Polyolefins and fertilizers major Borealis AG, Vienna, said it has decided to start a process to divest its nitrogen business unit including fertilizer, technical nitrogen and melamine products. Borealis distributes around 5 million mt/y of fertilizers in Western, Central, and Southeast Europe. The company said its share in the Rosier fertilizer production sites in The Netherlands and Belgium is presently not being considered within the potential sales process.

Southern Towing Co., Chicago, an affiliate of CC Industries, announced Feb. 2 that it has acquired Devall Towing, Sulphur, La., from the Devall family. Founded in 1952, Devall is a towboat and barge operator for specialty chemicals along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and Lower Mississippi River. It operates a fleet of 36 towboats and 125 liquid tank barges.

Nutrien Ltd. has announced new pricing for urea and ammonium sulfate delivered to Saskatchewan in Western Canada at C$620/mt and C$435/mt, respectively, basis Saskatchewan benchmark pricing. These are increases of $125/mt and $55/mt, respectively, since Jan. 1. The company said the increases reflect tightening availability and strengthening demand in the market, and the anticipation of a very strong spring application season.

New sales out of Indonesia showed a marked jump. A granular cargo was sold at $366/mt FOB, up from $328.70/mt FOB last week. A prilled cargo went for $354.90/mt FOB against a sale of $321.75/mt FOB at the same time. December 2020 prices were at $278/mt FOB.

Nutrien Ltd. said Feb. 1 that it is now fully committed on potash sales to North America through April 2021, in addition to offshore sales volumes with Canpotex. The company said it is significant that these offshore commitments through April do not include any shipments to India or China.

A nationwide truckers strike in Brazil never materialized on Monday, according to Bloomberg, citing the Federal Highway Police. Traffic was normal in the main Brazilian states, including Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul. Representatives from the agriculture sector said there’s no sign of stoppages. In Sao Paulo, a court decision prevented truckers from blocking a key road in the state, according an attorney for the truckers, who was trying to get the decision reversed.

Canpotex, Nutrien, Uralkali and K+S Group have all expressed their belief that the new annual contract price of $247/mt CFR reached between Belarus Potash Co. (BPC) and India’s biggest potash importer, Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL), as announced on Jan. 29, is not reflective of current market trends, and is significantly below current market price levels.

Canpotex said “this would be significantly below current market levels for potash in key offshore markets and a complete disconnect from the strong fundamentals currently being seen for major agricultural commodities in numerous growing regions throughout the world.”

Six people died after a nitrogen leak at the Prime Pak Foods poultry plant in Gainesville, Ga., a spokeswoman at Northeast Georgia Health System said Thursday according to a Bloomberg report. Five died on the scene and one person died in the emergency room at the hospital, spokeswoman Lauren Tumlin said. Nine others were transported to the hospital, with three in critical condition and six in fair condition.

AdvanSix is increasing the price of ammonium sulfate by $10/st, effective immediately, across its entire system. The new price for granular ammonium sulfate out of Hopewell, Va., will be $245/st FOB.

Tampa ammonia for February has been concluded at $330/mt DEL, up $60/mt from January’s $270/mt.