Agrium Inc. announced today consolidated net earnings of $141-million ($0.94 diluted earnings per share) for the first quarter of 2013, compared with net earnings of $155-million in the first quarter of 2012 ($0.97 earnings per share). The 2013 first quarter results included a $16-million ($0.09 diluted earnings per share) share-based payments expense. Excluding this item, net earnings would have been $153-million ($1.03 diluted earnings per share).

Sales were down 10 percent, reflecting reduced volumes due to a late spring season this year and an early one last year. Sales were $3.22 billion, compared to the year-ago $3.57 billion.

While Retail fertilizer volumes were down at 1.41 million mt from the year-ago 1.71 million mt, Wholesale were up slightly at 2.28 million mt from 2.24 million mt.

“The strength in Agrium’s first quarter results clearly demonstrates the benefits and synergies derived from our integrated strategy as we delivered a record $351-million in Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter. This was supported by Wholesale and Retail achieving their second highest first quarter EBITDA on record, despite the late start to the spring season across North America. The continuation of cold, wet weather in April is likely to result in a somewhat compressed spring application season this year. However, we still expect excellent demand for crop inputs in the first half of 2013 given positive grower sentiment and the strength in the agricultural fundamentals. We also generated $355-million in operating cash flow this quarter, an excellent result for a quarter that is traditionally our slowest seasonally,” said Mike Wilson, Agrium President and CEO.

Agrium is providing guidance for the second quarter of 2013 of $4.60 to $5.40 diluted earnings per share. This excludes derivative gains or losses and share-based payments expense in our estimated second quarter results.

Agrium’s board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 5 percent of its currently issued and outstanding common shares through a Normal Course Issuer Bid subject to regulatory approvals, including approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Northern Plains Nitrogen (NPN) plans to build and operate a $1.5 billion nitrogen fertilizer production facility near Grand Forks, N.D. The world-scale production facility will include a 2,200 st/d anhydrous ammonia plant as well as urea and UAN production facilities. The facility will be located on land adjacent to the Grand Forks Wastewater Treatment Plant.

For more details, see the Green Markets Web Edition May 10.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. reported record first quarter net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $406.5 million ($6.47 per diluted share) on sales of $1.34 billion for the first quarter ending March 31, 2013, compared to the year-ago $368.4 million ($5.54 per share) on sales of $1.53 billion.

Total sales volumes, however, were down to 3.7 million st for the quarter versus the year-ago 3.5 million st largely due to more normal fertilizer movement in March 2013 compared to an exceptionally early spring in 2012. Except for urea, which saw increased imports, all major nitrogen products saw a price increase during the recent quarter due to an anticipated large corn crop. Despite the recent wet weather, CF still believes some 96 million acres of corn will be planted in the U.S. this year.

While ammonia volumes were off 50 percent from the year-ago early spring season, UAN volumes were up 17 percent. And should wet weather continue, CF, with its multiple nitrogen products, believes it is poised to take advantage of increased UAN demand during sidedress season.

Outages at three of its facilities helped put LSB Industries Inc. in the loss column for the first quarter ending March 31, 2013. The company reported a net loss of $368,000 on net sales of $150.7 million versus the year-ago net income of $23.1 million on sales of $190.2 million.

The company announced that the principal ammonia plant at Pryor, Okla., returned to production in late April. In addition, the Cherokee, Ala., ammonia plant restarted the week of April 29. While most of the El Dorado, Ark., plant has been back in production for some time, full production is not expected until a nitric acid plant is completed in first half 2015.

The Trading Corp. of Pakistan will close a tender for 50,000 mt of urea June 5. The tender will fill out the 130,000 mt the Pakistan government ordered TCP to import for the current application season. The previous tender closed April 24. At that time TCP bought 80,000 mt from Helm at $374.73/mt CFR. At the time, sources said TCP argued with its government overseers for an exemption from the regulation forbidding the trading house to negotiate other offering companies to see if any of them would accept the Helm price for an additional 50,000 mt. The government denied the request.

The softening of the global urea market might reverse by the time the TCP tender closes. Industry sources expect to see India back in the market with a major tender no later than the first week of June. Sources say any Indian purchases could run up the price for Pakistan.

A spokeswoman for the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office on May 6 said that ammonium nitrate was the likely cause of the explosion at the West Fertilizer facility in West, Texas. The April 17 blast left 15 dead, injured more than 200, and destroyed nearly 150 homes and businesses in the small Texas town.

Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the fire that preceded the explosion, however, and said the investigation will likely extend for another 1-2 weeks. The Fire Marshal’s Office had initially said its investigation into the cause of the fire and blast would be completed by May 10. Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) are also on the scene.

Many fertilizer industry sources had speculated almost immediately that the explosion at West Fertilizer had been caused by ammonium nitrate, given the scale of the blast, which registered as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake and left a crater 93 feet wide and 10 feet deep. According to documents filed by West Fertilizer with the Texas State Department of Health Services in 2012, the company had total storage capacity for 270 tons of ammonium nitrate and 110,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia.

It has not yet been disclosed how much ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia was on hand at the time of the explosion. Fire Marshal officials said the fire apparently started in a seed and fertilizer building at the site, and that the ammonium nitrate was stored in bins within the building.

It was also reported by The Dallas Morning News that West Fertilizer carried just $1 million in liability insurance, which was provided by United States Fire Insurance Co. Several negligence lawsuits have been filed against Adair Grain, the parent company of West Fertilizer, by West residents and by insurance companies representing damaged businesses. The Insurance Council of Texas has estimated that damages to surrounding homes and business will exceed $100 million.