White Plains, N.Y.-Bunge Ltd., citing improved ag conditions in Brazil, reported improved results for its fertilizer business for the fourth quarter and year ending Dec. 31, 2006. Fourth-quarter fertilizer operating profits were $88 million on revenues of $918 million and volumes of 3.92 million mt, versus the year-ago loss of $25 million, sales of $894 million, and volumes of 3.7 million mt/y. For all of 2006, fertilizer operating profits were up 149 percent, to $202 million on sales of $2.60 billion and volumes of 11.6 million mt/y, from 2005’s $81 million, $2.67 billion, and 11.5 million mt/y, respectively. Bunge said that higher margins on retail and nutrients businesses were primary drivers for the fertilizer segment, with rising ag commodity prices and favorable weather resulting in increased late season fertilizer purchases. Bunge said high commodity prices should drive an increase in fert demand in 2007, and it foresees a 4 percent growth in retail fertilizer demand. Bunge-wide, the company reported fourth-quarter net income of $264 million on sales of $7.7 billion, up from the year-ago $149 million and $6.75 billion, respectively. For 2006, Bunge saw a 2 percent decline in net income to $521 million on sales of $26.3 billion from 2005’s $530 million and $24.4 billion, respectively.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain