Australian-based American Pacific Borates (ABR), reports it is one step closer to bringing a seller onboard to commercialize specialty fertilizer produced at its proposed Fort Cady Borate Mine in California, saying it has inked a letter of intent with Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan. ABR says the Fort Cady project, situated in the southeastern desert region of San Bernardino County, is just months away from coming into production.
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Growmark, Castlen Building New Kentucky Facility
Growmark Inc., Bloomington, Ill., and Castlen Enterprises announced today significant progress on a project that will bring a new large-scale warehouse distribution center in Owensboro, Ky. The new facility is currently under construction and scheduled to be operational in Fall 2021.
Nutrien’s Borger Plant in Major Turnaround, Redwater to Follow
Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, reports that its Borger, Texas, nitrogen facility (ammonia and urea) began a 65-day turnaround starting May 3. However, the company said it will continue to ship inventory per its supply/demand plan. The Redwater, Alberta, facility is expecting a 68-day turnaround starting July 23, which will include the large ammonia plant and urea.
CF Income, Adj. EBITDA Beats Estimates
CF Industries Holding Inc., Deerfield, Ill, reported first-quarter net earnings of $151 million, up from the year-ago $68 million and ahead of analyst estimates of $119.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $398 million, also surpassing the average analyst estimate or Bloomberg Consensus survey of major analysts, which was $390.6 million.
OCI Plans Blue NH3 Production at Beaumont
OCI NV, Amsterdam, reports it continues to expand its offering of low carbon products to its customers, and will be able to produce blue ammonia at OCI Beaumont, Texas, up to the full ammonia production capacity of 365,000 mt/y, starting in the second half of 2021, according to its first-quarter financial report released on May 5. It said it recently signed one agreement and one Letter of Intent (LOI) with two major industrial gases companies for the supply of low carbon hydrogen to the plant. Decarbonizing the feedstock supply will allow OCI Beaumont to reduce its carbon footprint and offer both blue ammonia and bio-methanol to OCI’s downstream customers. OCI already produces green ammonia at OCI Nitrogen in the Netherlands.
Koch Completes Micronutrient Acquisition
Koch Agronomic Services LLC, Wichita, said May 4 that it completed its acquisition of Compass Minerals’ North American micronutrient assets, the global intellectual property rights, with trademarks and patents and certain other assets associated with Wolf Trax®, Rocket Seeds® and Hydro Bullet™ product platforms.
Incitec Pivot Inks Offtake with Perdaman
Australia’s Incitec Pivot Ltd. says its wholly-owned subsidiary, Incitec Fertilizers, has entered into a 20-year off-take agreement with junior producer Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers with a commitment to take up to 2.3 million mt/y of granular urea from Perdaman’s proposed urea plant at Karratha in Western Australia, according to Bloomberg. The deal is subject to certain conditions precedent, with a primary one relating to Perdaman’s obtaining financing for construction of the new plant which in turn depends on Perdaman finalizing gas supply arrangements and obtaining various environmental and other regulatory approvals for the plant. Completion of the plant is tentatively anticipated by the end of 2025.
The Andersons Report Best Plant Nutrient 1Q Since 2008
The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, reported its Plant Nutrient segment had its best first quarter since 2008. Company-wide, the company saw its best first quarter since 2014, with net income attributable to the company of $15.1 million compared to a year-ago loss of $37.7 million.
Compass Reports 1Q Results
Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., reported net income from continuing operations of $32.9 million on sales of $426 million, compared to the year-ago $33.9 million and $346.9 million, respectively. Continuing businesses include its Salt and Plant Nutrition segments (formerly Plant Nutrition North America).
Discontinued businesses, which have been sold, include its North America micronutrient business and select assets from tis South American business. Including these businesses, Compass had a net loss of $223.6 million compared to year-ago income of $27.6 million.
CVR Reports 1Q Results
CVR Partners LP, Sugar Land, Texas, reported a first-quarter net loss of $25 million on net sales of $61 million, compared to the year-ago loss $21 million and net sales of $75 million. EBITDA was $5 million, down from the year-ago $11 million.