Lange-Stegmann and subsidiary Agrotain International broke ground for a $20 million project in August, which includes the St. Louis Urea Center and a Stabilized Nitrogen Technology Granulation Production Center. The latter can produce 125,000 st of Super U, Agrotain-enhanced urea. The new projects are expected to be complete by summer 2007, according to Project Manager Dan Kuttenkuler. They are being constructed on site beside Lange-Stegmann’s existing facility in St. Louis.
The urea center will add up to 60,000 st of urea storage capacity to the existing Lange-Stegmann operation, which already has 80,000 st of dry storage and 15,000 st of liquid storage. Lange-Stegmann, a wholesale distributor marking its 80th anniversary this year, currently handles 400,000 st of products, including fertilizer and other bulk commodities, annually. The new additions are expected to take that number up to 1 million st.
Major urea importers are expected to partner with Lange-Stegmann in keeping the urea center supplied. The company noted the need for the facility in light of the decreasing amounts of domestic urea production in recent years and the increasing need to source imports. In addition to being at a transportation hub with access to Class 1 Railroads, the company notes that location is the most northern lock-free barge offloading site on the Mississippi River. The facility will be able to receive unit trains up to 100 railcars, with a 24-hour turnaround.
On the Agrotain side, the new state-of-the-art facility will utilize a falling curtain granulation process and will allow Agrotain International, the largest producer of Stabilized Nitrogen in the world, to make sized urea containing its nitrogen stabilizer. Currently in the U.S., the company produces Super U, UMAXX, and UFLEXX at plants in Ohio and Illinois. Additionally, Agrotain StabilizedNitrogen Fertilizer is produced at 5 more U.S. sites and 8 internationally.
Demand for Agrotain has surged since the technology was acquired by Lange-Stegmann from IMC Global Inc. in 2000. The company says the product now has a 5 percent market penetration in North America.
In 2000, the product was available in three countries – now it is available in 55, said Allen Sutton, Agrotain vice president, development, and the company’s top researcher, who has been involved with the product since day one. Agrotain has major partnering agreements with major players in Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. The next area of focus is expected to be Argentina, India, and the Mideast, said Andrew Semple, Agrotain vice president, global marketing.
Agrotain came on the market in 1996, quickly being named by R&D Magazine as one of the Top Most Technologically Significant Inventions. Recently, Agrotain won the 2005 reader’s choice award for No-Till Farmer Magazine’s Best Product of the Year in the fertility category.
Agrotain can keep urea and UAN from volatizing or losing nitrogen, keeping more of the nutrient for the plant and losing less into the atmosphere or waterways. Agrotain-based products are also seen as a substitute for ammonium nitrate.
The actual Agrotain urease inhibitor that helps delay the release of the nitrogen is made at a plant in Pennsylvania. It is warehoused near Dallas, Texas, where it is available for export from Houston.