All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

CF Buys Certified Natural Gas

Ammonia, Eastern Cornbelt, Natural Gas, News, News Briefs

CF Industries Holdings Inc. on Feb. 14 announced that it has entered into an agreement with BP for the supply of 2.2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of certified natural gas in 2023.

“This initial purchase of certified natural gas is an important step in CF Industries’ decarbonization journey and reinforces our commitment to be at the forefront of low-carbon ammonia production,” said CF President and CEO Tony Will. “The independent, transparent, and third party-audited process to validate lower methane emissions intensity ensures that we are genuinely achieving scope 3 emissions reductions from purchasing certified natural gas. At the same time, we believe the resulting lower lifecycle carbon intensity of ammonia production will further enhance the appeal of decarbonized ammonia as a clean energy source for hard-to-abate industries.”

“CF Industries is the first industrial giant to use MiQ-independently certified natural gas to significantly reduce scope 3 emissions from its production processes,” said Georges Tijbosch, CEO, MiQ. “We’ve seen multiple utilities across in the US purchase independently certified gas to reduce their emissions, and this key commitment by CF Industries should be a trigger for other natural gas users in hard-to-abate industries to prioritize the minimization of their supply chain emissions through certification.”

The natural gas is certified using New York-based not-for-profit MiQ’s methane standard, which leverages independent third-party auditors to monitor, address, and grade the natural gas used in ammonia production. CF will use the highest level of certified gas available, or “A” grade.

A recent white paper by MiQ estimates that using “A” grade certified natural gas as a feedstock in ammonia production would lower a purchaser’s natural gas supply chain-related scope 3 emissions by 90% and reduce the lifecycle carbon intensity by up to 20% using a 100 year global warming potential (GWP). The use of certified natural gas alongside carbon capture and sequestration processes at ammonia plants could eliminate up to 94% of greenhouse gas emissions associated with ammonia production, according to MIQ.

CF told analysts on Feb. 16 that it will be paying a premium for the gas, but that it is de minimis. The purchase agreement will allow CF to confirm that its systems can track the certified natural gas through the ammonia production process. CF also intends to evaluate further certified gas purchases as part of its scope 3 emissions and lifecycle ammonia production carbon intensity reduction efforts.

The Andersons Posts Record Full-Year Earnings; Plant Nutrients Post 4Q Income Drop

Earnings, Eastern Cornbelt, News, Specialty

Shares of The Andersons Inc. posted the biggest intraday gain since August after posting record full-year earnings, according to Bloomberg. Strong demand for crops should continue buoying the Ohio-based grain merchant and biofuels producer, Andersons President and CEO Pat Bowe said Wednesday, Feb. 15, on an investor call. “Ag fundamentals remain favorable,” said Bowe. “We’re well positioned to execute in this environment.”

Shares gained by as much as 12%, the biggest intraday jump since Aug. 3.

Farmers in the US boosted plantings of soft red winter wheat late last year, which will give the company opportunities to store and ship supplies to areas of deficit – the bread and butter of traditional grain merchandising.

Drought-reduced crop production in the Southern Plains also boosted demand for The Andersons’ corn from cattle feedlots, while the company expects US farmers to start snatching up fertilizer after prices plummeted.

Full-year net income from continuing operations was up, at $119 million on sales of $17.3 billion from the year-ago $100 million and $12.6 billion, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was up at $412 million from $353 million.

The Andersons reported fourth-quarter net income from continuing operations attributed to the company of $15 million on sales of $4.68 billion, down from the year-ago $33 million and $3.78 billion, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA moved down to $104 million from the year-ago $131 million.

The company reported fourth-quarter Plant Nutrient pretax income of $2 million on revenues of $255 million compared to the year-ago pretax income of $16 million and $234 million, respectively. Gross profit was $29 million, down from $39 million, while EBITDA fell to $11 million from $24 million.

“Our Plant Nutrient segment had mixed results, with good fall applications and farmer engagement on specialty liquids, but more limited early orders of granular fertilizer as buyers are waiting for declining prices to stabilize,” said Bowe. “With strong farm income, this sets us up well for a higher volume spring planting season, although likely at more normalized margins.”

The company added that its lawn products were negatively impacted by lower demand.

Full-year Plant Nutrient pretax income was $39 million on revenues of $1.1 billion, down from the year-ago $43 million and $867 million, respectively. Gross profit was up at $149 million from $140 million, while record EBITDA of $73 million was level with 2021.

ICL 4Q Net Income Misses Estimates; Specialties, Market Upside Boost FY2022

Earnings, Israel, News, Phosphate, Polyhalite, Potash, Specialty

ICL Group Ltd., Tel Aviv, reported a 17% increase in net income attributable to shareholders of the company for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022, to $331 million versus the year-ago $283 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $398.8 million (Bloomberg Consensus).

Diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.25, compared with the year-ago $0.21.

Revenue increased 3% to $2.09 billion, up from $2.04 billion the previous year, versus the average analyst estimate of $2.2 billion, while operating income came in 17% up on the year at $540 million, up from $461 million.

“ICL delivered record sales of more than $10 billion and adjusted EBITDA of more than $4 billion [$4.01 billion] for 2022, and this amount exceeded our guidance, which we raised each quarter,” said ICL President and CEO Raviv Zoller, highlighting the strong performance of all of the specialities’ businesses (Industrial Products, Phosphate Specialties, and Growing Solutions), as well as significant market upside.

The company said last November it expected its FY2022 adjusted EBITDA to be at the upper end of its previously issued guidance range for adjusted EBITDA of between $3.8 billion to $4.0 billion (GM Nov. 11, 2022).

Zoller noted that as expected, ICL saw a return to more traditional seasonality, in the fourth quarter.

“Throughout the year, we navigated global uncertainty, supply chain challenges, and cost inflation, while simultaneously focusing on operating efficiency and productivity, introducing new innovative products, and delivering value to all of our stakeholders,” said Zoller.

Full-year 2022 net income attributable to shareholders of the company came in 176% up on the previous year, at $2.16 billion (diluted EPS: $1.67) versus the year-ago $783 million (diluted EPS: $0.60).

FY2022 revenue increased by 44% to $10.02 billion, up from $6.96 billion, while operating income rose by 191% to $3.52 billion from $1.21 billion the previous year.

For the full year 2023, ICL expects adjusted EBITDA to be within a range of $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion (following markets’ return to more normalized conditions in fourth quarter of 2022) with approximately $1.1 billion of this amount estimated to come from the company’s specialties focused businesses.

Looking at individual business segments, the Potash segment reported a 87% increase year-over-year in annual sales in 2022 to $3.31 billion, up from $1.78 billion, and a significant rise in segment EBITDA, to $1.99 billion from $547 million the previous year.

Potash production was up 3% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, to 1.22 million mt, while FY2022 output increased by 4% to 4.69 million mt.

The company cited ongoing operational improvements at both ICL Dead Sea and ICL Iberia in Spain. It highlighted that the Dead Sea operation reached an all-time annual potash production record of 4.011 million mt in 2022, following the continued process improvements.

Operational improvements at ICL Iberia in 2022 included, among others, the connection of the ramp to the Cabanasses mine. ICL said it expects ongoing performance improvement projects at the site to result in increased production going forward and to address operational and geological challenges, which it said had negatively impacted production in recent years.

Fourth-quarter potash sales volumes (including internal sales) declined 7%, to 1.07 million mt versus the year-ago 1.15 million mt. ICL reported decreased sales volumes from ICL Dead Sea in the quarter, partially offset by higher sales volumes from ICL Iberia.

Full-year sales volumes saw a small uptick (1.5%) to 4.5 million mt, mainly due to higher sales to India, Brazil, and Asia, but partially offset by lower sales to Europe and the US, ICL reported.

ICL Potash Production, Sales Volumes, Average Price

‘000 mt 4Q-2022 4Q-2021 % change FY2022 FY2021 % change
Production 1,224 1,188 +3 4,691 4,514 +4
Total sales (including internal sales) 1,068 1,147 (7) 4,499 4,434 +1.5
Average potash price – CIF ($/mt) 594 520   682 356  

ICL expects to produce about 4.8 million mt of potash in 2023, 2% up over last year, and is assuming sales volumes of 4.8 million mt, a 7% increase, Zoller told analysts at a company earnings call.

“We do have some capability to go down on inventory and go up to 4.9 million mt. But in terms of modeling, we modeled 4.8 million mt,” he said.

ICL plans to get to production of 5.1 million mt of potash by 2026, Zoller said.

In terms of pricing, the company sees its realized potash price per ton averaging about $500/mt in 2023. This compares to $643/mt for FY2022, which was up more than 90% over 2021. For the fourth quarter, the company achieved $564/mt, which was up 16%, or more than $75 versus the fourth quarter of 2021.

In the company’s Phosphate Solutions segment, ICL said the specialty phosphates business benefited from higher prices in all regions in 2022, while persistent supply-chain challenges negatively impacted raw material and production costs.

The segment posted a FY2022 segment EBITDA of $966 million on sales of $3.11 billion, up from the prior-year $501 million and $2.25 billion respectively.

The company reported annual sales of its phosphate fertilizers business within the segment saw an increase in annual sales on both higher prices and volumes. While noting that prices declined during the fourth quarter, the company said they began to moderate by the end of the year, due to increasing demand – mainly in Latin America, and also supported by better affordability and limited supply available from China.

ICL is sold out on phosphate until the end of the second quarter of 2023, Zoller told analysts at a company earnings call.

“If you look back to previous years, that’s more robust than in the past,” he said.

Zoller noted “the lowest price in the world right now is in the US,” which is why the company is not selling in the US.

“I think we have sold a few thousand tons to cover commitments we had in the US, but we have no reason to sell in the US at this point,” said Zoller.

The Growing Solutions segment (formerly known as Innovative Agricultural Solutions) in 2022 changed its managerial structure, as well as its name, so that the activities of ICL Boulby and other European business components were transferred from the Potash and Phosphate Solutions segments, respectively, to the Growing Solutions segment.

The segment posted an FY2022 segment EBITDA of $448 million on sales of $2.42 billion, up from $135 million and $1.67 billion, respectively, the previous year.

At ICL Boulby, annual production of polysulfate – the marketed form of polyhalite – increased by 21% to 953,000 mt in 2022. The company said sales of FertilizerpluS products increased year-over-year due to higher selling prices, but did not disclose any numbers.

Based on the fourth-quarter results, ICL’s Board of Directors declared a dividend of 13.83 cents per share, or approximately $178 million, payable on March 15, 2023.

OCI 4Q Impacted by Lower Nitrogen Prices, Purchasing Delay, Turnarounds

Ammonia, Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, DEF, Earnings, Methanol, News, Specialty, The Netherlands, UAN, Urea

OCI NV, Amsterdam, posted a 54% decline in fourth-quarter adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders of the company to $204.6 million, down from the year-ago $447.4 million.

Adjusted EBITDA came in 36% off, at $669.2 million, down from the year-earlier $1.04 billion, and missing analysts’ estimates (Bloomberg Consensus). Revenue for the quarter was flat versus a year-ago, at $2.2 billion.

The company cited a decline in nitrogen prices and volatile natural gas markets during the quarter, resulting in delayed purchasing from farmers, as driving the EBITDA decline. This was combined with a heavy turnaround quarter across the platform, resulting in a 3% fall in OCI’s total sales volumes to 3.34 million mt from the year-ago 3.43 million mt.

OCI also noted that its adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was also impacted by the absence of the sale of excess EUA’s (European Union Allowance), the tradable unit under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in Europe; realized natural gas hedging losses of $43 million, principally in Europe; and a negative impact of around $20 million in the US due to temporary shutdowns and logistical constraints caused by the winter freeze.

However, full-year adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders was up 84% over the previous year to $1.34 billion, up from $731.8 million. Nonetheless, it missed the average analyst estimate of $1.48 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year increased 54%, to $3.89 billion, up from $2.53 billion, but also missed the average analyst estimate of $3.94 billion (Bloomberg Consensus).

Revenue, however, beat analysts’ estimates, coming in at $9.71 billion versus the average estimate of $9.54 billion, and some 54% up on FY2021’s $6.32 billion.

OCI’s own-produced nitrogen sales volumes were flat during the fourth quarter, at 2.35 million mt. Own-produced ammonia sales bucked the trend, increasing 29% year-over-year to 571,200 mt. For FY2022, own produced nitrogen sales volumes declined 1% to 9.63 million mt.

Fourth-quarter total traded third-party sales fell 5% year-over-year to 700,900 mt, but for the full-year increased 22% to just under 3.6 million mt, reflecting higher volumes sales across all product categories with the exception of methanol.

In terms of outlook, OCI noted that while nitrogen prices have declined recently, industry fundamentals are healthy with high farmer profitability, decades low grain stocks, and improved nitrogen affordability, driving a demand recovery ahead of the application season, including an expected material rebound in US corn acreage.

The company also sees the outlook for its methanol business as positive, as China re-opens, lower natural gas prices boost industrial demand, and demand for marine fuels is set to accelerate.

However, Berenberg analyst Adrien Tamagno, as cited by Bloomberg, expects consensus estimates for OCI’s FY2023 adjusted EBITDA to be cut by about 10% to reflect current nitrogen urea prices.

Citi analyst Mubasher Chaudhry sees further share price underperformance for the company, amid ongoing weakness in fertilizer and methanol markets, “with sustainable pricing levels being tested ahead of the spring application season,” Bloomberg reported.

OCI confirmed a semi-annual cash distribution with respect to the second-half of 2022 of €3.50 per share, or around $785 million at current exchange rates, scheduled for payment in April 2023.

OCI Product Sales Volumes

‘000 mt 4Q-2022 4Q-2021 % change FY2022 FY2021 % change
Own product            
Ammonia 571.2 443.0 +29 1,986.7 2,090.3 (5)
Urea 957.0 995.6 (4) 4,241.4 4,327.6 (2)
CAN 213.9 279.0 (23) 1,018.5 1,176.3 (13)
UAN 350.8 412.6 (15) 1,383.0 1,354.8 +2
Total fertilizer 2,092.9 2,130.2 (2) 8,629.6 8,949.0 (4)
Melamine 7.3 35.2 (79) 83.8 131.9 (36)
DEF 254.4 187.2 +36 917.2 612.0 +50
Total nitrogen products 2,354.6 2,352.6 0 9,630.6 9,692.9 (1)
Methanol1 286.0 336.8 (15) 1,255.1 1,747.2 (28)
Total own products sold 2,640.6 2,689.4 (2) 10,885.7 11,440.1 (5)
Traded third party            
Ammonia 76.7 69.2 +11 358.5 255.5 +40
Urea 223.3 252.8 (12) 1,541.7 1,295.2 +19
UAN 121.2 16.9 +617 329.7 48.5 +580
Methanol 99.0 209.0 (53) 381.3 524.4 (27)
Ethanol and other 9.7 – Nm 23.3 – nm
AS 80.9 124.6 (35) 542.2 467.8 +16
DEF 90.1 66.2 +36 419.3 362.2 +16
Total traded third party 700.9 738.7 (5) 3,596.0 2,953.6 +22
Total own product and traded third party 3,341.5 3,428.1 (3) 14,481.7 14,393.7 +1

1 Including OCI’s 50% share of Natgasoline volumes

OCI Boosts DEF Production

DEF, Earnings, News, The Netherlands

OCI NV reported that it has a project scheduled to come online at the beginning of 2024 to add 300,000 mt of Diesel Exhaust Fuel (DEF) for a 100,000 mt of urea equivalent at OCI Nitrogen to improve margins in the Netherlands.

“For us, it is a question of finding the customer base that we can securely get to and investing in some of the logistics,” OCI NV and Fertiglobe CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy told analysts at an OCI earnings call on Feb. 14.

“There are constraints around our sites [where DEF is produced] with regards to water availability, but we have been focused on incrementally pushing up capacity, ” he told analysts.

“At the Iowa Fertilizer Co., for example, the nameplate capacity for DEF was approximately 300,000 mt/y when we brought the plant online in 2017. And now we have achieved over 1 million mt/y of DEF and could potentially go to 1.3 million mt/y of DEF out of the site,” El-Hoshy said.

Fertiglobe, the OCI NV- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) Middle Eastern ammonia and urea joint venture, on Feb. 14 reported that it made trial shipments of Diesel Exhaust Fuel (DEF/AdBlue) from Egypt to Europe in the fourth quarter of 2022 and early 2023, and expects to deliver more shipments over the course of this year (see Fertiglobe earnings story).

OCI said it sold 917,200 mt of DEF last year, a 50% increase over 2021’s sale volumes of 612,000 mt.

Fertiglobe FY2022 Adjusted Net Profit Up 75%; Lower Urea Prices, Turnarounds Impact 4Q

ADNOC - Abu Dhabi, Ammonia, Earnings, News, The Netherlands, Urea

Fertiglobe, the OCI NV- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) Middle Eastern ammonia and urea joint venture, reported a 75% increase in adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders of the company for the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2022, to $1.29 billion, up from $736.6 million the previous year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.151, versus the year-ago $0.085.

Last year, marked the company’s first full year trading as a listed company, being listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Oct. 27, 2021 (GM Oct. 29, 2021).

But fourth-quarter adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 48%, to $196.4 million (diluted EPS $0.021) compared with the year-ago $375.5 million (diluted EPS $0.044).

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter fell 27% year-over-year, to $472.1 million, down from $647.6 million. Fourth-quarter revenues declined by 11% to $1.05 billion, down from $1.18 billion a year earlier.

The company cited lower urea selling prices compared to both fourth-quarter 2021 and third-quarter 2023, largely as a result of a drop in European natural gas prices combined with a delay in demand during the seasonally slow winter months.

Major turnarounds at the company’s facilities in the UAE and Egypt during the quarter also impacted the result.

Nevertheless, total product sales volumes in the quarter were 6% up year-over-year, reaching 1.51 million mt, up from 1.43 million mt. Of these totals, Fertiglobe own product sold volumes increased 3% to 1.27 million mt, while third-party traded volumes grew 24% to 240,000 mt.

For the full-year 2022, adjusted EBITDA came in 59% higher to $2.47 billion, up from $1.55 billion the previous year, while revenues increased 52% to $5.03 billion against the year-ago $3.31 billion.

FY2022 sales volumes dipped 1%, to 6.52 million mt from 6.59 million mt. Fertiglobe’s own product sales volumes fell 3%, to 5.43 million mt from the year-ago 5.57 million mt, which more than offset a 7% increase in third-party traded volumes to 1.09 million mt, up from 1.02 million mt.

After the completion of several turnarounds across its plants last year, including in the fourth quarter in the UAE and Egypt, Fertiglobe said it does not have further turnarounds planned at these facilities in 2023.

Fertiglobe reported that it has a good order book going into the first quarter of 2023. The company also highlighted that it made trial shipments of Diesel Exhaust Fuel (DEF/AdBlue) from Egypt to Europe in the fourth quarter of 2022 and early 2023, and expects to deliver more shipments over the course of this year.

Looking ahead, Fertiglobe believes that despite the recent declines in European gas and nitrogen fertilizer markets, fundamentals for nitrogen and farm economics are healthy. The company consequently expects demand to recover in 2023 to support the rebuilding of “decades-low global grain stocks,” which it believes will take at least until 2025.

The company also sees tight supply dynamics over 2023-2027, citing industry consultations’ expectations of no new major greenfield urea supply coming online in 2023 and limited additions to 2026, and new Russian supply still delayed.

It expects feedstock pricing to remain volatile in the short-term given weather and regulation intervention, but sees feedstock pricing remaining “well above historical averages,” with 2023-2025 forward European natural gas prices at around $17/mmBtu (around 3x higher than 2015-2019).

Fertiglobe announced second-half dividends at $700 million, or the equivalent of AED 0.31 per share, in line with its previous guidance. The dividend will be presented for approval at the next AGM, the date of which is yet to be announced, and is payable in April. It brings total dividends payout for the full-year 2022 to $1.45 billion (including the $750 million first-half 2022 dividend paid to shareholders in October).

Fertiglobe product sales volumes (‘000 mt)

  4Q-2022 4Q-2021 % change FY2022 FY2021 % change
Own product            
Ammonia 325 243 +34 1,227 1,287 (5)
Urea 947 991 (4) 4,204 4,286 (2)
Total own product sold 1,272 1,234 +3 5,431 5,573 (3)
Ammonia 84 40 +109 297 144 +106
Urea 156 153 +2 791 873 (9)
Total traded third-party product 240 193 +24 1,088 1,017 +7
Total own product and traded third-party 1,512 1,427 +6 6,519 6,590 (1)

Fertiglobe Inks EPC with Tecnimont for Ta’ziz Blue Ammonia Project

ADNOC - Abu Dhabi, Ammonia, Blue Ammonia, News, News Briefs, The Netherlands, Urea

Fertiglobe, the OCI NV- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) ammonia and urea joint venture, said on Feb. 14 it has signed an engineering, procurement, and construction contract (EPC) with Italy’s Tecnimont SpA on behalf of its partners in the Ta’ziz 1 million mt/y low carbon ammonia project in the UAE.

Fertiglobe joined the blue ammonia production project in the Ta’ziz industrial and chemicals hub in Ruwais in June 2021 (GM June 25, 2021). Last month, the project initiators, ADNOC and Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ (GM May 28, 2021), signed a shareholder agreement with Fertiglobe and South Korea’s GS Energy Corp. and Japan’s Mitsui & Co. for the project.

Mitsui and GS Energy agreed to partner in the Ta’ziz joint venture in November 2021 (GM Nov. 19, 2021). In addition to becoming partners, Mitsui and GS Energy will, upon equity participation and supply commencement, off-take “significant volumes” of blue ammonia to “meet growing demand in the energy and industrial sectors in Japan and Korea, respectively.”

Higher Sales, Higher Prices Boost Ma’aden FY2022

Earnings, News, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden), Riyadh, reported a surge of 87% in its net profit after Zakat and tax for the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2022, driven by higher sales and higher commodity prices.

Ma’aden, posted a full-year net profit of SAR12.13 billion (approximately $3.23 billion at current exchange rates) up from SAR6.48 billion the previous year, according to a company statement on Feb. 13.

EBITDA increased 51% to SAR18.68 billion, up from SAR12.35 billion. Full-year sales increased 50% on the year, to SAR40.28 billion from the year-ago SAR26.77 billion, boosted by the higher commodity prices and higher sales volumes.

But the company’s fourth-quarter net profit declined by 53% to SR1.27 billion (FY2021: SAR2.68 billion) pulled down by higher depreciation, taxes, and finance charges as a result of higher interest rates globally. EBITDA for the quarter was off 23% year-over-year at SAR3.26 billion, down from the year-ago SAR4.26 billion

Sales for the three-month period, however, increased to SR9.47 billion, up 11% year-over-year, as sales volumes rose.

Regarding its Fertilizer Business Unit, Ma’aden posted an 83% rise in the unit’s FY2022 sales to SAR26.72 billion, and an 128% increase in EBITDA to SAR15.58 billion. For the fourth-quarter, sales rose 28% to SAR6.55 billion and EBITDA 22% to SAR3.25 billion.

The company cited higher sales volumes and commodity prices driving the FY2022 performance, although it noted that this was partially offset in the fourth quarter by softer commodity prices and higher operating costs.

Ma’aden said in line with production capacity increases following the completion of the Ammonia 3 project at Ras Al-Khair Industrial City on Saudi Arabia’s East Coast (GM June 10, 2022) and phosphate remedial projects concluded last year, it has provided the following production guidance for the year 2023 of P2O5 of between 2.5 million to 2.9 million mt and ammonia of between 3.1 million and 3.5 million mt.

Ma’aden’s Board recommended to not distribute cash dividends for FY2022. The Boards’ decision is based on the company’s need to continue funding its strategic growth plan and partnership projects, the company said in its earnings statement.

Jordan Phosphate Mines Co./Arab Potash Co. Ink MOUs in NH3, Fertilizer Sectors

Ammonia, Jordan, News, News Briefs, Phosphate, Potash, Specialty

Jordan Phosphate Mines Co. (JPMC) and Arab Potash Co. (APC) have signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) related to the ammonia and specialized fertilizer sectors, and for conducting joint studies.

Under the MOUs, the two companies will work to find potential partnerships for projects related to “the specialized fertilizer” sector, and joint future partnerships and investments in the ammonia industry, according to Jordan’s state news agency Petra, citing a JPMC Feb. 15 press statement.

JPMC and APC will also conduct joint studies on “the conditions and ways” to develop Jordan’s fertilizer sector.

JPMC Board Chair Mohammed Thneibat, who was present at the signing ceremony, highlighted the “long-term, strategic” relationship between the two companies.

The MOUs provide the basis for strengthening joint cooperation relations to serve both JPMC’s and APC’s shareholders and Jordan’s economy, said Thneibat, as cited by the report.

BCIC Mulls Saudi DAP Plant, Signs MOU for Feasibility Study

Bangladesh, Di-Ammonium Phosphate, News, News Briefs, Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corp. (BCIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hanwha Saudi Contracting Co. Ltd. for the Saudi company to undertake a feasibility study on setting up a DAP fertilizer plant in Saudi Arabia.

The MOU was inked on Feb. 15 at Bangladesh’s Ministry of Industries, according to a report by the country’s Daily Observer newspaper, citing a ministry press release.

According to an Arabnews report, citing the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Industries in Dhaka, Sharif Md. Mashud, the ministry estimates that it may take around six months for the completion of the feasibility study.

The proposed plant – if it goes ahead – will be jointly-owned by the two countries, and will help meet Bangladesh’s demand for phosphate fertilizer, according to the minister. The plant’s capacity will be decided upon after the feasibility study is completed.