All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

BHP Reports Jansen Stage 1 is 20% Complete

Australia, News, News Briefs, Potash, Saskatchewan

BHP Group Ltd., Melbourne, reported that its Jansen Stage 1 potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, 140 kilometers east of Saskatoon, is now 20% complete, up from 16% complete in January (GM Jan. 20, p. 29).

BHP said in its operational review for the nine months to March 31, 2023, published on April 21, that in the quarter to March 31 the group started blasting and excavation work at the bottom of the shafts.

For the remainder of FY2023, BHP said it will continue to focus on civil and mechanical construction on the surface and underground, as well as equipment procurement and port construction.

The mining group is targeting first production at Jansen (Stage 1) for the end of the 2026 calendar year (GM July 22, 2022), which, when fully ramped-up, is expected to produce 4.35 million mt/y of potassium chloride.

BHP additionally reported the feasibility study for Jansen Stage 2 continues to progress, and said the study is on track to be completed during the group’s 2024 financial year. The group revealed in February that it had accelerated the feasibility study for Stage 2, bringing the expected completion forward by a year earlier from FY2025 (GM Feb. 24, p. 1).

Stage 2 could add another 4 million mt/y of capacity.

BHP is reported to be still open to partnering with Nutrien Ltd., according to a Globe & Mail interview with Ragner Udd, BHP President, Minerals America, in March (GM March 17, p. 1). In 2021, as BHP got closer to a final decision on whether to proceed on the Jansen mine, which it opted to do in August (GM Aug. 20, 2021), much of the speculation was that BHP would partner with Nutrien on Jansen (GM June 25, 2021; May 28, 2021).

Pressed further by the interviewer as to what kind of deal might occur, Udd said the company is looking at a “myriad of options.”

P&H to Upgrade Ontario Grain Facility

Canada, News, News Briefs

Canadian agribusiness Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. in April announced major upgrades planned for the company’s grain facility in Kincardine, Ont., including a new dryer and wet storage system, a kiosk for the self-weighing of trucks, a probing station, and larger receiving pits.

“We are thrilled to be upgrading our facility with state-of-the-art equipment,” said Bruce Humphries, General Manager, P&H Kincardine. “These upgrades will not only improve the efficiency of our facility, but they will also benefit our customers by allowing them to unload their grain quickly and easily, reducing wait times and improving their overall experience.”

Construction has begun, and the upgrades are scheduled to be completed in early 2024. Once completed, the new facility will offer faster unloading speeds and expanded storage capacity, and will be dedicated to serving the growing demand for high-quality wheat from P&H’s flour mills in Ontario.

“As we move forward with these and other upgrades and additions in our Eastern region, our goal is not only to provide the best services to our customers, but also to support the local community and economy,” said Darryl Markle, Director Eastern Operations. “We are excited to be investing in this region and look forward to continuing to serve it for many years to come.”

ICL Inks New Sustainability-Linked Revolving Credit Facility for $1.55B

Israel, News, News Briefs

ICL Group, Tel Aviv, said it has entered into a sustainability-linked revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement made between its subsidiary ICL Finance BV and a consortium of 12 international banks for $1.55 billion, guaranteed by ICL.

The sustainability-linked RCF is for a term of five years, with options for the lenders to extend it by two periods of one-year each.

It replaces a previous RCF that was agreed to in 2015 and amended and extended in 2018, due to expire in 2025.

ICL said the pricing structure of the new RCF “is not materially changed” from the previous RCF, “adapted to a SOFR/EURIBOR based pricing mechanism on the loan amount under the new RCF.”

Koch Agronomic Services Teams with Growers App

News, News Briefs, Southeast, Southern Plains

Growers Holdings Inc., a North Carolina-based agriculture technology company, announced on April 19 that Koch Agronomic Services LLC (KAS), Wichita, Kan., will be using The Growers App platform to introduce farmers to the KAS product portfolio.

The Growers App promotes companion and alternative products to farmers as they research inputs to purchase and conduct comparisons of different brands. Farmers can learn more about those products and add them to a product request to be sent directly to their retail partners through The Growers App.

“We’re pleased to welcome Koch Agronomic Services to The Growers App platform and look forward to leveraging our technology to positively impact farmers,” said Steven Valencsin, Growers CEO. “This opportunity allows farmers to engage with the retailers they have established relationships with while also being introduced to new products, price points, and relationships.”

Growers said KAS is the first manufacturer to position its products directly to farmers in The Growers App, providing point-of-sale guidance to farmers while directing sales to their channel partners. The platform is free for farmers to use, allowing growers to send requests to their local retailer or to a group of retailers that make up the Growers Retail Network.

“KAS is constantly evaluating opportunities to provide our customers with innovative, value-added solutions,” said Michael Berry, Vice President Customer Activation and Branding for KAS. “Using The Growers App platform, we’re able to introduce KAS products at the point in time when farmers are making input purchasing decisions and educate them on how our products can benefit their operation.”

“As farmers are using The Growers App to prepare requests to send to their retailers, they will now be able to see where KAS products could fit into their product lineup, understand the benefits of KAS products, and ultimately, decide whether to add them to their program for the growing season,” Valencsin said.

Russian 1Q Fertilizer Production Falls 8.3% Y-O-Y

News, News Briefs, Russia

Russia’s mineral fertilizer production fell 8.3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, to 6 million mt of active ingredient, Interfax reported on April 26, citing the country’s Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat.

Potash production fell 31% year-over-year to 1.7 million mt, while production of phosphate fertilizers increased 7% to 1.1 million mt and nitrogen fertilizers output also rose, by 4.7% to 3.2 million mt.

In March, fertilizer production fell 4.6% year-over-year to 2 million mt of active ingredient, but was 6% higher than in February 2023.

Potash production fell 20.7% year-over-year in March, but grew 5.3% compared with February to 0.6 million mt.

Phosphate fertilizers output fell 2.4% in March but increased 6% on February, while nitrogen fertilizers production rose 5.7% year-over-year in March to 1.1 million mt, up from 6.3% in February.

PhosAgro Touts Increase in Exports to Emerging Markets

News, News Briefs, Russia

PJSC PhosAgro has increased its exports to emerging markets while maintaining its “top priority” of supplying the domestic market, according to an April 25 statement by the Russian fertilizer group.

PhosAgro increased fertilizer sales in 2022 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).

“In the face of external restrictions, we quickly redirected its export flows, increasing supplies to emerging markets,” the group said.

According to PhosAgro, the group increased its exports of agrochemical products to India in 2022 more than fivefold, reaching 2.7 million mt, while supplies to other Asian countries more than doubled, to 0.4 million mt.

The group said it is Russia’s largest exporter of fertilizers to Africa, with shipments to the continent increasing by a quarter to 0.5 million mt last year.

Acron Completes Upgrade of Dorogobuzh NH3 Unit

Ammonia, News, News Briefs, Russia

Acron Group has completed a RUB1.2 billion (approximately $14.7 million at current exchange rates) overhaul of the ammonia unit at its Dorogobuzh subsidiary in Russia’s Smolensk region.

The project has increased the plant’s design output to 2,250 mt/day from 2,100 mt/day, while reducing gas consumption by 20 m3 per mt of ammonia. The upgraded facility will now have the capability to produce up to 800,000 mt/y of ammonia, the group said on April 24.

Dorogobuzh’s ammonia unit was commissioned in 1979 and underwent a major upgrade in 2019, increasing daily output from 1,740 mt to 2,100 mt.

Russia to Provide Tax Breaks for Gas Extraction for Ammonia, Hydrogen in Yamal

Ammonia, Hydrogen, News, News Briefs, Russia

The Russian government has approved a bill to provide tax breaks for new production facilities for ammonia/and or hydrogen on the Yamal and/or Gyda peninsulas in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in northwestern Siberia, according to an Interfax report this week, citing the government press service.

The bill would provide a zero mineral extraction tax (MET) rate for the production of gas and condensate at fields completely or partly located on these peninsulas, as well as a reduced profit tax rate for taxpayers who produce ammonia and/or hydrogen at new production facilities exclusively from gas or condensate extracted at these fields.

According to the report, citing a memo attached to the bill, the current return on projects to produce ammonia and/or hydrogen from gas extracted on the Yamal and Gyda peninsulas “is estimated at less than industry values, which does not make it possible to fully begin production of these commodities.”

At present, there is only one known project to produce hydrogen and ammonia in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. That is Russia’s largest independent natural gas and LNG producer PAO Novatek’s project based on the Obsky Gas Chemical Complex, which holds the licenses to develop the Verknetiuteiskoye and Zapadno-Seyakhinskoye fields on the Yamal peninsula.

Novatek completed the pre-FEED study last year for the chemical complex, where it plans to produce 2.2 million mt/y of ammonia and 130,000 mt/y of hydrogen (GM Feb. 10, p. 30).

In late 2021, the Russian company signed a term sheet with Germany’s Uniper SE on the long-term supply of 1.2 million mt/y of low carbon ammonia from the proposed complex to the German and Northwest European markets (GM Jan. 7, 2022).

In February 2023, Novatek also inked a nonbinding MOU with India’s Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd. for the supply of low-carbon ammonia and liquefied natural gas (LNG) (GM Feb. 10, p. 30).

CBH Receives First UAN Shipment at Kwinana

Australia, News, News Briefs, UAN

The CBH Group, South Perth, Australia’s largest grains cooperative, earlier this month received its first-ever shipment of liquid fertilizer at the Kwinana Grain Terminal.

CBH Fertiliser on April 7 received 23,800 mt of UAN aboard the Fairchem Blue Shark, following its 46-day journey from Donaldsonville, La., the Australian group said in an April 13 statement.

The vessel was the first non-grain vessel to berth at the terminal since it was built in 1974.

“The vessel is the first of two UAN shipments expected at the terminal this year, providing up to 50,000 mt of additional UAN supply to Western Australian grain growers, helping us deliver a competitively-priced product, ” said CBH Head of Fertilizer David Pritchard.

The UAN will be transferred via a purpose-built 1.5 kilometer pipeline into two tanks at the group’s Kwinana Fertiliser Facility, which opened in March (GM March 17, p. 29).

The new fertilizer facility marked the start of CBH’s liquid fertilizer business and expands its granular fertilizer capacity by 15,000 mt. The new facility has capacity to store 32,000 mt of UAN and 55,000 mt of bulk granular fertilizer.

“Increasing the scale of our fertilizer business is a fantastic step towards achieving our strategic objective of holding a 15% market share in Western Australia by 2033,” said Pritchard.

By entering the UAN market, he said CBH is encouraging “competitive tension” in the local fertilizer market and improving consistency of supply for growers when they need it the most.

Guyana’s GAICO Construction Plans Fertilizer Blending Unit

News, News Briefs, South America

Georgetown, Guyana-based GAICO Construction and General Services Inc. is set to open a new fertilizer blending plant in the country by mid-2024.

The pre-fabricated plant was purchased from US fertilizer equipment supplier Sackett-Waconia and the components are expected to arrive in Guyana later this year, according to a News Guyana report, citing GAICO Business Development Manager Khishan Singh.

The Guyanan company began making preparations for the $6 million fertilizer blending plant last year. While the exact location has yet to be determined, the plant is likely to be situated in West Bank Demerara, according to the report.

The project is aimed at reducing the amount of fertilizers imported annually into Guyana and potentially lowering the cost of these inputs to the country’s farmers.

Ammonia-based compounds and urea are the most used fertilizer products in Guyana, with the country importing about 45,000 mt of these products annually, according to the report.