All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

K+S & Remex Complete REKS JV Transaction

Germany, News, News Briefs

K+S Group reported on Dec. 22 that it and Germany’s Remex GmbH have completed the transaction for the new REKS waste management joint venture. Under the 50:50 jv, which will operate under the name REKS GmbH & Co. KG, the two partners aim to tap into “the attractive and strongly growing” European market for the recovery and disposal of waste, as well as the implementation of sustainable waste management solutions.

The German Federal Cartel Office, Bundeskartellamt, gave final clearance for the merger – following the fulfillment of certain conditions – on Dec. 1 (GM Dec. 3, p. 27).

As a result of the contribution of the K+S stakes to REKS, K+S said previously it will generate a one-off gain of about €200 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. At the same time, it expects a total cash inflow of about €90 million before taxes to be generated).

K+S and Remex, which is owned by Germany’s Rethmann Group, reached an agreement in December 2020 to partner up to bundle their respective waste management activities in a new jv (GM Dec. 31, 2020).

PhosAgro Capex Up on New Projects; 2021 Production Output Up 3 Percent

News, News Briefs, Russia

PhosAgro, Moscow, plans to increase its capital expenditure in 2022 to RUB52.5 billion, excluding capitalized repairs (approximately $711 million at current exchange rates), under the draft budget approved by its Board of Directors, the group reported on Dec. 22. Planned capital expenditures for 2021, excluding capitalized repairs, was RUB31.5 billion.

“Key projects for the year ahead include the final stage of construction of a modern phosphate-based fertilizer production complex and supporting infrastructure in Volkhov, as well as expansion of our mining operations, the start of construction of a new ammonia and urea complex at Cherepovets, and an increase in production capacities at the Balakovo site,” said PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev in a statement.

He added that these and other projects will be included in the updated version of the group’s “Strategy to 2025,” which will be submitted to the Board of Directors next spring.

The Russian fertilizer group took the decision in November to go ahead with the new RUB120 billion ammonia and urea complex, which will have a production capacity of 1 million mt/y of ammonia and up to 1 million mt/y of urea (GM Nov. 26, p. 1). Construction is due to start in 2022, with first product expected at the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, PhosAgro expects its total finished fertilizer output to reach 10.5 million mt this year, up 3 percent over 2020’s output.

Incitec Pivot to Scale-Up Tech Grade Urea Production for AdBlue

Australia, Featured, News, Urea

Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL), Southbank, said it is working closely with Australia’s Federal Government to undertake a manufacturing assessment to produce technical grade urea and expand AdBlue production at its Gibson Island plant in Brisbane.

The group has mobilized “expert teams” to work on expanding manufacturing capability and increase the country’s supply of AdBlue, according to a Dec. 20 company statement.

IPL currently supplies around 10 percent of the Australian market for AdBlue solution and is the only Australian manufacturer to make the solution from urea melt. The company said earlier this month it was investigating ways it could increase manufacturing capacity of the urea used to make AdBlue (GM Dec. 10, p. 29).

Australia is facing a domestic supply crunch for AdBlue solution that is threatening to bring the country’s transport industry to a halt. The country has been turning to the international market to try and alleviate some of the deficit (GM Dec. 17, p. 17). Australia is heavily reliant on diesel trucks, which use the product as an additive to reduce levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from their engines.

Around 90 percent of the Australian AdBlue market is reliant on imports of technical grade urea. China typically supplies around 80 percent of that urea, but supply has dried up since China imposed restrictions on its urea exports.

Worries about the current AdBlue supply shortages in the country have been compounded by the impending closure of IPL’s Gibson Island plant at Brisbane at the end of next year (GM Nov. 12, p. 1).

IPL said its plans to expand technical grade urea production will not impact its supply of fertilizer-grade urea to Australia’s agricultural sector.

Poland’s Anwil and Tecnimont Agree on New Deadline for Nitrogen Plant

Europe, News, News Briefs, Poland

Polish fertilizers and chemicals company Anwil SA and Milan-based Tecnimont SpA have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) providing for the preparation of an “Annex to the Agreement” the two parties signed on June 28, 2019, Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer PKN Orlen SA said in a Dec. 20 statement.

The original agreement was for the design, deliveries, and building “in turn key” formula of a new nitrogen granulation unit at Anwil’s existing production site in Włocławek, in central Poland, said PKN Orlen, which owns 100 percent of Anwil’s registered capital (GM July 3, 2019).

It said the main provisions of the MOU that will be finally implemented in the Annex to the Agreement, caused the change of the date of finalizing the building of the granulation unit for the end of 2022, and its start-up by the end of January 2023. The original schedule was for a mid-2022 completion.

Under the original plan, the granulation unit was to have an average production capacity of about 1,500 mt/d, depending on the type of fertilizer. Once commissioned, the new facility would boost Anwil’s production capacity to 1.461 million mt/y, m from the current 966,000 mt/y.

The implementation of the MOU provisions to the Annex to the Agreement remains subject to certain corporate approvals by Anwil.

PKN Orlen said the disclosure of this inside information regarding the new deadline for the finalization of the investment was delayed on Nov. 16.

BHP Secures Regulatory and Competition Approvals for Unification

Australia, News, News Briefs

BHP Ltd., Melbourne, has confirmed all regulatory and competition approvals for the unification of the group’s corporate structure under its existing Australian parent company, BHP Group Ltd., have now been received, including approval from the National Treasury of South Africa.

The group’s Board reached a final decision for the unification in early December (GM Dec. 3, p. 33), after announcing its intention in August to unify the group’s corporate structure (GM Aug. 20, p.1; Oct. 22, p. 35). It said the National Treasury of South Africa approval was obtained pursuant to an application that BHP made to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

Shareholder meetings of BHP Group Ltd. and BHP Group Plc will be held on Jan. 20, 2022, to consider unification, BHP said in a Dec. 21 statement.

If the unification is approved by shareholders and all other conditions are satisfied or waived, BHP expects unification to complete on Jan. 31, 2022.

The last day of trading in BHP Group Plc shares (including BHP Group Plc shares in the form of ADSs on the NYSE) would be Jan. 28, 2022, and the Limited shares that would be issued in connection with unification are expected to be admitted to trading on the ASX, LSE, JSE, and Limited ADSs on the NYSE on Jan. 31, 2022.

NeuAG Responds to APF Lawsuit, Says “Nothing Improper About Competition”

Ammonium Sulfate, News, News Briefs, Texas

NeuAG LLC, The Woodlands, Texas, has strongly denied claims made by American Plant Food Corp. (APF), Galena, Texas, in a Property-Other Property Fraud lawsuit filed in Harris, Texas, in November (GM Dec. 3, p. 30). APF alleged that NeuAG had stolen trade secrets, including its ammonium sulfate contract with BASF, APF’s customer list, APF’s third-party truck driver list, and APF’s plan for a facility in Freeport, Texas.

“When APF filed this case, they also filed for a Temporary Restraining Order; that request was rejected by the Judge in no uncertain terms,” a NeuAG attorney told Green Markets. “In fact, that Judge told APF’s lawyers that on the record before him he did not think that APF had any trade secrets at all. More fundamentally, despite what APF alleges, NeuAG did not steal anything from APF.

“What is really going on here is that BASF chose NeuAg as their contracting partner over APF, and as much as APF might wish things were otherwise, there is nothing improper about competition,” he added.

He said there will be a second hearing on this matter in early 2022, and his side is confident that it will be successful there, as well as in the overall case.

APF had a contract to buy ammonium sulfate from BASF’s Freeport, Texas, plant since 1967. In 2020, BASF opted to instead contract with NeuAG (GM May 15, 2020), effective Nov. 1, 2021. NeuAG CEO Jerry Newcomb is a former President and CEO of APF. Newcomb and APF did not part on good terms; an APF lawsuit ensued and was later settled in 2018 (GM May 22, 2020).

CP Rail, Canpotex Ink Long-Term Agreement

Canada, News, News Briefs

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP), Calgary, announced on Dec. 23 the execution of a new long-term agreement with Canpotex Ltd. CP is the primary rail transportation provider supporting delivery of Canadian potash to Canpotex’s overseas export markets. The new seven-year contract, which runs through 2028, is a successor to the current 10-year agreement between CP and Canpotex, which expires in 2022.

Chile’s Boric Win Topples Lithium, Other Stocks

Chile, Lithium, News, News Briefs, Specialty

Stocks in industries in which Chilean President-Elect Gabriel Boric has promised more oversight led losses Dec. 20 in Santiago, according to Bloomberg. The IPSA fell as much as 7.5 percent.

Lithium producer SQM’s B series shares fell as much as 12.4 percent, the biggest intraday loss since March 2020, while its ADRs slumped as much as 13.8 percent. Boric’s program includes the creation of a new national lithium company. SQM, which also produces fertilizer, is the world’s no. 2 lithium producer.

Fertilizer Stocks Report Stellar Year

Fertilizer Stocks, News, News Briefs, U.S.

North America’s top fertilizer producers are posting their best stock gains in years, with CF Industries Holdings Inc. leading in an industry that benefited from record high prices. CF closed at $74.32 on Dec. 28, up over 97.45 percent in 2021. The Mosaic Co. is also having a good year, with its stock climbing 70.2 percent to close at $39.96 as of Dec. 29, while shares of Nutrien Ltd. have gained 57.45 percent, closing at $76.05.