All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

Ardent Mills Partners with Nutrien Ag Solutions on Regenerative Agriculture

News, News Briefs

Ardent Mills, Denver, a flour-milling and ingredient company, in partnership with Nutrien Ag Solutions, Loveland, Colo., the retail division of Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, announced on June 22 the advancement of its regenerative agriculture program. The program is aimed at strengthening the soil ecosystem and helping producers improve their farms’ productivity and profitability.

By the end of 2022, the company has committed to enrolling 250,000 acres of spring and winter wheat into its regenerative agriculture program, with the goal of advancing regenerative agriculture practices and building the grower base over the next three years.

In cooperation with its producer partners and Nutrien Ag Solutions, Ardent Mills said it has built a regenerative agriculture program that aims to increase organic matter content and improve nutrient efficiency and water infiltration. The program uses key outcomes and provides side-by-side quality comparisons to comprehensively understand how regenerative agriculture affects the quality of wheat.

The regenerative agriculture program currently operates across 12 projects in nine geographies in the U.S. and Canada, including Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Saskatchewan.

Chemical Fire Draws Class Action Suit

News, News Briefs

A June 14 fire and explosion at a Rockton, Ill., chemical plant has prompted a class action lawsuit from residents who said they were forced out of their homes by a “massive toxic smoke and dust plume,” which included sulfuric acid mist, particulate matter, and other air contaminants, according to a Bloomberg Law report. The fire was at Chemtool Inc., a subsidiary of Lubrizol Corp., a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. company.

Some 150 households within a one-mile radius of the plant were evacuated, however, the plaintiffs said the case may be expanded to include residents within a three-mile radius of the facility, which manufactures grease, lubricating oil, and fluids.

Lubrizol allegedly was negligent, created a public nuisance, and trespassed on the class members’ properties by failing to exercise reasonable care that would have prevented the June 14 explosion, fire, and resulting smoke, according to the lawsuit filed on June 18 in Winnebago County Circuit Court.

Test results show no water contamination to date, but the company is distributing bottled water to residents with private wells near the facility. “While we do not comment on legal matters, I can again reiterate that we are devastated by this event and deeply regret the disruption and inconvenience that it has caused area residents,” said Lubrizol spokeswoman Alicia Gauer.

Teams are working on a site remediation plan, “but we expect a total loss of our Chemtool site,” Gauer said.

The lawsuit follows an enforcement action referral to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul from the state’s EPA announced a day after the fire ignited. The agency’s referral cited violations of both the state’s Environmental Protection Act and Pollution Control Board regulations related to chemicals and releases of pollutants into the atmosphere. It asked Raoul to pursue legal action and require Chemtool to provide documentation about the cause of the fire and an estimate of the amount contaminants emitted during the incident.

In the meantime, the U.S. EPA has established area detection instruments to monitor for volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, and lead. The federal agency as of June 21 was continuing to conduct air monitoring at the site, which was still on fire, according to an EPA spokeswoman.

IFFCO, Argentine Cooperatives Ink MOU for Nano Urea Plant

Argentina, India, News, News Briefs, Urea

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) said it plans to set up a Nano Urea Liquid production plant in Argentina in partnership with the Cooperative Confederation of Argentina (Cooperar) and Instituto Nacional de Asociativismo y Economia Social (INAES).

The three parties have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to analyse the feasibility of setting up the plant with mutual collaboration, according to a June 23 press release by IFFCO.

They will also explore the possibility of cooperation in trade and investment in areas of mutual interest, including agrochemicals and agricultural inputs to achieve sustainable development, the Indian cooperative said.

IFFCO launched Nano Urea Liquid on May 31 (GM June 4, p. 32), and started production of the new product in India earlier this month. The cooperative said it has conducted some 11,000 farmer field trials with Nano Urea Liquid.

Last week, IFFCO inked an MOU with Brazil’s national confederation of cooperatives, the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB), for setting up a Nano Urea fertilizer plant in that Latin American country with mutual collaboration (GM June 18, p. 31).

Morocco Plans $1.7 B Investment in Non-Phosphate Mining By 2030, Report Says

Morocco, News, News Briefs, Phosphate, Phosphate Rock, Phosphoric Acid

Morocco plans to raise revenue from non-phosphate mining to more than MAD15 billion (approximately $1.7 billion at current exchange rates) by 2030 from MAD6.5 billion in 2020 by facilitating investments and tax incentives, according to a report by Canada’s National Post.

The North African country is the world’s largest phosphate exporter, with 72 percent of the global phosphate reserves. State-owned OCP Group last year reported revenue of MAD56.18 billion ($5.93 billion) and fertilizer and phosphoric acid export sales of 11.3 million mt and 1.8 million mt P2O5 respectively (GM March 26, p. 28). The phosphates group also exported 10.3 million mt of phosphate rock last year.

The Moroccan Energy and Mining Ministry said on June 21 in its 2025-2030 mining development report it is also targeting a ten-fold increase in investment in mine prospecting and research to MAD4 billion, according to the report.

The ministry did not say which minerals it would target, but “strategic metals” such as those used in the renewable energy sector are a likely target. Morocco already is a major renewable energy producer but still relies heavily on natural gas imports, which it is keen to reduce.

Russian Producers Able to Meet Rising Domestic Demand for Fertilizer

News, News Briefs, Russia

Russian fertilizer producers will meet in full the increased demand from domestic farmers for 5 million mt (100 percent of nutrient content) forecast for 2022, according to a media release by the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association (RFPA) this week, citing figures from Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture.

To meet this increased demand, Russian fertilizer producers are planning to invest another RUB500 billion (approximately $6.9 billion at current exchange rates) in 2021-2022 in the development of this production facilities, the association reported.

“This year, the initial forecast of fertilizer demand for the domestic market already has been increased by 20 percent from 3.8 million mt to 4.5 million mt, and it will be fully met,” said RFPA President and PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev.

Sufficient fertilizer already has been provided for spring field work, and there is enough to cover 70 percent of the demand through the end of the year, he said.

Next year, according to the producers association, Russian agricultural producers will need fertilizers containing about 5 million mt of active ingredients, based on preliminary information provided by working meetings with representatives of Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture.

The RFPA noted that today the storage capacity of fertilizer manufacturers’ logistics networks exceeds 1.5 million mt and continues to grow, “ensuring products can be delivered to the regions in advance and are available to fields at the optimal time.”

Libya’s Lifeco Is Renamed

Libya, News, News Briefs

The name of the former Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Co. (Lifeco), a former joint venture between Yara International ASA and Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), has been changed to the Libyan Fertilizer Company.

The Libya Herald newspaper, citing NOC, reported that the company’s new name was approved and the necessary registration procedures were completed at a shareholders meeting of Lifeco on June 17.

Yara, which had held a 50 percent shareholding in Lifeco, reached a deal with NOC and LIA to divest its full holding on Dec. 31, 2020, putting the book value of its investment at zero (GM Jan.8, p. 1).

NOC acquired the Yara stake. Prior to the agreement, NOC and LIA each held a 25 percent stake in the ammonia and urea production jv.

Lifeco’s production facilities comprise two ammonia and two prilled urea units at Marsa El Brega, on the Mediterranean Coast, some 700 kilometers east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, but have struggled to perform ever since Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in 2011 and Libya became mired in political and military instability (GM Feb. 28, 2011).

Mosaic Reports Early Debt Redemption

News, News Briefs, Tampa

The Mosaic Co., Tampa, on June 24 announced that it has submitted an early redemption notice to the trustee of its $450 million 3.75 percent senior notes. The notes, which mature on Nov. 15, 2021, are expected to be called at par on Aug. 15, 2021, and will result in an immaterial expense in the third quarter. The annual interest expense on these bonds was approximately $17 million.

“In 2019, Mosaic set a goal of decreasing total long-term debt by $1 billion, and this is the first step in reaching that milestone,” said Joc O’Rourke, President and CEO. “Through disciplined cost management and favorable markets, we have generated significant free cash flow, which will continue to be allocated in a balanced approach across the three primary pillars of our capital allocation philosophy: strengthening the balance sheet, investing in the business, and returning capital to shareholders.”

Australian Minister Gives Nod to Commission Decision Removing Duties on Russian AN

Ammonium Nitrate, Australia, News, News Briefs, Russia

Australia’s Minister for Industry, Science, and Technology Christian Porter recently signed off on a decision by the country’s Antidumping Commission that removed duties on ammonium nitrate from the Russian Federation.

The Commission said it was not satisfied that the expiration of the measures, which have been in place since 2001, would likely lead to any exports of Russian ammonium nitrate being exported to Australia at dumped prices. However, it did add that lower-priced AN would likely affect spot sales, which it said account for only 5 percent of the Australian AN market. It said it also accepted that low-priced imports would have some price effect on the contract examples provided by producer Orica Australia.

The Commission recommended the dumping duties expire May 24, 2021.

At least one domestic player, Wesfarmers, Perth, which is eyeing a future AN production expansion, is appealing the Commission’s decision, according to a report in the Financial Review, which said domestic producers argued that Russian AN continues to benefit from low-cost natural gas subsidized by the Russian government, while Australian producers have been stressed by high domestic natural gas prices.

The Financial Review noted that mining giant Glencore pushed for the removal of the sanctions, arguing that domestic producers had to import Russian product to supplement their own production and that the domestic industry enjoys historic profit margins.