Calgary-Agrium Inc. on Feb. 25 extended its previously announced tender offer for all of the common stock of UAP Holding Corp. until 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Friday, March 14, 2008. The tender offer was previously set to expire Feb. 25 at midnight, New York City time. Agrium said it extended the offer because all of the conditions to completion of the offer have not yet been satisfied. In particular, the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (the HSR Act) has not yet expired or been terminated. In addition, Agrium announced that it was voluntarily withdrawing its notification and report form from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Feb. 26, and planned to re-file such notification and report form on Feb. 28. Agrium originally filed its notification and report form under the HSR Act on Dec. 10, 2007, and re-filed it on Dec. 28 and again on Feb. 11. Since the original filing of its notification and report form, Agrium and the staff of the FTC have been engaged in informal discussions during which Agrium provided additional information about the businesses of Agrium and UAP. As a result, Agrium said it believes that significant progress has been made in reducing the areas about which the FTC might have competitive concerns with respect to the proposed acquisition. As of 4:00 p.m., New York City time, on Feb. 25, approximately 30.15 million shares of common stock of UAP had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the offer. Agrium said it remains committed to working cooperatively with the FTC as it conducts its review of the proposed acquisition, and remains highly confident of a successful close to the transaction.
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ARA board meets with federal officials & lawmakers
Washington, D.C.-The Agricultural Retailers Association’s 40-member Board of Directors met in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25-27, to discuss important industry public policy issues with key federal agency officials and members of Congress. The board met with Craig Matthiessen of the EPA Office of Emergency Management about existing Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) rules and some proposed modifications, and with senior officials within the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs about pesticide container recycling and the proposed new EPA Web site for pesticide labels. The board also met with Gary Mast, USDA Under-Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment, to discuss USDA conservation programs. Mark Palmer, Agricultural Counsel for the Majority Staff for the House Small Business Committee, discussed the challenges agriculture and rural communities face from the nation’s railroad industry, including high shipping rates, lack of competition and poor service. The ARA Public Policy Committee discussed fertilizer trade issues and the current supply and price situation with John Gilliland of Miller & Chevalier, a law firm that specializes in U.S. trade laws and regulations. The board also met with Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), sponsor of the Agricultural Chemicals Security Credit provision included in the Senate-passed Farm Bill (H.R. 2419). ARA said Roberts provided an upbeat assessment on the chances of maintaining the Agricultural Chemicals Security credit in the farm bill conference agreement.
New project planned for Algeria
Algiers-Getax Australia has agreed to build a greenfield 300,000 mt/y NPK plant and a 150,000 mt/y single super phosphate (SSP) plant in western Algeria. It would be a joint venture with local firms Sonatrach and Ferphos. The project cost would be between US$45-$55 million. The final agreement is slated to be signed by the end of March, according to knowledgeable sources.
South Korea buys first shipment of biotech corn
Washington, D.C.-South Korea has purchased the country’s first shipment of biotech corn via optional origin for the use of food purposes. As of Feb. 27, the Korean Corn Processing Industry Association (KCPIA) has bought 697,000 metric tons (27.4 million bushels) of genetically modified corn for April-August shipment at $318.23-$337.33 per metric ton, cost and freight. Most of the corn will be shipped from the U.S., according to the exporters and KCPIA officials. “This is a significant step forward in terms of broadening acceptance of GM crops for food use in Korea,” said Byong Min, director of the U.S. Grains Council’s Korea office. Min said the remarkably high tonnage amount is due to buyers anticipating a rise in corn prices. “Buyers seriously considered using GM corn way before Korea bought its first cargoes at the end of January,” Min said. The sale came after a series of biotech conferences, sponsored by the Council, for Korean corn milling industry representatives. “Since 2000 when a mandatory biotech foods labeling law was established in Korea, we have invited about 30 corn processing industry representatives to the U.S. on various educational missions,” Min said. So far, Korea has bought a little more than 6.5 million metric tons (257 million bushels) of corn for 2008 delivery, of which 56 percent comes from the U.S. About 42 percent of the total is from optional origins with two percent arriving from India and China. According to suppliers and buying groups, most of the corn cargoes bought from optional origin will be delivered from the U.S., which will likely enjoy over a 90 percent market share in Korea’s corn import market for 2008.
Farm groups insist litter needed as fertilizer
Washington-The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. (NCBA) are speaking out in support of the use of poultry litter as fertilizer, which has been branded in a suit brought by the attorney general of Oklahoma as a practice polluting a valuable watershed. In a friend-of-the-court legal brief filed in Oklahoma Federal District Court, the two groups declared that spreading such manure on farm fields provides farmers an important source of natural fertilizer for their crops. At the same time, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) cautioned that Oklahoma’s federal lawsuit against Arkansas poultry producers has statewide and national importance that could result in changes to federal law. If a federal judge rules that applying chicken litter as fertilizer is subject to federal regulation or regulation across state lines, Pryor was reported as saying in a press interview at a recent event in Rogers, Ark., “that would be a huge wake-up call to every farm-state member of Congress.” A decision in favor of Oklahoma would set a precedent for regulation of all forms of animal wastes from farms, and could also be used to make a case for regulation of runoff from all sorts of farming activity, Pryor said. “This isn’t just chickens or northwest Arkansas involved here,” Pryor insisted. “It’s all of Arkansas and agriculture all over the country.” AFBF General Counsel Julie Ann Potts declared that the spreading of manure and chicken litter is already highly regulated under the Clean Water Act and state laws. “Adding regulations on the use of fertilizer is unnecessary and does not help improve the environment,” Potts insisted. She said the Oklahoma attorney general wants the federal court to issue an emergency injunction to ban the spreading of chicken litter under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as part of his broader strategy to gain damages under Superfund laws for alleged watershed pollution from chicken litter. The AFBF and NCBA filed the joint brief because an adverse ruling could spark attempts in other states to ban the use of manure as fertilizer. Farm bureaus in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma have filed separate friend-of-the-court briefs.
Noble profits up 92 percent in 2007
Singapore-Noble Group Ltd. reported a 92 percent increase in net profits and a 71 percent increase in revenues for the year ending Dec. 31, 2007. Net profit was $258.1 million on revenues of $23.5 billion versus 2006’s $134.5 million and $13.8 billion, respectively. Noble noted that in January, Fitch Ratings said that in the midst of the global credit squeeze, Noble was rated investment grade while Standard & Poor’s at the same time upgraded the company to positive from stable.
Potash One announces private placement
Vancouver-Potash One Inc. on Feb. 20 announced a non-brokered equity private placement of up to 3.5 million units at a price of $4.00 per unit for gross proceeds of $14 million. Each unit shall consist of one common share and one-half common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant shall be exercisable for one common share at a price of $4.75 per share for a period of 15 months following closing. In the event that the common shares close at $6.00 or greater for 10 trading days, subsequent to the expiry of the four-month hold period, the expiry date may be accelerated by the company to a period of 30 days.
Chemtrade and Marsulex settle dispute
Toronto-Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund and Marsulex Inc. said Feb. 13 that they have reached an out-of-court settlement of their respective claims relating to disputes that arose following Chemtrade’s acquisition of Peak Sulfur Inc., and Peak Chemical LLC in August 2005. The two companies said that the issues have been resolved amicably and on a basis acceptable to both. They did not disclose settlement details but said it was mutually beneficial and included minor revisions to their existing commercial arrangements.
Mosaic backs $5 million Australia research center
Adelaide, South Australia-The Mosaic Co. has joined with the University of Adelaide to establish a $5 million center for developing and evaluating advanced fertilizers in an arrangement that gives Mosaic commercial rights to whatever emerges from the research, according to word from both parties. Mosaic’s top official in Australia described what will be called the Mosaic Fertilizer Technology Research Center as a good deal for his company. “This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with a research group that is recognized internationally for the quality of its work on fertilizer technology and techniques,” declared Peter Cameron, managing director of Mosaic International Australia. “Through this research center at the University of Adelaide, Mosaic’s global operations will have access to world-leading expertise and facilities in the Asia-Pacific region. This will expand and enhance Mosaic’s capabilities in new product development and evaluation. The research group’s innovation will play an important role in helping to provide leading-edge products to agricultural customers across the world.” Prof. Mike McLaughlin, with the university’s School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, told Green Markets that the research won’t deal with nitrogen but instead will focus on improving the efficiency of sulfur, phosphorus, potash, magnesium and other trace elements. “We are looking at improving formulations for various fertilizer types globally,” McLaughlin noted. McLaughlin will lead the research with his associate Dr. Sam Stacey. Under an agreement with the university’s commercial development company, Adelaide Research & Innovation, Mosaic will fund research at the new center in return for commercialization rights and a share of the intellectual property. McLaughlin said the new research center will enable the University of Adelaide to expand its current research in this area, and to develop new techniques for fertilizer formulation and evaluation. “As well as providing research to underpin the development of new fertilizer technologies,” he pointed out, “a major role of the center will be to contribute to the evaluation of Mosaic’s products under laboratory and field conditions, both here in Australia and overseas. The close relationship with Mosaic will provide us with a clearly defined pathway for our research outcomes to benefit agriculture.”
Power rate hike for Simplot, others in Idaho
Boise, Idaho-J.R. Simplot’s phosphorus processing plant at Pocatello won’t be facing a 20 percent increase in its power bills thanks to negotiations between customer groups and interveners with supplier Idaho Power, according to utility officials. The rates, after approval by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, will involve a more palatable 5.65 percent, reported utility spokesman Dennis Lopez. But that amount is on top of an Idaho power rate increase only a year ago of a little over 8 percent, Lopez added. This time, Idaho Power proposed an increase in power rates last June in the double-digit area but came to terms recently after complaints were raised by farmland irrigators and others. The 5.65 percent increase will affect large industrial as well as commercial customers. Lopez said Simplot’s Smoky Canyon mine near the Idaho-Wyoming border and Agrium’s Conda Phosphate Operations located in Soda Springs won’t be affected because they are not Idaho Power customers.