Josh McGill is now the President/Owner of Shoals Box & Pallet, Florence, Ala. He was previously Vice President with Applied Chemical Technology, Florence (GM June 1, 2018).
All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net
Darling Ingredients – Management Brief
Darling Ingredients, Irving, Texas, said on Jan. 20 it has added Ilan Oliver, Woodland, Calif., to its sales force for its Nature Safe Fertilizer organic brand, which is mainly produced at the company’s Turlock, Calif., plant. Darling said the state-of-the-art facility opened in early 2019, with more production, storage, and shipping improvements being added this year.
Darling said Oliver has over 30 years of global experience in both practical farming and commercial plant nutrient applications for soil, greenhouse, and hydroponic practices, including stints with both ICL Fertilizer and Haifa Chemicals.
He holds a master’s degree in agriculture science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a practical research combination of soil chemistry and soil microbiology.
Green NH3 Project Advances in South Africa
Hive Energy U.K., Built Africa, Pretoria, and industrial gas and engineering firm Linde plc, Guildford, U.K., via its South African subsidiary Afrox, reported that they have completed a prefeasibility study for a $4.6 billion 780,000 mt/y green ammonia plant at the Coega Special Economic Zone at the Port of Ngqura in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The parties said they will now move forward to complete a Final Investment Decision (FID). The FID is expected to take 18 months, with construction starting in 2025-2026.
Fox River Assessment Delayed
Junior phosphate developer Fox River Resources Corp., Toronto, said on Jan. 20 its National Instrument (NI) 43-101 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study (GM Sept. 10, 2021) on the company’s 100 percent-owned Martison Phosphate Project located near Hearst, Ont., has been delayed from January to mid-March.
“The obvious complexities involved in a project of this magnitude have contributed to various time delays in completing the PEA,” said Stephen Case, Fox River CEO. “While no one likes delays, it is imperative to us that this is a thorough, realistic, and defensible study that will pass the scrutiny of the global fertilizer companies. The company remains fully funded through completion of the study, and we look forward to presenting the results.”
Fox River is currently studying a mine some 70 kilometers north of Hearst, which would consist of an open pit truck and shovel operation and all necessary ancillary infrastructure capable of producing 1.42 million mt/y of 37 percent P205 concentrate.
The product would be transported by a slurry pipeline to a plant 20 miles west of Hearst, where 730,000 mt/y of ammoniated phosphates (480,000 mt MAP, 250,000 mt NPS) would be produced, along with 220,000 mt of super phosphoric acid.
Meristem Partners with Oxendale Ag in Indiana
Direct-to-farm crop inputs provider and developer Meristem Crop Performance LLC, Columbus, Ohio, announced on Jan. 20 that it has formed a new dealership agreement with Caleb Oxendale of Oxendale Ag LLC, Kouts, Ind., under which Oxendale Ag will carry the Meristem Crop Performance product line for growers in northwestern Indiana.
“Caleb Oxendale is known for practical, profitable solutions to the unique agronomic challenges in that part of Indiana,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem Founder and CEO. “We’re excited to be able to come alongside him as he serves his farmer-customers and also gain from his agronomic know-how and field experience as we add new products.”
Oxendale Ag will now offer Meristem’s full product portfolio, including seed treatments under the brands RaceReady™ and Hopper Throttle; Revline™ plant growth regulators; TruTrack™ drift control; AquaDraft™ water conditioners and surfactants; UpShift™ starter fertilizers; Excavator™ biologicals to break down crop residue; and HomeStretch™ nitrogen stabilizers, micronutrients, and foliar nutritionals.
“I like Meristem’s product line-up, and I’ve heard good things about Meristem from farmers I already serve,” said Oxendale. “One of my customers has been using Meristem products for two years now and has seen really good results. He was a big advocate of me carrying these products to others in the area.”
Borealis AG – Management Brief
Vienna -based polyolefins and fertilizers major Borealis AG is moving to a new head office in the Austrian capital, effective Feb. 1, 2022. The company is moving to Trabrennstr. 6-8, 1020 Vienna, and will be co-located with its majority owner OMV AG.
As of Feb. 1, the new Borealis head office mailing address will be as above. The company’s head office phone numbers will remain unchanged.
China Ready to Send LNG to Europe; Gazprom Sees No Growth in 1Q Exports, Citi Says
European natural gas futures have eased back on news this week that a Chinese major supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is offering to sell spot cargoes to the beleaguered European market.
Bloomberg, citing traders with knowledge of the matter, reported mid-week that the trading arm of Sinopec is offering to sell “dozens of spot LNG cargoes” this year. There were also reports late in the week of another major Chinese trader offering LNG cargoes for sale. The move suggests that China is well stocked.
LNG arrivals in Europe already have increased. More arrivals of U.S. LNG since the turn of the year and U.S. assurances last week about its supplies to Europe, as well as recovering Norwegian gas shipments, already are helping offset Europe’s low gas storage levels and the reduced Russian gas flows to the region (GM Jan. 14, p. 29; Jan. 7, p. 1).
The Dutch front-month TTF gas contract (currently February) in Amsterdam closed at €72.135 a megawatt-hour on Jan. 20. This compares to Jan. 14’s close at €86.97.
While escalating tensions over Ukraine and the new Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany remain on traders’ radar, gas market sentiment was cautiously bearish this week, “driven by the tepid demand in Asia and robust LNG imports in Europe,” according to a note by Rystad Energy, an Oslo-based independent energy research and business intelligence company, as cited by a Bloomberg report on Jan. 19.
Rystad, however, warned that the U.S. has eyes on potential weather-related shutdowns in the coming days.
Meanwhile, daily gas exports from Gazprom PJSC, Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas, to its main markets in the first 15 days of 2022 fell to their lowest since 2015, Bloomberg reported, citing the Russian supplier.
Gazprom said on Jan. 17 it exported 5.4 million cubic meters to its key markets, which include most of Europe, Turkey, and China. According to Bloomberg calculations based on the Russian gas major’s statements, this equates to average daily flows of 360 million cubic meters, and is almost 18 percent lower than December’s average.
Furthermore, Gazprom does not expect growth in its first-quarter exports “despite the tight fundamentals,” according to Citi analysts in an emailed note to Bloomberg following a meeting with the Russian supplier. The analysts said Gazprom’s near-term focus is on supplying the domestic market, as well as continuing to meet all long-term contractual obligations in Europe.
Moreover, the Russian gas major does not rule out a seasonal drop in second-quarter exports, according to Citi.
Brazilian Regulator Greenlights Uralkali’s UPI Norte Purchase
Brazil’s antitrust regulator, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), has given the green light for Uralkali PJSC’s acquisition of UPI Norte SA without any restrictions, according to a Bloomberg report, citing the Official Gazette and CADE’s website.
The Russian potash company signed a deal in December to acquire 100 percent of the shares in UPI Norte, a shareholder in Brazilian fertilizer distributor FertGrow SA (GM Dec. 10, 2021). UPI Norte owns 50 percent of FertGrow, according to an Iberianlawyer.com report.
The completion of the transaction will mark Uralkali’s entry into the Brazilian fertilizer distribution market.
The potash company in a December statement said the acquisition of the FertGrow stake “is consistent” with Uralkali’s business strategy, “an important element of which is to ensure flexibility of sales with a focus on developing the company’s own distribution in key markets.”
“The acquisition of a stake in FertGrow will considerably help Uralkali to optimize its operations in Latin America,” Uralkali Trading CEO Alexander Terletskiy said when the acquisition was first announced.
UPI Norte SA shareholders include Keytrade AG, as well as other minority shareholders, according to the Iberianlawyer.com report.
BHP Starts Contract Awards for Jansen Stage 1; Shareholders Back Single Listing
BHP Ltd., Melbourne, this week said it has commenced contract awards for the Stage 1 project of its Jansen potash mine under development in Saskatchewan.
The group’s Board approved the final investment decision to go ahead with Jansen Stage 1 last August (GM Aug. 20, 2021). On completion, Stage 1 will have capacity to produce 4.35 million mt/y of potassium chloride, with initial production targeted for calendar year 2027.
In its operational review for the half-year ended Dec. 31, 2021, published on Jan. 19, BHP also said the project to complete the excavation and lining of the production and service shafts and installation of essential surface infrastructure and utilities at Jansen is now 98 percent complete. Completion of this part of the project remains on track for completion in this calendar year.
BHP said the Stage 1 Jansen project, which is costing the group US$5.723 billion, is now 3 percent complete. The project is one of two major projects the mining major had under development at the end of December 2021.
BHP on Jan. 20 won shareholder support to unify the group’s corporate dual-listed (DLC) structure under its existing Australian parent company, BHP Group Ltd., a move that could facilitate the mining major’s return to large-scale M&A activity (see separate news story this issue).
Both London and Australian investors overwhelmingly approved the move, according to a BHP statement. The mining group needed 75 percent backing from both U.K. and Australian shareholders to get the green light.
BHP’s Board in December had given final approval for the single listing (GM Dec. 3, 2021). The group first announced its intention to unify the DLC structure last August (GM Aug. 20, 2021). Under the current structure, BHP has two headquarters and two main stock market listings, but is run as a single entity under the same management and board.
The mining major’s Board believes unification is in the best interests of BHP shareholders.
“The DLC has served us well for many years. However, its suitability for our organization has diminished over time,” BHP Independent Non-Executive Chairman Ken MacKenzie told shareholders in an EGM teleconference call on Jan. 20 ahead of the vote.
“Today BHP’s portfolio is simpler and focused on growing long-term value from our future-facing commodities. We require a corporate structure that supports this, that is fit for purpose, and we believe now is the right time to take this step.”
The mining major continues to expect completion of the unification on Jan. 31, subject to U.K. Court sanction of the scheme.
The vote will see BHP moved to a primary listing in Australia, but it will retain secondary listings in the U.K., U.S., South Africa, and Australia after unification.
But the unification will also see the U.K.’s FTSE 100 lose its third-biggest company.
Acron Group Boosts FY2021 Fertilizer Output by 6 Percent, Targets 2022 Increase
Acron Group, Moscow, reported its group’s total commercial output for full-year 2021 increased by 6 percent over the previous year, reaching 8.49 million mt, up from 7.98 million mt.
The group’s mineral fertilizer output grew 5 percent to 6.77 million mt, up from the previous year’s 6.45 million mt.
Ammonia output increased 7 percent to 2.91 million mt, versus the prior year’s 2.73 million mt, while the volume of ammonia processed through to end products grew to 98 percent from 96 percent.
The group said it produced a record 1.6 million mt of urea in 2021, with production boosted by the completion of the Urea-6+ project at the Veliky Novgorod site in northwest Russia last August (GM Aug. 13, 2021).The project increased the Urea-6 plant’s production capacity to 730,000 mt/y from 210,000 mt/y previously, and has taken the group’s total urea production capacity to 1.975 million mt/y, making Acron Group the largest urea producer in Europe, according to the Russian producer.
Output of agricultural-grade urea in 2021 rose by 24 percent to 1.46 million mt. After starting granular urea production in May 2020 (GM May 22, 2020), granular urea output doubled in 2021 to 529,000 mt from 261,000 mt in 2020.
But Acron Group saw an 8 percent dip in output of agricultural-grade ammonium nitrate (AN) to 2.24 million mt, down from the year-ago 2.43 million mt.
The group reported that output of industrial-grade urea and industrial-grade AN increased 40 percent in 2021 compared with the previous year, to 640,000 mt. Acron attributed this increase to its success at promoting these industrial-grade products in international markets.
UAN output was up 24 percent year-over-year to 1.35 million mt from 1.1 million mt, with the group citing the better price environment.
Production of complex fertilizers increased 11 percent in 2021 to 2.63 million mt, up from the year-ago 2.37 million mt. Acron Group attributed the increase to a more favourable price environment and increased production of apatite concentrate at the Oleniy Ruchey mine, where output was up 6 percent to 1.255 million mt.
Acron Group Chairman Alexander Popov said looking forward, the group wants to use the upward momentum of mineral fertilizer prices in 2021 and both accelerate ongoing investment projects and kick off new ones.
As previously reported, projects underway include upgrades to ammonia units 2 and 3 and urea units 1 through 4 at the Veliky Novgorod site in northwest Russia (GM Dec. 3; 2021; Aug.13, 2021). The completion of these projects is scheduled for 2023, and will boost ammonia capacity by 375,000 mt/y and urea capacity by 390,000 mt/y.
The group is also constructing a second urea granulation unit with 700,000 mt/y granulation capacity, which, when completed, will take Acron group’s urea granulation capability to 1.4 million mt/y.
The completion of a 100,000 mt/y calcium nitrate unit at Veliky Novgorod is planned for this year. It will be the group’s first CAN production facility.
At its Dorogobuzh subsidiary in Russia’s Smolensk region, technical upgrades of the ammonia unit and the completion of a new nitric acid unit will result in a higher AN output, which Acron Group said will allow the group to increase AN supplies to the domestic market, where the product is traditionally popular.
As a result of these projects, Popov expects the group’s commercial output to reach 8.7 million mt in 2022.
Acron Group commercial fertilizer output!
| ‘000 mt | FY2021 | FY2020 | % change |
| Ammonia | 2,909 | 2,729 | +7 |
| Nitrogen fertilizers | 5,058 | 4,707 | +8 |
| AN (agricultural grade) | 2,241 | 2,430 | (8) |
| Urea (agricultural grade) | 1,463 | 1,180 | +24 |
| UAN | 1,354 | 1,096 | +24 |
| Complex fertilizers | 2,625 | 2,372 | +11 |
| NPK | 2,406 | 2,236 | +8 |
| Total | 6,765 | 6,448 | +5 |
1 Includes in-house consumption