The Andersons Inc. said Oct. 8 that it has purchased Auburn Bean and Grain of Auburn, Mich. The purchase includes six grain and four agronomy assets of the company located throughout north central Michigan.

"This acquisition provides an increase in our storage capacity and volume for both our grain and nutrient businesses, and it also represents a nice geographic fit between our other Michigan assets and our Thompsons joint venture in Ontario," says CEO Mike Anderson. "As a family-owned business with a history of nearly 100 years Auburn Bean and Grain is an excellent cultural fit, especially with our similar philosophies in providing exceptional customer service."

Clifford Vennix, Chairman and CEO of Auburn Bean and Grain, adds, "We believe The Andersons is best suited to continue our legacy of service and excellence into the future. We know they will bring added opportunity to our customers and employees."

With this transaction, The Andersons will acquire a total of six grain and four agronomy assets, with a combined grain storage capacity of about 18.1 million bushels, 16,000 tons of dry and 3.7 million gallons of liquid nutrient capacity and more than 80 employees. The facilities have multiple rail interchange agreements in place with all of the eastern Class I railroads CSX, NS and CN.

"Through this acquisition we will increase the storage capacity of our Grain Group by about 13 percent and further enhance our presence in one of our core states, Michigan," says Anderson.

The J. R. Simplot Company is beginning construction on an ammonia plant being built adjacent to its existing phosphate fertilizer complex in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

This new plant will supply both the Rock Springs, Wyo. and Pocatello, Idaho phosphate fertilizer production locations while having the capacity to meet the company’s next phase of anticipated phosphate expansion plans at Rock Springs. Construction activities for the new plant have begun with mechanical completion scheduled for late 2016.

“Output from the new ammonia plant will significantly enhance our long term sustainability in the phosphate marketplace,” said Bill Whitacre, president and CEO of the J. R. Simplot Company. “This capital investment is a big step for us; one that is key to our future in ensuring long-term, low cost raw materials to our facilities.”

Simplot’s investment in the project is one of the largest in company history and a further commitment to the Rock Springs facility and to the Vernal Mine in northeastern Utah (which is the source of the phosphate ore for the Rock Springs plant). The new plant will produce 600 tons per day of ammonia and will benefit from synergies created within the overall phosphate complex allowing it to meet efficiency targets similar to today’s largest-scale ammonia plants.

This investment will create approximately 25 permanent positions at the Rock Springs location along with more than 400 construction jobs through the building process. The new plant will take approximately two years to complete.

“After completion of this plant, we will be self-sufficient on ammonia, which is a key raw material in the production of fertilizer,” said Klaas Hutter, vice president of Mining and Manufacturing for Simplot’s AgriBusiness group. “Our process improvements will increase our efficiencies, therefore reducing our production costs as we continue to grow our commitment to the phosphate business.”

Linde Engineering North America, based in Blue Bell, Penn., is the technology provider and primary engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for this project. This is Linde’s third ammonia project in the last two years, based upon their unique, proprietary process.

“This is Linde’s first North American implementation of our ammonia process, and we are pleased to work with the J.R. Simplot Company to bring this global vision to fruition here in the United States,” said Ken Lamb, Director of Linde’s Hydrogen & Syngas Business Unit for North America.

Torgeir Kvidal has been appointed acting CEO of Yara International ASA, effective Oct. 7, 2014. Jørgen Ole Haslestad has resigned as Yara CEO.

"Yara’s board have concluded that Haslestad is not the right person to lead the company going forward, also in light of the on-going talks with CF Industries. Haslestad would not have a role in a potential merged company," says Leif Teksum, board chairman.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jørgen for his contribution to Yara, first as a board member and since 2008 as CEO. Yara has made considerable progress under Haslestad’s leadership," says Teksum.

"The discussions with CF Industries will continue with Kvidal leading the Yara team, with support from the Board and in particular from me as chairman," says Teksum.

Torgeir Kvidal, born 1965, has served as CFO since May 2012 and was Head of Supply & Trade from 2011 to 2012, having joined Norsk Hydro in 1991. Kvidal holds a Master’s degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH).

Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP said Oct. 2 that it has begun to restructure operations at its Pasadena, Texas facility, in order to improve profitability in currently unfavorable market conditions.

Rentech Nitrogen expects to complete the restructuring by the end of this year. Annualized cash savings at the Pasadena facility in 2015 are projected to be approximately $10 million. The LP expects the restructuring to reduce operating and SG&A expenses by approximately $6 million, and annual maintenance capital expenditures by approximately $4 million, compared to the 2014 forecast. This should enable the Pasadena facility’s operations, including power generation, to generate positive EBITDA in 2015, based on the LP’s current outlook for input costs and prices of ammonium sulfate (AS).

The restructuring includes a reduction of approximately 20 percent in full-time equivalents, including contractors and employees. Severance and other one-time employee-related expenses of roughly $0.5 million are expected in 2014, in connection with the reductions.

As part of the restructuring, the Pasadena facility will reduce annual production of AS by approximately 25 percent, to 500,000 tons. Approximately 70 percent of the 500,000 tons will be targeted for the domestic market, with the remaining tons to be sold primarily in New Zealand and Australia, the international markets with the highest net prices. The plan eliminates typically low-margin sales to Brazil, other than modest amounts expected during peak seasons when higher margins may be achievable. The plan provides the option to increase AS production above the 500,000 ton rate for limited periods.

The LP expects positive Adjusted EBITDA for the Pasadena facility for 2015, assuming average index prices for ammonia and sulfur of $550 per metric ton and $126 per long ton, along with a weighted average price for ammonium sulfate of approximately $218 per short ton.

Rentech says tight global ammonia supplies due to production issues in the Middle East, as well as political issues in Libya and Ukraine, are contributing to higher ammonia prices compared to prices of other nitrogen products. Strength in ammonia prices is expected to continue through early 2015, but dissipate as the year progresses. This is expected to cause Adjusted EBITDA for the Pasadena facility to be near break-even for the first half of 2015, with seasonal factors contributing to negative Adjusted EBITDA expected in the first quarter. Rentech said expected lower ammonia prices later in 2015 should lead to positive Adjusted EBITDA for the second half of 2015 and for the full year.

Rentech Nitrogen reaffirmed its Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2014 of approximately $90 million for the East Dubuque and Pasadena facilities combined, and approximately $80 million including LP-level expenses. The recent increase in ammonia prices has improved the forecast for the East Dubuque facility; higher ammonia and sulfur input costs, partially offset by higher prices for AS, have reduced the forecast for the Pasadena facility. The LP expects strong fall ammonia application and tight ammonia inventories, along with good overall nitrogen demand in 2015 for the core trade zones of the East Dubuque facility.

Agrium Inc. expects earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.45 to $0.55 diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2014 and fourth quarter earnings from continuing operations to be similar to net earnings in the fourth quarter 2013. Guidance is below original analyst projections.

Agrium expects the EBITDA contribution from its Wholesale operations in the second half of 2014 to be similar to last year’s results. Stronger nitrogen results are expected to offset the impact of downtime associated with major turnarounds. The Vanscoy potash facility is down to tie in its major expansion and the Redwater nitrogen facility is undergoing its planned 45 day turnaround to replace a major piece of equipment, which started in early September. Both of these turnarounds are expected to be completed within the previously disclosed timeframes.

Retail EBITDA in the second half of 2014 is anticipated to be in-line with the record EBITDA achieved in the same period last year, excluding the one-time adjustments recorded in the fourth quarter of 2013. Agrium expects that the benefits derived from its broad geographic exposure, diversified portfolio of inputs for a wide variety of crops and continued proprietary product growth will largely offset the impact of lower grain prices and lower crop protection product sales that resulted from the excellent growing conditions experienced across the U.S. this summer. Additionally, Viterra Retail operations typically see operational losses in the second half of the year.

Agrium will be providing additional guidance for fourth quarter earnings at the time it releases third quarter results Nov. 4, 2014.

PCS Sales announced higher potash postings, effective Oct. 1. The company’s granular potash postings moved to $410/st FOB warehouses in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio. That level represents a $20/st increase from PCS’s last postings on May 28, 2014.

The Mosaic Co. said Sept. 30 that it is reducing phosphate fertilizer production, primarily because of high sulfur and ammonia prices. This curtailment will result in lower operating rates at Mosaic’s mines and concentrates plants, but is not expected to result in employee layoffs.

"Phosphate raw material input costs are disconnected from fundamental agricultural economics, and have escalated despite weaker grain and oilseed prices," said Jim Prokopanko, Mosaic’s president and CEO. "In the near term, we will be margin-focused and will limit inventory build-up during the seasonally-slow part of the year.

"Crop nutrients remain affordable for farmers, and we continue to expect a good fall application season in North America and record-setting phosphate and potash global shipments in 2014, followed by another year of growth in 2015," added Prokopanko. "We remain confident about the supply and demand fundamentals for phosphates, especially as large crop harvests remove large amounts of nutrients from the soil."

Mosaic also announced an update of volume guidance for its third calendar quarter 2014. The company now expects potash and phosphate sales volumes to be at or near the lower-end of the previously communicated ranges, primarily as a result of weather-driven production outages in potash, and in part driven by timing of shipments in phosphates. Prices are expected to remain near the midpoints of the prior guidance ranges.