also blanketed Louisiana and Mississippi during the final days of August. The Pearl River in Mississippi crested at just over 35 feet on Aug. 29 after flooding portions of Jackson and other locations in Madison and Rankin counties.

The corn crop in Kentucky and Tennessee was 29-31% good or excellent as of Aug. 28, with 22-28% of the acreage rated as mature. Soybeans in the good or excellent categories totaled 62% of the crop in Mississippi, 59% in Arkansas, 55% in Louisiana, 47% in Tennessee, and 45% in Kentucky.

Cotton bolls were opening on 53% of Louisiana’s crop, 25% in Mississippi, 22% in Arkansas, and 13% in Tennessee, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 66% of the acreage in Arkansas, 56% in Louisiana and Mississippi, and 48% in Tennessee.

The regional rice harvest had progressed to 77% complete in Texas, 67% in Louisiana, 4% in Arkansas, and just 2% in Mississippi by Aug. 28, with good or excellent ratings assigned to fully 87% of the acreage in Louisiana, 67% in Arkansas, and 51-52% in Texas and Mississippi.

Southeast:

Spotty showers moved through parts of the Carolinas early in the week, with reports of heavy rain in Orangeburg, S.C., on Aug. 29 that prompted flash flood warnings. Heat and humidity moved in for the balance of the week, with highs in the upper-80s.

It was hot and humid in Virginia as well, with temperatures in central Virginia reaching highs in the mid-90s. Similar conditions were reported in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida along with scattered afternoon showers. More rain was in the Labor Day weekend forecast for all three states.

With 62% of North Carolina’s rated as mature by Aug. 28, just 35% of the crop registered as good or excellent on that date, compared with 63% of the state’s soybeans. Cotton bolls were opening on 34% of Virginia’s crop, 21% in Georgia, 19% in Alabama, and 14-17% in the Carolinas, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 63% of the acreage in North Carolina, 66% in Georgia, 68% in Alabama, 79% in South Carolina, and 84% in Virginia.

Peanuts were in even better condition, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 68% of the crop in Georgia, 72% in North Carolina, 86% in South Carolina, 87% in Florida, 89% in Alabama, and fully 90% in Virginia.

“Corn harvest is going on,” reported one regional contact at midweek. “Irrigated yields seem to be a little off from last year, but still pretty good. Dryland corn isn’t great this year; yield is down. The peanut harvest hasn’t started, but should in the next couple weeks. Cotton should start defoliating in a couple of weeks, but most are about a month out from defoliation. Cotton and peanuts look good in most areas, but more tomato spotted wilt is showing up in peanuts this year.”

Transportation

Arkansas River, Illinois River, Market Watch, Mississippi RIver, Ohio River, Transportation, U.S. Gulf

U.S. Gulf:

Colorado Lock repairs were scheduled to run through Sept. 9, blocking Monday-through-Friday navigation between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily. Wait times typically held below the five-hour mark early in the week.

Guidewall construction was reported underway at Bayou Sorrel Lock, scheduled to run through February 2023. The work was halting traffic Monday through Friday, between 6:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Normal operating hours were available on Saturdays and Sundays.

Bayou Sorrel bridge repairs, underway since July 5, were understood to conclude during the week, ending a period of Monday-through-Thursday navigation outages between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Draft limits persisted at Miles 113-117 of the Atchafalaya River due to ongoing shoaling in the area, described as particularly troublesome at Miles 115.5-117. In addition to draft limits, 600-foot maximum lengths were in effect, while widths were capped at 70 feet. Tows measuring longer than 400 feet were encouraged to utilize an assist vessel.

A number of potentially hazardous underwater pipes discovered during a recent hydrograph of the Atchafalaya River forced a complete travel shutdown through Little Island Pass, Middle Island Pass, and Riverside Pass. Tows could avoid the river’s numerous restrictions via a detour through the Port Allen Route.

Unescorted tows traveling through Algiers Lock remained subject to length and width restrictions, reducing maximum lockages to four standard barges or two 30,000 mt tankers per pass. Larger strings were able to lock when accompanied by an assist vessel. Waits were noted at 10.5 hours on Aug. 29, while delays peaked above 25 hours over the weekend.

Belle Chasse Bridge construction, projected to continue through the end of 2022, triggered sporadic navigational shutdowns lasting up to 12 hours during the week, sources reported.

Six-hour waits were observed at Port Allen Lock through the early week. Most Industrial Lock waits were noted in a wide 5-18 hour range, while tows locking through Calcasieu Lock were subject to intermittent 17-24 hour delays.

Mississippi River:

Reduced water levels extended travel restrictions on the lower Mississippi River. Tows running in the northbound direction were limited to 10.5 feet of draft, while tows traveling downriver were capped at 11.5 feet of draft from Cairo, Ill., to Rosedale, Miss. Barge counts were reportedly reduced by 10-15% below normal levels.

The river gauge at St. Louis showed just 1.21 feet of depth on Aug. 31. Levels were projected to drop below the 0.0-foot mark on Sept. 12.

Channel maintenance operations underway at Mile 336 through Sept. 8 were heard to limit southbound travel daily between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Smaller vessels were evaluated for possible daytime passage on a case-by-case basis. Work at the site was previously expected to run through Sept. 28.

Repairs underway at the I-10 bridge triggered a blanket safety advisory for tows transiting Miles 228-230 of the lower river. The advisory, along with intermittent travel stoppages, were anticipated at the site through June 2023.

Old River Lock was scheduled to close to navigation on Aug. 30, ending a period of overnight-only movements that kicked off on July 28. The new shutdowns closed the site completely to all traffic through Nov. 13, limiting access to the Red River. Tows seeking access to that waterway were advised to detour through the Atchafalaya River.

The shutdown of upper Mississippi River locks for the winter navigation season was expected to begin in November or December. To ensure delivery of the fall season’s final barges, cargoes loading from NOLA and destined for Dubuque, Iowa, will likely face final release dates in the second week of October. NOLA-loading barges bound for upper river destinations below Dubuque were anticipated to release through the third week of October.

Lock 18 wait times were noted at 4-5 hours on Aug. 30-31.

Illinois River:

Brandon Road Lock repairs underway since May 9 are slated to continue through Sept. 8. Navigation was limited to overnight hours through the site until Aug. 14, after which the lock was shut to all navigation through Sept. 4. Overnight-only transits will resume on Sept. 5-8, followed by a return to normal operations on Sept. 9. Tow widths are reportedly capped at 70 feet for the entirety of the operation.

Peoria Lock was noted shutting to daytime traffic on Aug. 23, blocking navigation between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. through Oct. 7. Some expected delays to slowly mount over time, possibly reaching 12-24 hours before the project concludes. Waits topped out at 16.5 hours on Aug. 29-30. Starved Rock Waits were noted up to six hours.

Ohio River:

Meldahl Lock operators were reported closing both the site’s main and auxiliary chambers daily from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for equipment repair, triggering waits up to 10 hours. The project was tentatively scheduled to conclude on Sept. 2.

Primary chamber miter gate replacement efforts in progress at Cannelton Lock were heard prompting detours through the site’s secondary chamber through Nov. 11. Delays stemming from the operation were noted in the 24-39 hour range, above the 7-18 hours reported one week earlier.

Miter gate and quoin repairs underway at the Hannibal Lock main chamber were anticipated to force detours through the auxiliary chamber until Oct. 8. The effort, underway since July 5, was expected to produce minimal delays. Corps data showed intermittent 24-26 hour delays at Dashields Lock on Aug. 29-30.

Transit was unavailable from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Tennessee River’s Kentucky Lock due to a salvage operation. Delays were noted up to 10 hours following the lock’s reopening. Kentucky Lock is scheduled to close to daytime navigation on Sept. 6-26 for equipment repair, sources said.

Corps data showed Wilson Lock waits up to 20 hours for the week. The Cumberland River was expected to shut to navigation near the Ohio River interchange on Sept. 12-14, from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, due to work at the U.S. Highway 60 bridge.

Barkley Lock is tentatively set to undergo daytime travel shutdowns from Oct. 13 through Nov. 4, due to dive inspections. The lock will pass vessels daily from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. while the inspections are underway.

Arkansas River:

The Corps announced a revised shutdown calendar for work at Norrell Lock. Daytime shutdowns from Aug. 22 through Nov. 30 will block navigation daily between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Overnight passages are reportedly available, albeit with a 70-foot width limit. The site will see a full travel shutdown on Jan. 30-31, 2023. Previously, the lock was scheduled to undergo a full closure from Sept. 30 through Oct. 9.

Joe Hardin Lock will close for repairs daily between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 12-19, and again on Sept. 28-29. Travel will be completely unavailable at the site from Sept. 30 through Oct. 9.

Emmett Sanders Lock is scheduled to undergo a complete shutdown on Oct 2-6.

Perdaman Urea Project Advances Despite Rock Art Concerns

Australia, News, News Briefs, Urea

Australia has approved Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd.’s A$4.5 billion (US$3.1 billion) urea project in the Pilbara region after the project received the green light from the area’s local Indigenous corporation, despite concerns it will damage sacred Aboriginal ancient rock art located nearby, according to Bloomberg.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Aug. 23 the Murujuga Aboriginal Corp., representing the five traditional owners of the land in Western Australia, had agreed that a number of rock carvings could be moved safely to an adjacent site.

Perth-based Perdaman had stopped work on the urea plant for months after facing opposition from traditional custodians wanting to protect the millions of Indigenous petroglyphs on Western Australia’s Burrup peninsula – an area that has been nominated for a World Heritage listing.

“It does mean that work can soon commence on this,” Plibersek said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. She noted that only “a couple” of rock carvings and grinding stones, as well as an arrangement of stones, were at risk in the proposed site.

Perdaman has already secured gas supplies from Woodside Energy Group’s Scarborough field (GM Nov. 21, 2018), and received A$255 million in February from the federal government’s Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund to build water and port facilities in the area (GM Feb. 11, p. 34).

Perdaman expects to produce up to 2.3 million mt/y of granular urea, with first production targeted for fourth-quarter 2025. The company last May signed a 20-year offtake deal with Incitec Fertilizers Pty Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL), for up to 2.3 million mt/y of granular urea from the proposed plant (GM May 7, 2021).

The decision is a blow to Save Our Songlines, a separate Aboriginal activist group which had applied for a one-month pause on construction under Section 9 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. While Plibersek struck down the appeal, she said that she was still considering an application that would secure longer-term protection of the area.

“The minister suggests the Murujuga Aboriginal Corp. is legally constituted to speak for traditional custodians, but its own members and elders said  they are gagged and cannot oppose or object to projects,” Murujuga traditional custodians and Save our Songlines spokeswomen Raelene Cooper and Josie Alec said in a post on Twitter. “Elders repeatedly expressed opposition to relocating rock art.”

The move spurred a backlash from some First Nations groups. Speaking in a separate interview with the ABC on Aug. 23, Greens Senator Dorinda Cox called the Perdaman project a “Juukan 2.0” – a reference to Rio Tinto’s destruction in 2020 of a 40,000 year-old ancient Aboriginal heritage site in the Pilbara.

That event sparked national outrage at the time, and eventually led to the resignation of a number of the company’s senior executives, including then-CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques.

“The movement of that rock art will be its destruction,” Senator Cox said about the fertilizer project.

Rainbow, OCP, University Collaborate on Rare Earth Extraction from Phosphogypsum

England, Morocco, News, News Briefs

Rainbow Rare Earths, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, has announced that it has entered into a Master Agreement with OCP SA and Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University to investigate and develop the optimal technique for the extraction of rare earth elements from phosphogypsum.

Phosphogypsum contains rare earths as a byproduct of phosphoric acid production. The parties intend to work together on the development of pilot and industrial-scale extraction of rare earths from phosphogypsum.

Rainbow said it has expertise and intellectual property on rare earths extraction and processing completed with the separation technology licensed from K-Technologies Inc., Lakeland, Fla.

The Mosaic Co. – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Tampa

The Mosaic Co. announced that on Aug. 17 the Board of Directors named Russell A. Flugel, 52, as its Vice President and Controller and designated him as Mosaic’s Principal Accounting Officer, effective Sept. 1, 2022. He reports to and will succeed Clint C. Freeland, Mosaic’s Senior Vice President and CFO, who served as Mosaic’s Principal Accounting Officer since June 4, 2018.

Flugel served as Vice President and Controller-Elect of Mosaic since May 23, 2022. Before joining Mosaic, he served as Senior Vice President, Controller, and principal accounting officer of Air Products & Chemicals Inc. since June 2015. Prior to June 2015, he held financial positions of increasing responsibility since joining Air Products in 1998.

Luciano Siani Pires, a member of the Board of Directors, on Aug. 17 informed Mosaic of his decision to resign as Director effective Sept. 1, 2022. The company said the decision was not the result of any disagreement relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices, and it thanked him for his commitment and service.

Compass Minerals – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Specialty

Compass Minerals recently announced the appointment of Melissa M. Miller to the company’s Board of Directors. It said she brings more than 20 years of broad leadership experience in human resources (HR) management. She currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Arconic Corp., a manufacturer of aluminum sheet, plate, extrusions, and architectural products.

Prior to that position, which she has held since the company’s launch in 2020, she held a number of progressive HR leadership roles from 2005-2020 with Arconic Inc. and Alcoa, both predecessor companies of Arconic Corp. She first entered the corporate HR field in 1997 for Marconi, after beginning her career in early childhood learning.

Miller earned a B.S. in psychology from Pennsylvania State University.

Miller has been appointed to the Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Committee and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. With Miller’s appointment, the Board has expanded to 10 members.

AMVAC – Management Brief

California, Management Briefs, Specialty

AMVAC®, Newport Beach, Calif., has established a GreenSolutions™ product team dedicated to their biological portfolio, which consists of biopesticides, biostimulants, and biofertilizers. The team is led by Ted Walter, US GreenSolutions Marketing Manager at AMVAC.

Three GreenSolutions marketing development managers – Dennis Riley, Julio Lozano, and Kyle Coleman – are individually responsible for marketing efforts in the Midwest, Southeast, and Western regions, respectively.

The products, distributed by AMVAC and partnering retailers in the US, include Ecozin® Plus 1.2% ME, a bioinsecticide approved for organic farming; and SmartBlock®, a plant growth regulator. Three products expanded the portfolio with AMVAC’s acquisition of Agrinos (GM Oct. 30, 2020), a yield technology product platform that works in conjunction with other nutritional crop inputs.

These include B Sure®, a nutrient solution improving plant metabolism; iNvigorate®, which creates a highly productive microbial community to assist with nutrient uptake and fertilizer efficiency; and UpLift®, a fertility solution increasing crop productivity and supporting soil vigor.

AMVAC operates two North American biological manufacturing facilities, including a microbial fermentation manufacturing plant in Clackamas, Ore., and a biostimulant plant in Sonora, Mexico.

AMVAC Corp. is a subsidiary of American Vanguard Corp., Newport Beach.

Topsoe – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Scandinavia

Topsoe, Copenhagen, on Aug. 25 announced the appointment of Kim Saaby Hedegaard as new Executive Vice President, Power-to-X. He has served as interim Head of Power-to-X since May 2022. Before that, he held the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO).

Topsoe appointed Andreas Bruun Jørgensen to the position of COO. He had been serving as interim COO.

Hedegaard joined Topsoe in 1999 and has since held various leadership positions in engineering, technology, and sales. Since 2017, he has been globally responsible for Catalyst Production and Technology. He holds a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

Jørgensen has held various leadership positions at Topsoe since he joined the company in 2010. Prior to joining Topsoe he was a process engineer at FL Smidt. He holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

California, Oregon Companies Receive Ammonia-Related Penalties from EPA

Ammonia, California, News, News Briefs, Pacific N.W.

The U.S. EPA on Aug 17 announced a settlement with Saputo Cheese USA Inc., the owner and operator of a mozzarella cheese and whey protein concentrate production facility in Tulare, Calif. EPA said Saputo Cheese violated provisions of the Clean Air Act intended to safeguard the public from accidental releases of hazardous chemicals. As a result, the company will pay $170,000 in civil penalties, ensure compliance with its Risk Management Plan, and make safety improvements to its facility, with the goal of protecting the public and first responders from dangerous chemicals.

An accident at the facility on June 22, 2018, led to the release of 5,690 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The facility is in a community that is disproportionally affected by environmental burdens, and incidents like these raise significant environmental justice concerns, which are a priority for EPA.

EPA performed an inspection of the Saputo Cheese facility in 2019 and found that the company failed to correct corrosion on piping and structural supports and failed to demonstrate that safety vents met industry standards. EPA also found that Saputo Cheese did not accurately report the total amount of ammonia it manages and failed to comply with requirements related to planning for accidental releases. EPA found that safety improvements were necessary at the facility to help prevent future accidents.

On Aug. 22, EPA announced that Smith Frozen Foods, Inc., Weston, Ore., has agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty for Clean Air Act violations. During inspections conducted in 2016, EPA found that the company failed to maintain and implement its required Risk Management Plan when using and storing anhydrous ammonia.

E.ON, Uniper Ink Green Ammonia MOUs with Nova Scotia’s EverWind

Canada, Featured, Germany, Green Ammonia, News

German energy companies E.ON and Uniper on Aug. 23 announced that they have each signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to purchase 500,000 mt/y of green ammonia from EverWind Fuels Co., Halifax, Nova Scotia, a private developer of green hydrogen and ammonia.

EverWind and the buyers plan to negotiate binding offtake agreements. The ammonia will come from EverWind’s production facility in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, a multi-phase green hydrogen and ammonia production and export facility, which is in advanced stages of development and is expected to reach commercial operation in early 2025, the first in Atlantic Canada.

EverWind said its facility is situated on a site in Port Hawkesbury and benefits from over $600 million of world-class infrastructure, including an existing ice-free deep-water port with two berths that are capable of accommodating the largest vessels in the world.

The company said the facility will produce green hydrogen and convert it into green ammonia using a mix of certified green power from the Nova Scotia grid and onshore wind power, achieving total production of approximately 1 million mt/y of green ammonia. Future phases will be powered by offshore wind, which the company said would enable production of over 10 million mt/y of green ammonia and will be serviced by EverWind’s existing marine infrastructure.