GreenPoint AG’s Hardinsburg, Kentucky fertilizer facility caught fire around 11 a.m., Monday, Oct. 14, 2019. One building at the complex was completely destroyed.

“We believe the fire began as an electrical fire and are working with local and state officials to determine the best course of action at this time,” says Tim Bogy, GreenPoint AG’s Environmental, Health and Safety Manager. “Various fertilizers and crop protection products were in the facility at the start of the fire, but this facility does not house any explosive products.”

Local residents were ordered to shelter in place and no injuries were reported.

GreenPoint AG has 54 facilities in seven states, and is headquartered in Memphis.

Initial results from the MMTC urea tender that closed today showed a softer urea market. The lowest offers were $6-$7/mt lower than the previous tender. About 2.4 million mt were offered by 12 trading houses and three Arab Gulf producers.

Dreymoor came in at $269.89/mt CFR with the lowest West Coast price. Samsung had the lowest East Coast price at $270.27/mt CFR. The last tender has prices of $276/mt CFR and $278/mt CFR for each respective coast.

The Mosaic Co., Plymouth, Minn., announced today that it will temporarily curtail production at its Esterhazy mine, which when combined with a previously announced potash curtailment, brings total curtailments to up to 600,000 mt. The curtailment is not expected to impact the pace of development at the Esterhazy mine K3 project.

The company said the increased curtailment is based on increasing inventories as a result of a short-term slowdown in global potash markets and increased risks of a delay in Chinese contract settlement. If the full amount of the curtailment is realized in lower fourth quarter 2019 sales, it would result in a negative impact of approximately $150 million in adjusted EBITDA.

Both major buyers have now concluded fourth-quarter Tampa sulfur contracts at $46/lt, down $29/lt from the third-quarter’s $75lt.

India’s MMTC has called a urea tender to close Oct. 14 with shipping by November 14. The move came as a surprise. Another tender call was not expected until the last of the cargoes booked under the previous tender were shipped. Sources had earlier speculated, however, a call could come if vessels for the tonnage were nominated before the Oct. 16 shipping deadline.

Sources reported sales of urea in the country have been good due to better-than-expected rains. Bottom line, said one trader: They need the urea.

OCP SA, Casablanca, has secured the go-ahead from the Moroccan government to set up a company in Mexico to meet demand in Central American markets, according to a Bloomberg report, citing the Moroccan government’s Official Gazette.  The phosphates group sees demand in Central America as increasing some 65 percent annually through 2023, Bloomberg reported.

The new company, whose creation was approved by the OCP Board of Directors in June, is named OCP Specialties Mexico, and will be based in Guadalajara, according to Moroccan news outlet Yabiladi, citing the same document.

OCP Specialties Mexico will operate as a subsidiary of OCP International Coöperative UA, Amsterdam.

The Moroccan government has also green-lighted OCP to set up a new specialties company in India, named OCP Specialties India Private, based in Mumbai, Yabiladi reported. The new firm will also operate as a subsidiary of OCP International Coöperative UA.

Junior sulfate of potash (SOP) developer Kalium Lakes Ltd., Balcatta, Western Australia, announced Oct. 3 its Board of Directors has approved the full development of its wholly-owned Beyondie SOP project, with first production on schedule for late 2020.

The Tampa anhydrous ammonia price for October was settled at $255/mt CFR, up $30/mt from September’s $225/mt CFR.

Western Potash Corp., Vancouver, said Sept. 26 that it has entered into a binding offtake agreement with Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) for 100 percent of the potash production (146,000 mt/y) from the Milestone Phase I plant in Saskatchewan. Western Potash began drilling on the project in July and expects production to begin in 2020 (GM July 19, p. 1).