A massive explosion at Lebanon’s main port rocked Beirut, overwhelming hospitals dealing with the injured and dying. The blast was so large it blew out windows across the capital and was even heard from Cyprus, according to Bloomberg, which reported that the casualty toll continued to climb through the night on Tuesday, with the health minister saying around 11 p.m. that 67 people were killed and some 3,600 injured.

Authorities told the local media that it was believed the explosion originated from a highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Both ammonium and sodium nitrate were mentioned.

Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., reported second-quarter net income of $1.7 million on sales of $256.1 million compared to a year-ago loss of $11.8 million and $245.2 million, respectively. Operating earnings were up at both Plant Nutrition North America and Plant Nutrition South America, with both segments reporting increased fertilizer volumes and lower prices.

The Andersons Inc. Maumee, Ohio, reported that its Plant Nutrient Group posted an income boost of more than 20 percent during the second-quarter to $19.4 million versus the year-ago $15.9 million. Company-wide, net income attributable to the company edged up to $30.4 million from the year-ago $29.9 million.

In addition, the company announced some reorganization and management changes. The Plant Nutrient Group and Rail Group are being combined, and will be led by Joe McNeely, who formerly headed the Rail Group. The Trade and Ethanol Groups will be combined and led by President Bill Krueger, who formerly led the Trade Group. Jim Pirolli, who headed Ethanol has been appointed Senior Vice President of the combined group.

Egyptian and Chinese urea prices jumped dramatically as the week opened. Sources reported sales of Chinese granular urea at $270/mt FOB, against a price in the low $240s/mt FOB last week. Also, Helwan in Egypt sold a granular cargo of 30,000 mt at $280/mt FOB, against a price last week of $250/mt FOB. Sources said the prices were a reaction to a tight market.

Nitrogen producer CVR Partners LP, Sugar Land, Texas, reported a second-quarter net loss of $42 million, inclusive of a $41 million pretax charge related to goodwill impairment, on net sales of $105 million versus the year-ago net income of $19 million and net sales of $138 million.

Intrepid Potash Inc., Denver, posted a second-quarter net loss of $8.9 million on sales of $46.5 million compared to the year-ago net income of $5.6 million and sales of $62.5 million. The company said the results were clearly affected by COVID-19 which impacted its oilfield and water sales activity during the quarter. It said this overshadowed its strong fertilizer performance during the spring application season and its good 2020 evaporation rates at its potash facilities.

The Mosaic Co., Tampa, on Aug. 3 reported second-quarter net income of $47.4 million, up from the year-ago loss of $233.1 million, which included a $284 million noncash after-tax charge for the permanent closure of the company’s Plant City phosphate facility. The company reported net sales of $2 billion, off from the year-ago $2.18 billion. Finished goods sales volume increased 16 percent over the prior year period.

Brandt, Springfield, Ill., reported Aug. 3 that it has acquired a retail agronomy company, Morton Fertilizer, with full-service locations in Wyanet, Ill. and Grand Mound, Iowa. Morton Fertilizer, which encompasses D&B Morton Fertilizer Service Inc. of Bureau County, Ill., and Du-Mor Crop Care Inc. of Clinton County, Iowa, will immediately become part of the Brandt organization.

RCF called a urea tender to close August 10 with shipment by September 15. The call came shortly after MMTC secured about 700,000 mt against an expected take of 1 million mt. Rules for the tender are the same as the MMTC tender, including the provision that if a trader offers multiple tons to different ports on the same coast and one of those offers is the lowest price for that coast, the offering company must supply all those offered tons for that coast at the lowest price.

The lowest price in the MMTC tender came in at $257.70/mt CFR for the West Coast and $259.50 for the east Coast, both from Swiss Singapore. Total tonnage offered was 1.6 million mt. Of that, about 304,000 mt were offered on an FOB basis from traders and producers. Thirteen companies offered tons but three – Allied Harvest, Amber and Fertisul – ran afoul of requirements related to doing business with Chinese companies.

For a detailed analysis of the tender see the July 31, 2020 issue of Green Markets.