Tessenderlo Group said Sept. 12 that its new liquid fertilizer plant in Rouen, France, has successfully started the production of Thio-Sul® and has already shipped its first products to its customers. The liquid fertilizer Thio-Sul® (ammonium thiosulfate/ATS) is used for broad-acre crops as well as arboricultural and vegetable crop cultivation.

“Thanks to the excellent teamwork and fruitful collaboration between our French and American colleagues from Tessenderlo Kerley Inc. in Phoenix, we were able to get our new unit up and running just one year after we broke ground,” said Tessenderlo Kerley International Business Unit Manager Geert Gyselinck. “This marks a new milestone in the history of Tessenderlo Group as it is the group’s first Thio-Sul® plant located outside the United States. With the new factory, we are further expanding our local presence in the market of liquid fertilizer solutions for precision agriculture. The plant, which employs some 20 people, will service both European and overseas markets. It will enhance our leading position in the broad-acre crops market thanks to the improved proximity it will provide to our end customers.”

Tessenderlo Group is also currently completing the construction of a Thio-Sul® plant in East Dubuque, Ill. The completion date is expected to be in the final quarter of 2017. The company said both of the new plants in Rouen and East Dubuque will enable it to further strengthen its position in the global agro market.

The Mosaic Co. said Sept. 11 that it expects its third quarter 2017 phosphates production volumes to be impacted by damage to facilities and disruptions in the supply chain. It is not making phosphate price offers to domestic or international customers until it has a better understanding of product availability and its ability to ship product. It said it will provide an estimate for lost production once assessments are complete.

A warehouse containing finished fertilizer was damaged at the Bartow facility and Mosaic is assessing the amount of product that has been damaged. A picture is on the company website. Damage at all other facilities appears to be more minor based on preliminary assessments.

No serious environmental incidents have been reported.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. on Sept. 11 announced that the Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) has granted unconditional regulatory approval for the proposed merger of equals by issuing a no-action letter dated Sept. 11, 2017.

The CCB concluded that the proposed transaction is not likely to lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition with respect to potash fertilizer, phosphate fertilizers and nitric acid. The CCB found that global prices of potash are correlated with prices in Canada and that customers can source potash from multiple suppliers. The issuance of the no-action letter satisfies the Canadian regulatory condition of closing of the proposed merger of equals transaction.

The companies previously received unconditional clearance for the merger in both Brazil and Russia. The regulatory review and approval process continues in the U.S., China and India and the parties expect to close the transaction by the end of the fourth quarter of 2017. The U.S. has posed concerns over nitric acid and super phosphoric acid. India and China are interested in PotashCorp shedding offshore minority stakes (GM Sept. 8, p. 1).

Upon closing the merger transaction, the new company will be named Nutrien and will be the largest global provider of crop inputs and services.

Israel Chemical Ltd. shares fell sharply on Sunday, Sept. 10, on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in response to reports that Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. will have to sell its minority stake in ICL in order to obtain Chinese and Indian government approval for its planned merger with Agrium Inc.  ICL share price partially recovered on Monday.  PotashCorp has a 14 percent stake in ICL.  The Canadian company also holds minority stakes in China’s Sinofert, Chile’s SQM and Jordan’s Arab Potash Co.

Israel Chemicals Ltd. is holding contacts with Britain’s Sirius Minerals on the possible sale of its U.K. operations, according to a report in the Calcalist economic daily. The report said that the sale price is likely to be around $150 to $200 million. ICL owns a potash mine in Boulby in northern England with a capacity of 800,000 mt/y. Due to the high cost of production ICL has in recent years reduced manpower at the mine from 1,000 to 500 and took a write off in 2016. According to the report, junior firm Sirius, which has a mine under development in the U.K., is interested in buying ICL’s U.K. operations due to the potential from the production of polysulfate. In November, ICL said that given current market conditions it had decided to accelerate the transition of its U.K. mine to polysulfate from potash. ICL said in response to the report that the company is studying various possibilities including cooperation, the sale or purchase of companies and the company would make an announcement if and when there is anything to report.

As of Saturday, Sept. 9, The Mosaic Co. said it was executing hurricane preparedness plans and planned to idle its Central Florida phosphate mines and partially idle its concentrate facilities, to facilitate efficient resumption of fertilizer production following the storm. It said its priority was to keep people safe and protect the environment during and after the storm. There was no update as of Sept. 11.

Mosaic also announced Sept. 9, a $100,000 contribution for disaster relief and emergency response efforts in Florida in advance of Hurricane Irma’s impact. Funds will support the American Red Cross and Feeding Florida – who each will receive $50,000.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. today provided an update on the status of the proposed merger of equals transaction. They now expect the merger to conclude by end of the fourth quarter, pushed back from the third quarter.

The two said the regulatory review and approval process has progressed in all remaining jurisdictions. In Canada and the US, the parties are working with the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission to resolve final issues in superphosphoric acid (SPA) and nitric acid.

The companies have also been informed that the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) in China and, independently, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) intend to condition their respective approvals of the proposed transaction on the divestment of certain of PotashCorp’s offshore minority ownership interests.

The remedies under consideration are not expected to impact the estimated $500-million of annual operating synergies. Both companies remain highly confident in consummating the merger of equals.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. outperformed fertilizer companies intraday as Dutch fertilizer maker OCI NV posted better-than-expected results, and also after reports of higher Middle Eastern urea spot prices were issued by industry consultants.

Fertilizer stocks were trading higher intraday, according to Bloomberg, with CF up as much as 6.6 percent, UAN +3 percent, POT +2.4 percent, AGU +2.2 percent, MOS +2.4 percent (trading ex-dividend)

“Middle Eastern producers are raising price ideas into the next Indian (IPL) tender with results due Sept. 8 and shipping in late October,” Green Markets Head of Research Neil Fleishman said. “Producers’ prices had already risen recently with expectations for increased offers; and if prices jump into it, they could even reduce the size – despite probably needing 2 million mt this year.”

However, on Aug. 2, CF said it sees nitrogen prices challenged into 2018, “with North America entering what is typically its period of lowest demand and prices, new pricing lows should be reached should substantial imports arrive” in the third quarter.

Ferti Technologies, St-Michel, Quebec, is adding a new 133,000 sq/ft production facility in Wallingford, Conn. By the end of the year, the company expects it to have multiple blending and bagging lines in Wallingford dedicated to the turf & ornamental market.

Ferti Technologies existing footprint includes production plants in Phoenix, Ariz., Statesville, N.C., Niagara Falls, Ont., and St-Michel, Quebec.