New York City-Mosaic Co. Executive Vice President and CFO Lawrence Stranghoener said that 2-2.5 percent demand growth for phosphate is going to create a need for the phosphate coming out of Saudi Arabia’s new Ma’aden phosphate project, which he said is slated to begin production late next year. The project will start off with 3 million mt/y capacity, but could be expanded to 6 million mt/y. “…For many, many years, we used to look at it as the Death Star out there,” said Stranghoener, speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Agriculture, Protein & Fertilizer Conference. “I think ironically it’s proven to be a valuable thing and that has probably prevented a lot of other potential capacity expansion from coming onstream.” He said the logical market for the product is Asia. “We’re preparing for that. I think this base load contract we’ve announced with India suggests that we intend to continue to be a supplier to that market.” In other phosphate news, Bayovar phosphate rock project in Peru should come onstream later this summer, with Mosaic taking rock from the mine in its next fiscal year. Mosaic recently bought a stake in the mine. In potash news, Stranghoener said the company recently extended its reserve life by ten years at Carlsbad, N.M., by acquiring additional mineral rights. He said Mosaic owns enough mineral reserves to run its potash mines for over 100 years. Ongoing expansions in Canada are expected to increase annual capacity by over 5 million mt by 2020.

Stamford, Conn.-Agroquimes S.A. and Raw Trade S.L., both of Spain, and members of the Spanish Medifer Group, have acquired shares of Primary Resources Inc., Stamford, Conn., and Naples, Fla. However, their position does not include Primary’s sulfur prilling facility located at Come By Chance, Newfoundland, Canada. Primary reports that the proposed merger of Primary into BCT Chemical that was expected last fall (GM Sept. 14, 2009) did not materialize. Contacts at the three companies include James Cattano at Primary at 1 Atlantic St., Stamford, Conn. 06901, tel: 203-351-0670, email: info@primaryresourcesinc.net; Manuel Moreno, Agroquimes S.A., 16, General Moscardo St., 28020 Madrid, Spain, tel: 34-91-597-3535, email: mmoreno@logistrade.com; and Jose Vicente Barrera, Raw Trade S.L., 85, San Vicente Martir St., 46007 Valencia, Spain, tel: 34-96-351-6266; email: josevbarrera@medifer.es.

Binningen, Switzerland-Ameropa AG has become the majority shareholder in Impact Fertilisers Pty Ltd. and Impact Fertilisers Australia Pty Ltd. Impact Fertilisers includes an SSP plant and distribution business in Tasmania. The company was fully owned until now by the Bender family. Impact Fertilisers Australia started more than three years ago as a joint venture between the Bender family and Ameropa, and is focused on fertilizer distribution in Eastern Australia. The transaction closed on May 7, 2010. Both Impact Fertilisers Pty Ltd. and Impact Fertilisers Australia Pty Ltd. will have a common shareholding and board of directors, and will be trading as Impact Fertilisers. Ray Bender will continue his involvement in the company as a shareholder and member of the board of the Impact companies.

Rigby, Idaho-A J.R. Simplot Co. driver was killed May 17 when she was ejected from the cab of the tanker truck she was driving. A hundred or more gallons of liquid fertilizer spilled in the accident, which occurred two miles east of Drummond on a corner of eastbound Idaho 32. Investigators reported no other vehicles were involved. A Simplot statement identified the victim as Holly Goebel, 54, of Ashton, who had been employed by Simplot Grower Solutions (SGS) in September and October, 2009, and had begun driving again for SGS last month. She was described as an extremely experienced truck driver with thousands of hours behind the wheel of large vehicles. The Fremont County sheriff’s office said Goebel lost control of the 10-wheeled truck and overcorrected. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Bruce King, a spokesman for the Idaho Transportation Department, reported that a team of experts from Simplot determined that the fertilizer spill amounted to about 100 gallons of the 1,200 that were in the tanker. Simplot says the tanker carried non-hazardous liquid fertilizer blend 32-0-0, 10-34-0, and thio-sul. The liquid ran 100 feet down a ditch along the highway. Authorities determined that no cleanup would be needed because the fertilizer had soaked into the ground and was biodegradable. The team also deemed insignificant the two gallons of diesel fuel that spilled onto the dirt shoulder of the highway. Goebel apparently had filled the tank on the truck half-full of liquid fertilizer and was on her way to deliver it to a local distributor or farmer when the accident occurred. Simplot sent cleanup personnel to spray the highway using a pressure washer. Later the same day, another tanker truck, this one with anhydrous ammonia, rolled over in the median in a construction zone near Niagara, N.D., injuring the driver and spilling a small amount of the chemical. Investigators said it was fortunate the tanker did not rupture when it overturned. The driver was taken to a hospital in Grand Forks, where he was listed in satisfactory condition. Highway patrol troopers said the westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 2 were shut down for a couple of hours late Monday and early Tuesday, and then again later for another hour while the tanker was removed.

Oslo-Yara International ASA said May 18 that it has agreed to sell its fully owned fertilizer retail business in South Africa to Farmsecure, and its 50 percent ownership in the South African retail company Sidi Parani to its partner, the GWK Co-op. The book value of Yara’s retail activity in South Africa is approximately US$100 million, mainly constituting operating capital. Yara said retail fertilizer marketing is typically combined with trade of other agriculture input and produce, and is not defined as core business for Yara. Yara’s retail activity in South Africa over the last several years has not provided a satisfactory profit. Yara will continue to sell fertilizer delivered to the harbor in South Africa, but will no longer sell it inland. While Farmsecure will be the exclusive distributor for a selected range of Yara fertilizers, Yara will continue to supply urea and traded third-party fertilizers to other selected importers in the region in addition to Farmsecure.

Portland, Ind.-Portland police investigators are waiting for the results of autopsies to determine if the deaths of a young couple earlier this month were from inhaling anhydrous ammonia while trying to manufacture methamphetamine. “We’re not sure that was the cause of death,” Portland Detective Todd Wickey told Green Markets. “The only thing we are sure of right now is there was no trauma caused by foul play. The one female victim had chemical burns on her lower extremities, and we’re assuming that’s probably an anhydrous burn. But the whole thing is still under investigation and the final determination is still up to the coroner. It may turn out to be drugs or a drug overdose.” The woman, age 24, died in Muncie’s Ball Memorial Hospital four days after her husband, age 29, was found in the couple’s apartment home in Portland. Her husband was believed to have been dead as long as 48 hours before being found in the apartment by a relative. “This is a big farming area with lots of opportunities for stealing the chemical,” Wickey reported. “And the anhydrous would have been stolen because they are not farmers.” The accident is presumed to have taken place at another location; it was not known how the two were able to return to the apartment. No ammonia was actually found in the apartment, and the only evidence was the burns on the female’s leg. There was reportedly no indication that they were actually making meth at the apartment.

Salt Lake City-There’s a lot of misinformation going around about Great Salt Lake Minerals’ plans to expand sulfate of potash production on Great Salt Lake, according to the plant’s on-site manager. “We know there are questions about how SOP production can be expanded in harmony with a sustainable Great Salt Lake,” Corey Milne wrote May 15 in an op-ed piece in the Salt Lake Tribune. The Tribune had called earlier for Utah to deny the company’s application because of concerns over maintaining the level of the lake (GM May 17, p. 14). The application is undergoing an environmental impact study by the Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to issue the draft document later this year. “This assessment ensures that our expansion preserves healthy vibrant lake ecology. Yet before the findings are released some critics are making unsubstantiated claims mixing bad math, exaggeration and just plain untruths to paint a phony picture about possible impacts on the lake and its water level,” Milne insisted. He said these detractors ignore the fact that the lake level today is exactly the same as in 1967 before GSLM built its first pond, and assume that every acre of proposed new solar ponds will be built immediately. In reality, he explained, the plan is to grow in stages over 40 years, in a phased approach allowing new ponds to be built as farmers’ demand for SOP increases over time. Milne stated that this would allow regulators ample opportunity to review the impacts of one phase before the next phase is started in “an incremental approach that accommodates future adjustments of ponds and water usage that will maintain the environmental quality of the lake while meeting America’s agricultural needs.” Milne concluded, “Expanding in incremental stages will meet the steady increases in demand for SOP and allow ongoing assessment of impacts while providing increased royalties that can address the true threats to the lake.”