Kitchener, Ont.-Growmark Inc. has bought the rights to sell Nutrite agricultural fertilizer products in southwestern and northern Ontario from owner Fertichem Inc., St-Michel, Que. Services and products will continue under the Nutrite banner, and existing customers and dealers of the company should see no difference in their service and product, says Growmark Ontario Region Director of Operations Claude Gauthier. “We recognize the value of the Nutrite brand and the opportunity to expand our connection with a broader base of customers,” he said. “In general, the agricultural fertilizer business is decreasing, and this helps us maintain economical volumes (through plants).” FS Partners GP, a company owned by Growmark, Inland Co-operative Inc., and Simcoe District Co-operative Services, will manage the agricultural fertilizer business from Drayton, Ont., and ship product from Growmark System plants in Ontario, including at Delhi and Drayton. The business change starts immediately. Gauthier said the co-operative also chose to purchase the agricultural fertilizer business to complement its crop input business. Fertichem President Marc Vaillancourt said he is pleased to find an agricultural company to continue to serve Nutrite’s farm customers and dealers well. Fertichem purchased the rights to Nutrite in 2004 to strengthen its position in horticultural products, supplies for golf courses, and sport fields in Eastern Canada.

Mulberry, Fla.-ArrMaz Custom Chemicals Inc. has been acquired by management and certain funds managed by GSO Capital Partners LP, an investment advisor with approximately $5 billion in assets under management and with offices in New York, Houston, and London. ArrMaz will continue to be led by Glen Varnadoe, CEO, and Rob Brinkman, CFO. Key management changes include the promotion of Jeffery Walker to chief marketing officer, William (Bill) Cook Jr. to chief manufacturing officer, M. Roger Rixom as vice president of technology and business development, and the hiring of Douglas Wilson to the position of vice president of corporate development. ArrMaz, headquartered in Mulberry, Fla., makes a wide variety of industrial process chemicals, most of which are custom formulated to fit customer applications.

Metropolis, Ill.-Sources reported recent news from the U.S. Corps of Engineers about lock repairs on the Ohio River that will likely have a significant impact on commercial barge traffic. Barkley Lock is currently closed for two weeks, with closures at other locks scheduled when that one is complete. At Lock 52 in Metropolis, Ill., the small chamber will be closed from Aug. 3 to Sept. 16, slowing barge traffic by probably 2-3 days. Of more importance, sources said, is the planned closure of the big chamber at Lock 52 from Sept. 19 to Nov. 11. The Corps will reportedly utilize a seven-day off, seven-day on policy during the nearly two-month closure, but barge traffic is expected to back up significantly during that period. One Ohio River source said delivery delays on barges could extend to weeks or even months with the closures. In other transportation news, Union Pacific has reportedly been running at record volumes, straining the railroad’s capacity and prompting it to announce that, effective Aug. 1, it would change its requirements for providing rail service to industrial tracks by limiting service to customers who have an active and valid track agreement with the railroad. Shippers lacking a fully executed track agreement with the railroad, which reportedly specifies ownership of the track, maintenance responsibilities, and liability, are subject to service disruptions, with holds likely to be placed on shipments until a track agreement has been established.

Wichita, Kan.-LSB Industries Inc., Oklahoma City, said that its unit Chemex I, formerly Slurry Explosive Corp. (SEC), has agreed to pay $50,000 and pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating storage regulations. The agreement was approved before the U.S. District Court in Kansas on July 7. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, SEC was only licensed to store 90,000 pounds of explosive materials at its Cherokee County, Kan., facility. However, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms inspected the facility in 2002 and found 2 million pounds of low explosives, 1.2 million pounds of blasting agents, and 170,000 pounds of high explosives.

East Dubuque, Ill.-Rentech Development Corp. and Peabody Electricity LLC, a wholly-owned entity of Peabody Energy, have entered into a joint development agreement for the co-development of two Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) projects, which will be located on Peabody reserves. The projects will convert coal into ultra-clean transportation fuels using Rentech’s proprietary Fischer-Tropsch CTL process. The agreement represents Peabody Energy’s initial activities to develop CTL projects in the U.S. The companies intend to make use of Peabody’s reserves in Montana and the Midwest, and will evaluate a mine-mouth project model to maximize cost and transportation advantages. One project is targeted for production of 10,000 barrels per day of transportation fuels, while the other is projected to produce up to 30,000 barrels per day.

Oslo-Yara International ASA reported a net income after minority interest of $166 million ($.54 per share) on sales of $1.959 billion for the second quarter ending June 30, 2006, compared to the year-ago $133 million ($.42 per share) and $1.903 billion, respectively. The company noted that the strong results came despite higher energy costs. Total fertilizer sales were down 4 percent from last year (4.927 million mt v. 5.131 million mt), primarily reflecting a planned reduction of low-margin sales outside Europe. Yara’s European sales increased in all markets except Italy. Lower fertilizer sales outside Europe and the Mediterranean were partly offset by a 13 percent volume increase for industry products. Yara noted that the U.S. market was oversupplied for the 2005/06 season, likely topping IFA estimates of a 5 percent decline in nitrogen consumption. Yara cited a Blue-Johnson estimate of a 7 percent decline for the period, with a forecasted increase in the longer term due to biofuel development. Yara also cited a drop in global grain stocks as a continued reason to support global demand. Yara said it continues to increase its market share in Europe, in a time when Western Europe is seeing declines in consumption, an estimated 3 percent during the second quarter. Yara figures are also up for the first six months, with net income of NOK1,894 on revenues of NOK23,935 versus the year-ago NOK1,763 and NOK23,114, respectively.

Beaufort, S.C.-The South Carolina Ports Authority is preparing Port Royal for conversion to a retail waterfront district with hotels, etc. Under legislation signed two years ago by Gov. Mark Sanford, the property will be sold to a private developer for redevelopment. Yara North America is one of three businesses the state has been working with for more than two years to end existing leases – the others are Royal Cement and Port Royal Drystack. A Yara spokesman said the company would prefer not to comment because of ongoing negotiations.

Washington-The Fertilizer Institute’s Vice President, Kathy Mathers, said Thursday that the Senate Outer Continental Shelf bill was expected to be introduced into the U.S. Senate on Friday, July 21, with expectations a vote could be had as early as July 24-25. She said negotiations continue to take place as to the specific language of the bill. In the meantime, Mosaic President and CEO Fritz Corrigan participated in a high-level energy meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, in which he stressed the hardship current energy prices have created for the fertilizer industry. In addition, the Tampa Tribune recently published a joint letter from Corrigan and CF Industries Holdings Inc. CEO Steve Wilson, in which they argued in favor of OCS drilling.