CHS Inc., St. Paul, Minn., reported net income for the nine months ending May 31 of $650.9 million, up from the year-ago $535 million, respectively. While third-quarter results were off at $54.6 million from the year-ago $181.8 million, CHS noted that the year-ago period included one-time pretax gains of $124.1 million.

CHS reported third-quarter pretax earnings from its Nitrogen Production segment, which includes its stake in CF Nitrogen were up. Results were $20.2 million, up from $18.8 million due to increased market pricing of urea and UAN.

Acron Group, Moscow, and Bolivia’s state-run oil and gas company, Yacomientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), are reported to have reached an agreement for the supply of gas to “a fertilizer plant in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state,” according to Bloomberg, citing an Interfax report. The plant is presumed to be the still-to-be-completed nitrogen fertilizer complex, Unidade de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados III (UFN-III) in Três Lagoas.

Major buyers have concluded third-quarter Tampa sulfur contracts at $75/lt CFR, down $13/lt from the second-quarter’s $88/lt CFR.

Ameropa AG, Binningen, Switzerland, said July 8 that it will appeal a verdict of a Russian criminal court which sentenced five representatives of shareholders of the Russian nitrogen producer Togliatti Azot, including Ameropa executives to sentences of 8.6-9 years and damages of $1.385 billion. Allegations of fraud were made against the defendants by Dmitry Mazepin, the Russian businessman who owns a minority stake in Togliatti and major stakes in Uralchem and Uralkali. Ameropa said the move was a raid on Togliatti and that authorities had previously taken control of all the shares not owned by Togliatti.

Ameropa noted that the court decision is not enforceable outside of Russia. The company said it will also make an investment arbitration claim under the Swiss-Russian Investment Protection Treaty. It noted that another lawsuit in the case is pending in Ireland in which Mazepin had to commit not to take possession of the Togliatti shares until there was a final verdict in Ireland.

Belarus will supply 450,000 mt of potash fertilizers to Bangladesh, according to Belarusian news agency BelTA, citing a major one-year contract which was signed in the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament July 8.

Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, reports that the 34 miners trapped in the Cory mine in Saskatchewan July 2 were safely evacuated July 3.

Awards in the MMTC urea tender totaling 1.71 million tons were given to 12 companies. About 800,000 mt is supposed to come from China. However, sources said producers may have shorted their product and might have only 400,000 mt available for the shipping time frame of the tender. Prices were set at $292.63/mt CFR for East Coast deliveries and $295.97/mt CFR for the West Coast.

The MMTC urea tender closed with a bump up in prices. Dreymoor had the lowest offer for the East Coast at $293.63/mt CFR. Aries came in at $295.97/mt CFR for the West Coast. These prices reflect jump in prices from the last tender of $8-$16/mt depending on the delivery port.

The Tampa anhydrous ammonia price for July has been concluded at $215/mt CFR, down $5/mt from June’s $220/mt.

Yara International ASA, Oslo, is looking to expand its business in Qatar to counter a plan by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and OCI NV to merge their Middle East fertilizer operations and create a $7 billion regional champion, according to a Bloomberg report. Yara will work with partners Qatar Fertiliser Co. (QAFCO) on boosting production to meet growing demand, CEO Svein Holsether said in an interview at Yara’s Capital Markets Day in London June 26. Yara has a 25 percent stake in QAFCO, set up by the Qatari government to make use of the nation’s vast gas reserves.