MacroSource LLC (formerly Gavilon Fertilizer), Savannah, announced on Sept. 27 that it has executed a ten-year offtake agreement to purchase superphosphoric acid (SPA) from Novaphos (formerly JDCPhosphate Inc.), Fort Meade, Fla., a technology provider to the phosphate industry.
Novaphos, which has a demonstration plant at Fort Meade, said its technology produces high-quality phosphoric acid from low-quality phosphate rock without large-volume wastes such as phosphogypsum or the need for inputs such as ammonia and sulfur. The technology has the added benefit of producing a calcium silicate coproduct – J-Rox™, which can be used in construction as well as a silicon fertilizer, with a net negative GHG footprint.
“MacroSource is excited to partner with Novaphos to bring more sustainable supplies of superphosphoric acid to market,” said Brent Harlander, MacroSource President. “Liquid fertilizers are essential to maintain farm productivity and efficiency. The Novaphos technology is a move towards a more environmentally sustainable process, which is important to MacroSource.”
“Novaphos is very pleased to have established this long-term relationship with MacroSource, which has unparalleled distribution and upgrading capabilities for superphosphoric acid,” said Timothy Cotton, Novaphos CEO. “Our focus remains adding production capacity using Novaphos technology in North America and elsewhere in the world to help move the phosphate industry to a more sustainable future. Going forward, our plan is to build out our commercial capability to further serve these industry needs.”
Novaphos intends to seek a grant of up to $5 million from the new $500 million USDA grant program (see related story) and combine those funds with investments from private sector partners to enable the deployment of Novaphos technology.
The company plans to use the funding to accelerate construction of commercial-scale Novaphos production facilities in the US, adding up to 20% to the US supply of liquid phosphate fertilizer over the coming 3-5 years, with additional plants to be constructed thereafter. It said these plants can be closer to US consumers, reducing logistics costs and environmental impacts.
Novaphos said its process is much simpler and less capital intensive than the traditional wet-acid process, making small plants economical. It said they can exploit small deposits of lower quality phosphate ore, which is more prevalent than large, high-quality deposits required by the wet-acid process. The company said that due to poor economics, phosphate rock resource limitations, and permitting challenges, no new wet-acid plants are likely to be built again in the US.
In a May letter to the USDA, Novaphos noted significant consolidation in the phosphate industry, saying in 2000 there were 11 phos acid producers with 12 million mt/y of capacity, all using the wet-acid process, whereas by 2021, there remained only four US producers with 7.5 million mt/y capacity. It noted that one producer, The Mosaic Co., controls 60% of capacity. The company said the US has moved from being a net exporter of phosphate fertilizers of about 5 million in 2000, to being a net importer in 2021.
Novaphos said consolidation has been even more pronounced in the liquid fertilizer market, which depends on higher cost SPA, with the number of producers dropping from five to three. It said while imports have helped address US solid phosphate fertilizer supply needs, they have had almost no impact on the SPA market.