International Raw Materials Ltd. (IRM) has signed an agreement with Terra Industries Inc. whereby IRM will be the distributor of Terra’s TerraSol UAN-32 fertilizer to the California market. IRM will market and distribute the product from its 45,000 st terminal at the Port of Stockton. The deal was announced internally in late September.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, IRM has been in business for more than 30 years, marketing liquid and dry fertilizer products throughout the western U.S. and western Canada. According to its Web site, IRM sources its products from a variety of producers, including UAN-32 from Dyno Nobel and ammonium sulfate products from Canadian mining companies Teck Resources Ltd. and Sherritt International Corp.
The company has some 17 warehouse locations in the Pacific Northwest, along with seven throughout Western Canada. In addition to its Stockton location, IRM’s California terminals are located at Chico, Sacramento, Modesto, and Edison.
The inland, deepwater Port of Stockton is located in the state’s primary growing region, the San Joaquin Valley. The Port is served by two transcontinental railroads – Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Sante Fe – as well as some 200 truck companies, including all major transcontinental carriers.
Other companies with terminal space for liquid fertilizer at Stockton include the California Ammonia Co. (Calamco) and Yara North America Inc. Calamco’s Stockton operation has 40,000 st of ammonia storage, 40,000 tons of UAN storage (marketed by the J.R. Simplot Co.), and a 3,000-ton aqua ammonia tank, while Yara’s Stockton facility has capacity for 110,000 st, most of which is imported UAN and CAN-17.
Agrium is another UAN competitor in the California market and the only UAN producer there, with 20,000 st of UAN capacity and 40,000 st of ammonia capacity at their Port of Sacramento facility.
Terra’s annual UAN-32 production capacity includes 300,000 st at Woodward, Okla., 350,000 st at Courtright, Ont., 525,000 st at Yazoo City, Miss., 735,000 st at Port Neal, Iowa, and 2.05 million st at Verdigris, Okla.