Sulvaris Inc., a privately-held company based in Calgary, Alberta, has announced that it has signed definitive agreements with Keyera Partnership, one of the largest midstream operators in Canada, for the construction, ownership, and operation of a new sulfur fertilizer production facility in central Alberta.

The new facility, which was first announced earlier this year (Green Markets Feb. 4, p. 1), will convert elemental sulfur into Vitasul, a premium plant nutrient sulfur fertilizer. It will be built on the site of Keyera’s existing Strachan Gas Plant near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, about 200 kilometers southwest of Edmonton, Alberta.

The facility will be owned as a 50/50 joint venture between Sulvaris and Keyera, and will have the capacity to produce up to approximately 217,000 mt/y of Vitasul, which Sulvaris will market and distribute in the Canadian, U.S., and Asian markets. Keyera will operate the facility and will produce Vitasul for Sulvaris on a fee-for-service basis.

“With the Vitasul product, we are helping to address plant nutrient sulfur requirements in global agriculture,” said Sulvaris CEO Rick Knoll. “The new Vitasul production facility will service agricultural markets both in North America and abroad.”

Engineering work is currently underway, with construction slated to commence in 2013 and operation planned for early 2014, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals, the completion of Sulvaris’ financing, and final approval for the project by Keyera and Sulvaris.

Two analyst groups have come out in favor of Agrium Inc., in its battle with Jana Partner LLC. RBC Capital Markets on March 8 said there is nothing wrong with the status quo. It says splitting up the Agrium would be too risky.

Scotiabank said Jana’s credibility is dwindling and was troubled by Jana’s golden leash on its five nominees to the Agrium board of directors. It also gave Agrium’s management a favorable nod for its overall performance and was not impressed with the prospect for the company to split up.

In the meantime, Jana has named the five Agrium board members that it hopes to bump off the board. They include: Frank Proto, who has been on the board for 20 years; Dr. Susan Henry, who has the second longest tenure at 11 years; Derek Pannell with 5 years; Russell Horner, over 8 years; and the recently appointed Mayo Schmidt, who was the former CEO of Viterra Inc. Jana says Schmidt received C$30 million in Agrium’s pending acquisition of Viterra’s retail business.

The Economic Coordination Committee of the Pakistan government has authorized TCP to import 130,000 mt of urea. It is unclear if the purchase will be made in an open tender or if it will come from an assistance program from Saudi Arabia.

Last year, TCP handled the importation of 300,000 mt from Sabic under a government-to-government deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The government buying house also handled several open urea tenders.

If the purchase is to be on the open market, the TCP tender could precede Indian tenders. The move could allow TCP to secure tons at a time when the urea market is in the doldrums.

Despite negotiations with the Argentine authorities, Vale SA said March 11 that it has informed the Argentinean government that it is suspending the implementation of the US$6 billion Rio Colorado potash project, in Argentina. It said that in the current macroeconomic environment the economics of the project are not in line with Vale’s commitment to discipline in capital allocation and value creation. It said if it resumes the project, preference will be given to the project’s current employees.

Vale said it will keep honoring the commitments related to the concessions and searching for alternatives that enhance the economics of the project, to then evaluate its resumption.

Vale announced in January that it was idling the project. However, in the meantime, it has tried to negotiate concessions from the Argentine government. It has also been seeking partners.

Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Co. (Muntajat) has assumed exclusive responsibility for the marketing, sales, and distribution activities of Qatar Fertiliser Co. (Qafco), completing the second phase of a comprehensive marketing consolidation of Qatar’s chemical and petrochemical industry.

Qafco has transitioned to Muntajat the marketing of urea, ammonia, melamine, and urea formaldehyde condensate (UFC-85) produced by Qafco, Qatar Melamine Co. (QMC) and Gulf Formaldehyde Co. (GFC). Qafco became the world’s fourth largest urea producer in December 2012, when its QAR 2.2-billion QAFCO-6 plant came online and boosted the company’s annual production to 5.6 million mt.

Yara International ASA owns 25 percent of Qafco and to date has marketed 50 percent of its product. Qafco marketed the other 50 percent. Sources tell Green Markets that the only change is now Yara will take 50 percent via Muntajat, the new marketing arm, and not Qafco. Yara/Qafco product coming to the U.S. is not expected to be impacted.

The migration of marketing, sales, and distribution activities for Qafco’s entire product range to Muntajat was completed on March 1. Established by Decree Law in December 2012, Muntajat reached its first consolidation milestone with Qatar Fuel Additives Company Ltd. (QAFAC) in early February.

Conceived as the gateway to Qatar’s chemical and petrochemical production companies, Muntajat has already begun to demonstrate its unique proposition to the State’s chemical, polymer and fertilizer exports, effectively reducing lead times and developing strong service relationships with new and existing customers worldwide.

Muntajat, which is already processing new orders for urea and ammonia products, has informed all of Qafco’s current customers about the new service relationship, and is strengthening its customer service with personal visits to ensure a seamless transition.

Muntajat plans to complete the proposed consolidation of all nine operating entities by mid-2013, resulting in a single focal point for the marketing and distribution of the country’s chemical and petrochemical products and providing an exceptional platform for economic growth, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

The Louisiana Community Development Authority (LCDA) has granted preliminary approval of the issuance of up to $1.25 billion in tax-exempt bonds to BioNitrogen Louisiana Holdings LLC, a unit of BioNitrogen Corp., Doral, Fla., for the acquisition, development, and construction of five biomass-to-urea plants in Pointe Coupee Parish, La. The LCDA’s action clears the way for the company to proceed to the Louisiana State Bond Commission for approval.

BioNitrogen also signed a letter of intent to purchase approximately 250 acres of land in Pointe Coupee Parish for the construction of the plants. The land, which is adjacent to the Lettsworth Port owned by the Pointe Coupee Port Commission, is located 65 miles north of Baton Rouge on the Lower Old River, a tributary connecting the Red River and the Mississippi River west of the Old River Lock.

BioNitrogen intends to contract KBR to engineer and construct the five plants on the land, which will be built in parallel with the Hardee County facilities in Florida. The proposed five plants are projected to produce up to 621,000 st/y of urea.

More details will come in the Green Markets Web Edition March 1.