Decatur, Ill.-Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) said Dec. 2 that it has officially opened its fertilizer blending plant in Villeta, Paraguay the first large-scale facility of its kind in the nation, with a daily production capacity of 2,500 mt. ADM has approximately 80 employees at the facility and utilizes an extensive contractor workforce. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting event featured remarks from the Honorable President of the Republic of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, and from ADM Chairman, CEO, and President Patricia Woertz. “ADM connects the harvest to the home and serves vital needs for food and energy,” said Woertz. “So as global population continues to grow, and with it demands for food and energy, we seek growth to continue serving these vital needs. With Paraguay growing its agricultural sector and increasing its role as a food producing and exporting country, this new facility symbolizes a shared future of agricultural growth and success.” The fertilizer plant in Villeta is part of ADM’s strategy to expand the reach of its core model in key geographic regions around the world. “This plant is ADM’s latest addition to our operations in Paraguay, and we are pleased to share this moment with our colleagues, our community and our nation’s leaders,” said John Grossmann, president, ADM Paraguay. “In 2012, the Villeta fertilizer facility will be joined by an adjacent soybean processing facility with a daily crush capacity of 3,300 metric tons. This fertilizer facility and the forthcoming soybean processing facility will create hundreds of additional, permanent jobs for the area, benefiting the entire community.” ADM began operations in Paraguay in 1997. Today, ADM has approximately 1,000 employees in Paraguay and processes about 30 percent of the country’s output of grain and oilseeds. ADM operates crop origination, processing, and transportation facilities throughout Paraguay, including a fertilizer blending plant, 32 elevators, 14 tugboats, and 200 barges. ADM also owns one port facility and leases three additional port facilities.
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FMC to close Spanish phosphate plant
Philadelphia, Pa.-FMC Corp. said Nov. 30 that it will cease operations at its Foret phosphates plant in Huelva, Spain, by Dec. 31, 2010. The closure is due to a Spanish judicial ruling that prohibits Foret from adding byproduct gypsum to storage stacks near the Huelva site after Dec. 31, 2010. Foret has challenged the judicial ruling in the Spanish courts, and although the case is now in the appeals stage, a final judgment could take up to three years. According to Javier Carratala, FMC Foret managing director, the company has pursued access to a long-term supply of phosphoric acid to maintain back-end operations at the plant, but has been unable to secure a viable supply. The company has also explored other options to continue operations, but none have proved commercially viable. “Unfortunately, we have exhausted all alternatives to keeping the plant operating,” said Carratala. “We will be meeting with union representatives to plan for an orderly shutdown that will enable us to continue the current production schedule to meet our customer-contracted needs through the end of 2010.” 140 employees work at the plant that is to be closed.
Acron sells Sask K permit to BHP
Moscow-Russian fertilizer company Acron JSC reports that its subsidiary, 101109718 Saskatchewan Ltd., has recently successfully completed a transaction involving the sale of potash exploration permit KP 373 to BHP Billiton Canada Inc. KP 373 is an 83,880 acre permit and is located in the central part of Saskatchewan. Acron believes that the sale reflects strong recovery of potash permits market in Saskatchewan and of the potash industry in general. Acron said both parties were pleased with the successful completion of the transaction.
Ma’aden eyes DAP commercial production 3Q11
Ras Az Zawr, Saudi Arabia-The Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden) said that it has completed the project infrastructure and utilities of its phosphate joint venture with Sabic, the Ma’aden Phosphate Co. (MPC) at Al-Jalamid, and that commissioning is underway at some of the major DAP production units at Ras Az Zawr. The company has rescheduled the date for initial production, originally envisaged by the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, to the second quarter of 2011, by which time the associated infrastructure and supporting utilities in Ras Az Zawr will be completed. Commercial production is now expected to commence in the third quarter of 2011. The phosphate mine and beneficiation plant at Al Jalamid are now operating, and initial deliveries of phosphate concentrate have been made to facilitate the process of plant commissioning and start up. The SR20.6 billion (US$5.5 billion) project remains within budget, and once fully operational will produce 3 million mt/y of DAP, representing around 10 percent of the world’s current demand. Production from Al Jalamid is expected to average 12 million mt/y of ore, and beneficiation facilities at the facility will be scheduled to produce an estimated 5 million mt/y of flotation concentrate on a dry basis. Ma’aden’s measured phosphate resources at Al Jalamid are estimated to be 534 million mt. The Ras Az Zawr Jubail, on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, will produce approximately 3 million mt/y of DAP, plus approximately 400,000 mt/y of excess anhydrous ammonia. It is also anticipated that the project will generate approximately 200,000 mt/y of excess phosphoric acid for sale to the domestic market in Saudi Arabia.
Uralkali says sinkhole has minor impact
Berezneki, Russia-Uralkali reports that a soil subsidence, or sinkhole, that occurred under the train tracks of a 6-km bypass railroad spur near Berezniki in the Perm potash region would have only a minor impact on the company’s potash schedule. Local media reported that the sinkhole actually swallowed up one potash railcar. The sinkhole resulted in the formation of a crater measuring about 20 by 10 meters as of Nov. 25. No injuries were reported. Uralkali said the crater occurred outside of the Uralkali industrial premises and that the company used the 6-km train tracks to transport potash from the plant of Mine Group 1 (BKPRU-1), whose annual capacity is about 300,000 mt of potash. The company’s production capacity is 5.5 million mt of potash, with about 95 percent of its products transported using another rail track. Uralkali is using motor vehicular transportation to deliver the greater part of its products from BKPRU-1 to loading terminals located at the railroad line used by the company. Uralkali does not anticipate any changes in its production plan and continues to explore possibilities for optimizing its production process. In order to eliminate risks associated with sinkholes in the area, a new 53-km bypass railroad spur was put into operation in 2009, and the main freight traffic of the Berezniki-Solikamsk transportation junction was redirected to the new line. Uralkali noted that it participated in the financing of the construction of the 53-kilometer Yaiva-Solikamsk railroad bypass, covering the areas of the Verkhnekamskoye potash-magnesium salts deposit, and allocated 6 billion roubles to the project.
K+S will cease production of certain products
Kassel, Germany-K+S KALI GmbH (K+S) will cease production of its Thomaskali® brands, as well as of patent-PK®, and will remove these products from its portfolio. Due to a lack of phosphate resources there are no growth opportunities in the phosphate-potassium-fertilizer segment, and therefore K+S has decided to take this step and to cease its production of PK fertilizers. K+S will in the future concentrate on providing the domestic and overseas markets with top-grade potash and magnesium products.
REMC reports new loan deal, positive N market
Los Angeles, Calif.-Rentech Inc. said Nov. 29 that Rentech Energy Midwest Corp. (REMC), its wholly-owned nitrogen fertilizer operation, has entered into a $52 million incremental loan agreement and amended its existing term loan (the second amendment). The total principal amount of outstanding term loans to REMC after the incremental loan agreement and second amendment was approximately $95.3 million. All of the net proceeds from the $52 million incremental loan will be available to Rentech for general corporate purposes, including development of the company’s technology and synthetic fuels and power projects. The incremental term loan will mature in 2014 on the same schedule as the existing term loan, and is expected to be repaid from cash flows generated by REMC. The second amendment provides for an early payment of $20 million of principal, made from cash at REMC that had been held for that purpose. The $20 million will reduce the payment of principal from excess cash flow required by the loan agreement after the end of fiscal year 2010, with any excess amount paid beyond the required prepayment to be credited against the prepayment requirement for fiscal year 2011. The amendment also modified certain financial covenants and terms governing the distribution of cash from REMC. Rentech projects that its budgeted activities for fiscal year 2011 are fully financed. “The market for nitrogen fertilizer has strengthened dramatically during the last several months, with higher product prices and continuing low prices for natural gas, leading to much higher expected profits,” said Dan Cohrs, Rentech executive vice president and CFO. “Our access to the credit markets has provided us with non-dilutive capital that will be used to complete our budgeted activities for this fiscal year, including the completion of FEED for our Rialto Project.”
Tanker leaks 7,000 gallons of N in rail wreck
Dallas, Texas-Union Pacific officials are still investigating what happened late Nov. 24 when 12 railcars one of them a 20,000-gallon fertilizer tanker jumped the tracks near downtown Dallas and tied up freeway traffic for hours. Dallas Fire-Rescue said the fertilizer car and two other tankers rolled down an embankment on the north side of the tracks while the other cars had just come off the tracks and were re-railed. The entire train consisted of six locomotives and 58 cars in tow. According to Fire-Rescue Spokesman Jason Evans, “Our primary concern was preventing any runoff of the liquid fertilizer to the storm water drains. So they established a perimeter downstream of the leak and built a dam of absorbent to stop it. The storm water department was also notified to assist in managing the situation.” Evans said there were no reported injuries as a result of the accident. Raquel Espinoza-Williams, spokeswoman for UP’s southern region, said 7,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen spilled out of the tanker. “Our HazMat team responded immediately and transloaded the solution onto another railcar. The nitrogen fertilizer solution spilled onto a concrete parking lot and did not affect any soil. Crews vacuumed and properly disposed of the solution that was picked up,” Espinoza-Williams reported. She said the other two tankers carried cooking oil and plastic pellets. Three nearly empty tankers had residual amounts of methyl mercattan, but none of it was released.
Western Potash to raise up to $40 M
Vancouver-Western Potash Corp. is planning to raise up to $40 million under a private placement offering slated to close on or about Dec. 14, 2010. Mackie Research Capital Corp. and Scotia Capital Markets Inc. are the underwriters. The company will make an application to list its common shares for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange within 30 days of closing, but it notes that there is no assurance that such an application will be approved by TSE. The proceeds of the sale will be used to advance the company’s Milestone Potash Development Project located in Saskatchewan, and for general working capital purposes. The company said it is trying to determine the appropriate course of action for fast-tracking the project. It recently retained Lockwood Financial of Montreal to assist it in this endeavor. Alternatives currently under review include various combinations of debt and equity financing designed to fund capital requirements for pre-feasibility, feasibility, and development work. The company said it is also in discussions with third parties who have expressed significant interest in participating in the company and the project on a basis which may include, but is not limited to, equity and debt financings, joint ventures, takeovers and other types of mergers, or “going private” transactions. A preliminary economic assessment of the project, supported by an NI 43-101 compliant technical report dated July 12, 2010, indicated that the 41 million mt of measured resource (contained KCl), 133 million mt of indicated resource, and 560 million mt of inferred resource is of sufficient size and grade to support a potash solution mining operation for more than forty years at a production rate of 2.5 million mt/y. The Milestone property is comprised of 500 square kilometers and is located 30 kilometers southeast of Regina and southeast of Mosaic’s Belle Plaine Mine.
Apache reacts to high ammonia readings
Benson, Ariz.-Apache Nitrogen Products, which produces nitric acid and ammonium nitrate-based products for the mining, industrial, and agricultural markets, says it knows what happened when ammonia pollution levels in two instances jumped more than nine times state emissions limits and prompted the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to issue a notice of violation. Apache attributes the March 23 and 24 readings to an incident that occurred during performance testing when a snorkel lift used by the testing company apparently drifted slowly downward and settled on the backpressure valve on the neutralizer scrubber stack, causing a loss of pressure that resulted in an instantaneous release of ammonia. “The June 25 performance test results still indicated ammonia levels above our permit limit and a plugged line appears to be the likely cause,” Pamela Beilke, Apache director of compliance and quality, told Green Markets. Beilke said the entire scrubber will be replaced once the revised permit is received from the state. “The draft permit has been received from ADEQ and ANPI (the testing company) has submitted comments,” Beilke reported. “The permit will go to public comment and once the final permit is received, the new scrubber will be installed.”