Mississippi Phosphates Corp. has announced plans to consolidate all operations to the company’s Pascagoula-based manufacturing facility, closing its administrative headquarter offices located in Madison, Miss.

“In light of pending retirements and other staffing changes, it makes sense to move these responsibilities to the plant,” said Jim Sherbert, Miss Phos CEO. “This allows us to increase efficiencies and eliminate costs associated with maintaining a remote headquarters location.”

“We are pleased as this brings decision-making to the local level, improving our ability to be nimble and address needs within the plant,” said Ajay Kumar, senior vice president, general manager of operations. “This is another step forward as we continue to make progress in advancing vital production, environmental and safety initiatives.” Kumar, who joined Miss Phos in May, leads a change management team that includes Pascagoula native Wes Smith as production manager and Robert Kerley as CFO. This team is tasked with identifying operational improvements, environmental enhancements and to implement approved corrective action plans.

“This change is timely given the retirement of long-time executives Ed McCraw, who has served as chief operating officer, and Jim Perkins, senior vice president,” said Sherbert.

“We appreciate the decades of committed service by Ed and Jim who have worked diligently to support and to keep this complex enterprise operating during difficult times. With their departure, this is the right time and right business decision as we work to address issues and improve operations.”

Fewer than 10 staffers will be affected by the closure of the Madison location. Miss Phos is a Delaware corporation that owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Pascagoula, Miss. Since 1958, the company’s production facilities have been located on a deep-water channel at Pascagoula, with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico. Facilities consist of two sulfuric acid plants, a phosphoric acid plant and a DAP granulation plant. The DAP granulation plant has a maximum annual production capacity of approximately 850,000 tons. The existing sulfuric acid plants have the capacity to produce sulfuric acid sufficient for annual DAP production of approximately 600,000-640,000 tons.

VitAg Corp., Beech Island, S.C., a specialty fertilizer company, announced July 14 that the company and its affiliates recently closed equity and debt financing of more than $110 million which will be used in part to construct a biosolids-to-fertilizer facility in Zellwood, Fla.

The financings consist of (i) an equity investment led by TPG Alternative and Renewable Technologies (ART), who is now the largest shareholder in the company; (ii) a $64 million offering of 22-year tax-exempt bonds through the Orange County Industrial Finance Authority led by Citigroup Global Markets; and (iii) a credit facility from an affiliate of Tennenbaum Capital Partners. In addition to TPG ART, equity investors include strategic investors Agro-Iron, whose businesses include the production of iron micronutrients, and Shrieve Chemical, a supplier of industrial chemicals, active in the fertilizer industry. Other investors include Florida-based agricultural companies and individual investors. No additional terms were disclosed.

The new facility, to be located approximately 23 miles northwest of Orlando, is expected to produce slow release organically-enhanced premium fertilizer. The company’s fertilizer will be produced by combining biosolids, sulfuric acid and ammonia using a proprietary process, and is expected by the company to be considered an enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF), as a significant portion of its nutrients are expected to be released over an extended period. VitAg says this will allow it to benefit from macro trends favoring more productive fertilizers. In addition, the fertilizer will meet the US EPA’s highest standards for land application of biosolids – Class A and EQ.

According to its website, the facility will produce about 80,000 st/y of fertilizer. The product will be an organic/conventional mix, with a ratio of approximately 16-84 percent, respectively.

Long-time industry veteran Barry Jarrett is vice president of sales. He told Green Markets that the plant is the first of several to be built in the U.S. and around the world.

CDM Constructors, a leading provider of construction services for water and wastewater facility projects worldwide, will build the facility, and A. J. Sackett will design and fabricate the granulation and warehouse storage equipment. Trammo Inc., one of the largest global fertilizer and fertilizer raw materials merchandising and trading companies, has entered into a multi-year marketing agreement with VitAg to sell its fertilizer.

“We are very excited about the ability to produce a very green and sustainable fertilizer product. Enhanced efficiency fertilizers are gaining traction globally because of their increased performance and protection of the environment. We now have the capital to bring this next generation fertilizer to more customers and into new regions,” said Jeffrey Burnham, PhD, CEO and president of VitAg. “Equally important is the quality of our investors, which is a strong signal of support – TPG ART is a leading global renewable technologies investor, and our strategic investors intimately understand the fertilizer market and have strong contacts within the industry. This is an exciting time for VitAg, and we look forward to working with our new partners as we grow the company.”

TPG Alternative & Renewable Technologies is managed by TPG, a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with over $59 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG ART partners with companies dedicated to developing and deploying alternative and renewable technologies.