SQM’s board of directors accepted the resignation of CEO Patricio de Solminihac Tampier in a meeting July 25. The resignation will become effective Dec. 31, 2018. He has been with the company over 30 years.
Under SQM’s succession plan, Ricardo Ramos Rodriguez, the current CFO and vice president of corporate services will be appointed CEO Jan. 1, 2019. He has over 29 years with SQM.
Losses for both LSB Industries Inc., Oklahoma City, and CVR Partners LP, Sugar Land, Texas, grew during the second-quarter from year-ago levels, with both companies citing down time due to turnarounds. While the outages cut in volumes, fertilizer prices were up for both companies.
LSB, citing turnarounds at both El Dorado, Ark., and Pryor, Okla., reported a net loss of $27.5 million ($1.27 per basic and diluted share) on net sales of $103.2 million, compared to the year-ago loss of $7 million ($0.53 per share) and $122.8 million, respectively.
CVR outages were at both Coffeyville, Kan., and East Dubuque, Ill., and cut some 80,000 st for UAN from the sales sheet. CVR reported a net loss of $16.4 million ($0.15 per basic and diluted unit) on net sales of $93.2 million, compared to the year-ago loss of $3.5 million ($0.03 per unit) and $97.9 million, respectively.
The long-awaited Indian urea tender came today, July 25, when MMTC called for the purchase of prilled or granular urea to be shipped by Sept. 17. The tender will close Aug. 1.
The urea industry has been waiting for an Indian tender for more than a month. Prices jumped up in June on the heels of a possible call. Since then prices have moderated but have not dipped back to pre-June levels.
Earlier this month, industry sources stated the expected price in the offers to an Indian tender could be in the mid-$280s/mt CFR, a level about $20/mt higher than the previous tender.
Some concern has been raised in the past 2 months over the impact the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions against Iran could have on the ability of India to buy Iranian urea. To add to the concern, the State Bank of India said it would not cover purchases of Iranian oil. Urea industry sources said India and Iran have been working on ways to circumvent the sanctions. In the past, some offers of Iranian material were priced in UAE dirham instead of US dollars.
The tender documents include the standard text that offers of Iranian material can be made in dirhams. Sources expect to see at least 500,000 mt of urea from Iran offered in the tender.
The price in the Arab Gulf last week for prilled urea was pegged at $280/mt FOB. Iranian product was put in the low-$270s/mt FOB.
Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, said July 27 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with SDIC Mining Investment Co. Ltd. to sell 23,294,614 common shares of Arab Potash Co. for gross proceeds of $502 million. The announced transaction represents the entirety of Nutrien’s holdings in APC.
Completion of the APC sale was required by the Competition Commission of India and Ministry of Commerce in China in providing their clearance for the merger of Agrium and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. to form Nutrien. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
CHS Inc., St. Paul, Minn., reported net income of $229.3 million for the third-quarter ending May 31, 2018, up from a year-ago loss of $45.2 million. The year-ago figure reflected major writedowns due in part to the cooperative’s business in Brazil.
Third-quarter consolidated revenues were $9 billion, up from the year-ago $8.6 billion.
Nine-month net income was $576.1 million compared with the year-ago $178.5 million. Revenues were $23.9 billion, on par with the same time period the prior fiscal year.
Results for the quarter were attributed to higher operating margins in the company’s Ag and Energy segments compared to prior years, primarily driven by higher margins in feed and farm supplies, crop nutrients, processing and food ingredients and refined fuels. CHS also reported higher volumes in the Ag segment, driven by feed and farm supplies, and processing and food ingredients. In addition, sales of certain assets and businesses within the Energy segment and Corporate and Other, resulted in cash proceeds that were used to eliminate the need for incremental long-term debt and reduce existing debt. CHS also noted the recovery of certain reserve and impairment charges during fiscal 2018, primarily in the Ag segment.
Nutrien Ltd. said July 9 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Waypoint Analytical Inc. and its operating subsidiaries. Waypoint is the largest agriculture laboratory group in the U.S. and among the top 25 U.S. environmental lab groups. The company has approximately 250 employees across its operations, which include 11 U.S. laboratories and six service centers that analyze approximately 1.8 million soil samples for the agricultural market on an annual basis.
Nutrien has been a major customer of Waypoint.
The acquisition will occur in two tranches, with Nutrien initially acquiring 80 percent ownership of Waypoint upon closing of the transaction, and the remaining 20 percent to be acquired by Nutrien following the fifth anniversary of the initial closing.
Canpotex Ltd. said July 4 that it is fully committed on potash sales until October 2018. The Saskatchewan export organization cited strong demand and solid agricultural fundamentals in its offshore markets. The announcement was made as major buyers China and India continue to assess their annual contracts, with suppliers pushing for significantly higher prices.
LSB Industries Inc., Oklahoma City, said July 5 that the ammonia plant at its El Dorado, Ark., chemical facility resumed production on June 30, 2018. As previously announced, El Dorado was taken out of service after a power outage resulted in tube failures in the ammonia plant’s boiler on June 4, 2018.
In addition, while El Dorado’s ammonia plant was out of service, the company elected to pull forward work previously planned for the September 2018 turnaround, which shortens the planned turnaround in the third quarter to five days, from the previously revised twelve days, resulting in additional third quarter production and reduced turnaround expense.
Koch Agronomic Services is breaking ground on a new tank farm expansion in Sylacauga, Ala. The company said the facility which produces both Polyon and Duration enhanced efficiency fertilizers for the turf and ornamental, specialty crop and consumer markets, is experiencing record demand. The expansion is expected to greatly improve capacity and reliability while decreasing energy consumption.
Koch said the tank farm project essentially replaces the entire chemical processing system for three of the facility’s four current production lines, including repurposing a previously decommissioned part of the plant. The upgrades also include installation of a new chemical unloading station, eight new chemical storage tanks, new transfer pumps, new technologies for product blending and much more.
The Sylacauga facility has 75 full time production employees and is actively recruiting plant operators, shipping operators and a quality manager with additional growth positions forecasted soon.
Tampa anhydrous ammonia business for July has been concluded at $280/mt CFR, up $10/mt from June’s $270/mt CFR.
