Dry Fertilizer Barge Rates
| 1/11/2019 | Last Week | |
| Memphis | 9.00-11.00 | 9.00-11.00 |
| St. Louis | 9.00-11.00 | 9.00-11.00 |
| Peoria | 14.00-16.00 | 14.00-16.00 |
| Cincinnati | 14.00-16.00 | 14.00-16.00 |
| St. Paul | 16.00-18.00 | 16.00-18.00 |
| Catoosa/Inola | 18.00-19.00 | 18.00-19.00 |
All Posts from January 11, 2019
Muriate of Potash
U.S. Gulf:
NOLA prompt potash barge prices edged down for the week, and are now called $280-$284/st FOB, compared to the earlier $282-$284/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt:
Potash pricing was quoted at $310-$320/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, depending on grade and location. Both Nutrien and Mosaic confirmed that, effective Jan. 16, new orders for potash will be up $10/st from current winter fill prices. The increase will take producer postings to $330-$335/st FOB Midwest terminals, up from the current $320-$325/st FOB level for fill tons shipped through March.
“We have had a good response so far, and are very confident that we will sell out of Q1 based on this program,” a Nutrien source told Green Markets.
Western Cornbelt:
Potash pricing was quoted at $310-$325/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location, with the low reported at Caruthersville and the high at Muscatine, Iowa. Nutrien and Mosaic were taking potash fill orders at $320-$325/st FOB through Jan. 15 for orders shipped by March 31, with a $10/st increase slated for Jan. 16.
Southern Plains:
Potash was quoted at $310-$320/st FOB Catoosa/Inola, but sources said a $10/st posted increase is coming in mid-January. Reference potash prices from Intrepid FOB Carlsbad, N.M., remained at $337/st FOB for 62 percent standard and $330/st FOB for 60 percent granular, but the company confirmed that a $10/st increase will take effect on Jan. 17 for new orders.
South Central:
Potash pricing in the South Central region remained at $305-$310/st FOB out of most regional warehouses, but sources said a $10/st posted increase from producers will take place on Jan. 16.
Southeast:
Potash pricing was quoted at $235-$335/st FOB port terminals and $350-$360/st rail-DEL in the Southeast for Canadian tons, depending on grade and location.
Germany:
K+S Group on Jan. 9 said it does not expect any more wastewater-related interruptions at the three sites of the Werra plant in the first quarter of this year.
“The precipitation over the past few weeks has significantly increased the water level of the Werra River again, and as a result, the load on the local retention basins has been relieved to a greater extent,” K+S said.
Production at the three Werra sites restarted on Dec. 27 after a planned stoppage from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26 (GM Dec. 21, 2018). K+S in early December had anticipated a longer production stoppage, with production expected to resume on Jan. 1 (GM Dec. 3, 2018).
K+S this week said it still expects to be able to increase the on-site temporary storage capacity for saline wastewater by a further 400,000 m3, to a total of around 1 million m3.
U.K.:
ICL UK Ltd. this week said it is working toward a target of producing 700,000 mt of polysulfate at its Boulby mine in northeast England this year, and “demonstrating the ability to ramp up to 1 million mt” at the site. Potash production stopped at Boulby at the end of the second quarter last year, and the operation fully transitioned as planned to the production of polyhalite, which is marketed as polysulfate.
Modified methods will improve efficiency and there will be major investment in new equipment at the mine, said Boulby Vice President Andrew Fulton in a company statement.
The Boulby mine produced 428,724 mt of polyhalite in 2017 and 348,781 mt last year. A spokesman for the company said the lower output of polyhalite in 2018 reflected the effort concentrated on the final mining of potash at the mine. ICL UK is aiming to reach sales of 1 million mt/y of polysulfate by 2020. It continues to produce salt at Boulby.
Northwest Europe:
Producers are reported to have been successful in pushing through price increases for new granular potash sales. Price hikes on granular product of as much as €15-€20/mt are reported, pushing the current granular range up to €300-€315/mt CIF northwest Europe, sources said.
Brazil:
Granular demand remains seasonally limited, but sources said prices are holding up and remain in the $350-$360/mt CFR range.
Brazil’s imports of potash increased by close to 9 percent, to 10.52 million last year, up from 9.67 million mt in 2017, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade.
Sri Lanka:
The Ministry of Agriculture has issued a tender for the import of 3,000 mt of standard potash in 50-kg bags as part of a wider tender that also includes granular and prilled urea (33,400 mt) and TSP (10,000 mt). The tender closes on Jan. 22, and delivery of the potash is required by April. The potash tons are being procured for Ceylon Fertilizer Co. Ltd.
Former Nutrien Employee Arrested for Burglary, Bomb Threat Charges
A former employee at the Nutrien Ag Solutions facility in Moses Lake, Wash., has been arrested after allegedly stealing a urea-based fertilizer and other bomb-making material from the facility in order to blow it up. Fortunately, the makeshift bomb discovered in the back seat of his vehicle lacked the ammonium nitrate needed to be mixed with fuel to create an explosive. The Nutrien Lake location is a small warehouse terminal facility that primarily stores and sells basic NPK, according to the company, which said it employs around 13.
Ryan S. Palmer, 39, Moses Lake, was apprehended on the night of Dec. 27 after he was pulled over by a Grant County sheriff’s deputy in a routine traffic stop. The deputy found the urea fertilizer, magnesium, an antifreeze bottle filled with diesel fuel, and a mortar made from a PVC pipe, gun powder, and a plastic syringe. The potential fertilizer bomb was not fully constructed.
Will Tigley, a Nutrien spokesman, told Green Markets that the company continues to cooperate with law enforcement regarding the incident. He said the company has taken proactive steps to enhance and upgrade its Moses Lake plant and stresses safety at all its sites. Tigley emphasized that no products hazardous to the community were stolen. “Nutrien takes this very seriously,” he said.
Working with the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives, Richland Police Department, and Washington State Patrol, sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at Palmer’s home and found “only a small amount of precursor” bomb materials in addition to what was found in his vehicle, Kyle Foreman, sheriff’s office public information officer, told Green Markets.
Palmer told authorities that he had worked at the Nutrien site as a chemical driver until 2015. According to court records, Palmer also told investigators he wanted to “prove a point” that the Nutrien facility had lax security measures, and that he had toyed with the idea of blowing it up. He insisted, however, that he would not have followed through with it.
An interview report said Palmer told investigators that he walked throughout the Moses Lake plant more than 20 times with no one confronting him to prove how easily the plant could have been damaged by a fertilizer bomb. He told deputies he planned to drive explosive materials through the plant and then go to the Tri-Cities to inform management about what he accomplished. Security cameras corroborated Palmer’s claim of entering the plant to steal materials.
Records state Palmer also allegedly invoked the name of Timothy McVeigh, who perpetrated the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others in the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. McVeigh detonated a rental truck filled with 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane to destroy a federal building.
Palmer was pulled over not far from where one of two unsolved Moses Lake bombing homicides happened in 2008, Foreman mentioned. The other one occurred about seven miles outside the city. In those incidents, expertly designed bombs were placed in what looked like a police scanner and a car battery. They detonated eight to 10 hours apart, killing two people. “We’re confident the two bombings from 2008 were connected,” he said, noting that the cold cases are not closed.
Palmer remains jailed on burglary and threats-to-bomb charges. His bail has been set at $100,000. He was assigned a public defender for his arraignment, Foreman said. Family members have indicated that Palmer’s mental health and judgment may have been impaired by drug addiction.
Officials with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries said the agency is working with law enforcement to investigate whether the company’s license will be affected by the incident, which is standard procedure. The department regulates and licenses companies that manufacture, use, store, buy, or sell chemicals such as those handled by Nutrien. It has not opened a separate investigation into whether the lack of security at the Moses Lake plant endangered worker safety.
Sinochem to Buy Phosphates, Premiums from Mosaic
The Mosaic Co., Plymouth, Minn., said on Jan. 8 it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sinochem, Beijing, China’s largest agricultural inputs company. Sinochem intends to purchase phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizers, including premium products, from Mosaic.
“We are pleased to build on our promising relationship with Sinochem,” said Mosaic President and CEO Joc O’Rourke. “Sinochem is developing a Modern Agriculture Platform for China, and we at Mosaic look forward to partnering with Sinochem to contribute to this important progress for Chinese farmers.”
The MOU establishes a mutually beneficial relationship through which Mosaic could contribute to Sinochem’s success by providing both expertise and products. Terms and conditions of the purchases are to be outlined in a separate contract between the two parties.
“We believe this agreement can lead to meaningful value for Mosaic, Sinochem, and China’s farmers,” O’Rourke added.
Mosaic said it had nothing to add for now regarding quantities, timeline, or prices.
Final Permit in Hand, Mosaic to Start Ona Mine Operations in March
The Mosaic Co., Plymouth, Minn., will commence mining operations in March at its Ona phosphate mine project in Hardee County, Fla., a company representative confirmed, after Mosaic announced that it was awarded its final permit required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Jan. 3.
The arrival of the USACE Clean Water Act Section 404 DA permit, originally expected to be issued in the third- or fourth-quarter of 2018, capped an application process begun by Mosaic in 2011. The State of Florida issued mining permits for Ona in 2015, while local government permitting was completed in July 2018. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Threatened and Endangered Species Authorization was granted in conjunction with the USACE 404 permit.
The Ona project consists of 22,483 acres, of which 16,778 have been designated for mining. Phosphate rock reserves at the site are estimated in excess of 160 million mt.
Mining is set to begin in March at the site’s western edge, and will support Mosaic’s Four Corners Mine, located in Hillsborough County, extending that mine’s lifespan by an estimated 14 years.
Ona’s eastern portion will eventually contribute to the company’s South Pasture Mine, idled since August 2018 due to a lack of need. Mosaic halted operations at its 2 million mt/y Plant City, Fla., phosphate production facility in October 2017, due to both low demand and flagging prices in the U.S. and international phosphate markets, temporarily rendering South Pasture unneeded.
Mosaic has previously signaled a willingness to reopen the Plant City facility, and likely South Pasture as well, should market conditions allow. Planned production increases from international producers such as Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden could muddle that timeline, however, industry sources have speculated.
Included in the Ona expansion is a plan to double nameplate production at South Pasture’s beneficiation plant, as well as the construction of a 15-mile pipeline facilitating the movement of clay from Ona to Four Corners.
A request by Mosaic to pipe up to 28 million tons of clay from the Ona project to the Four Corners Mine was approved by Hillsborough County commissioners in November 2018. Initially approved for a five-year period, Mosaic will be able to apply for an extension through 2029. The ruling reversed a 2002 provision barring clay dumping in Hillsborough from sources located outside of the county.
Approximately 162 jobs at South Pasture and 550 at Four Corners are expected to be sustained by the Ona project, according to Mosaic’s website, along with an additional 100 contractors staffed at Four Corners. The state of Florida will collect an estimated $270 million in severance taxes over the life of the project, with an additional $60 million to be paid to Hardee County.
In other news, a Mosaic representative confirmed on Jan. 10 a delay in the company’s planned relocation of Mosaic’s corporate headquarters to Tampa, Fla., from Plymouth, Minn. Originally slated to conclude by the end of March, Mosaic now expects the move to be completed sometime in the second quarter. Mosaic announced the plan in May 2018.
Shutdown Delays DOC Data, Farm Loans, Ag Reports; OSHA Remains on the Job
The partial government shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, entered its 21st day on Jan. 11, making it the second longest in U.S. history. If the impasse between President Trump and Congressional Democrats over border wall funding continues through the weekend, the shutdown will become the longest on record, surpassing the Clinton-era shutdown over domestic spending cuts that lasted from Dec. 5, 1995, to Jan. 6, 1996.
The shutdown has affected nine federal departments as well as other agencies, and has impacted approximately 800,000 federal workers, half of whom have been furloughed. The remaining “essential” staffers are working without pay.
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) alerted members on Jan. 8 that the November 2018 Fertilizer Trade data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has been delayed due to the lapse in federal funding. The DOC issues monthly reports detailing U.S. fertilizer imports and exports. The November report was scheduled for release on Jan. 8.
“The government has not issued a date to resume operations,” TFI said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and release the November 2018 fertilizer trade data once the data is released by the government.” More than 80 percent of DOC staffers have reportedly been furloughed by the shutdown.
The USDA on Jan. 4 issued a statement saying that the World Agricultural Outlook Board reports, prepared by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the Office of the Chief Economist, have also been suspended due to the lapse in federal funding. Those reports were scheduled for release on Jan. 11, and include Crop Production, Crop Production-Annual, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), Grain Stocks, Rice Stocks, Winter Wheat and Canola Seedings, and Cotton Ginnings.
“The date of all NASS and OCE-WAOB releases will be determined and made public once funding has been restored,” USDA said.
Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments, which are administered by the County Farm Service Agency within USDA and include tariff aid payments to farmers hurt by the trade war with China, have also been delayed. USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey said producers who applied to MFP and provided production information by Dec. 21 will likely receive their second round of payments, but all other applications are on hold until the shutdown ends, as are some of USDA’s other loan programs. Northey said USDA may extend the MFP application deadline from Jan. 15 to May 1 because of the delay.
Bloomberg reported that the shutdown has also likely delayed efforts to approve year-round sales of a 15 percent ethanol blend for gasoline, a promise made by President Trump in October that was cheered by corn and ethanol producers. EPA earlier said it would present a final rule on the higher ethanol blend by May 2019, but the shutdown has reportedly furloughed some 13,000 EPA employees, making the May deadline unlikely.
“From the outset, the EPA gave itself very little wiggle room to complete the year-round E15 rule making before summer, so the shutdown is making a tight time line even tighter,” Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, told Bloomberg. Under current rules, sales of E15 are blocked from June 1 to Sept. 15 in areas like California, where smog is a problem in hot weather. Only about 1,675 of the nation’s 122,000 or so stations offer it, Bloomberg reported.
Both the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) are operational and fully funded through the first nine months of 2019, due to a minibus appropriations bill signed by President Trump in September.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), however, is essentially shut down. Approximately 95 percent of the CSB’s staff has been furloughed, and all current investigation have been suspended.
Over at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), roughly 87 percent of the total workforce is considered exempt from furlough because employees are engaged in “essential” work with the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA. Still, a reported 32,000 DHS employees have been barred from working during the shutdown.
CommoditAg – Management Brief
CommoditAg, the ecommerce crop inputs platform headquartered in Effingham, Ill., announced on Jan. 7 that David Parker has joined the company as chief strategy consultant. In his role, Parker will help build and strengthen key CommoditAg relationships with suppliers and retailers, serve as an industry liaison spokesperson, and utilize his strategic consulting skills to enhance the long-range objectives of CommoditAg.com and its ag retail owners.
“David brings to CommoditAg a unique set of skills and experiences that will enhance CommoditAg’s capabilities to fulfill our objective of offering the best omni-channel experience for our growers,” said Bruce Vernon, CEO and board chairman for CommoditAg. “No one in the industry has the name recognition and capacity to deliver upon the promise of CommoditAg better than David Parker.”
Parker has spent most of his 35-year career focused on the agribusiness value chain, with an emphasis on ag retail. CommoditAg said Parker’s focus has been on marketplace changes, and how to respond to them through strategic planning, training, and industry participation.
“CommoditAg’s business model proactively ties traditional ag retail and e-commerce together, providing growers the opportunity of choice and the ability to purchase agricultural inputs through different channels to fit their individual needs,” Parker said. “In addition to my other on-going responsibilities, I’m looking forward to helping this group of innovative retailers deliver the best customer experience for farmers and adapt to this ever-changing market.”
Brazil’s Forquímica to Build Specialty Fertilizer Plant in Georgia
Brazil’s specialty fertilizer company Forquímica has decided to invest $1 million in a plant in Moultrie, Ga. Some 80 jobs are expected to be created, with new jobs in general services, management, marketing, and sales.
“After four years working alongside farmers in South Georgia, Forquímica is very excited to join and to be part of the Moultrie community as we start our crop nutrition manufacturing plant,” said Reginaldo Zandonade, manager of Forquímica’s Moultrie facility. “We are looking forward to growing together for many years to come.”
Since 2015, the company said it has been conducting some 20 different trials in southern Georgia, focusing on corn, soy, cotton, and peanuts. The company has held off on making sales, concentrating on the trials. The company was reported to have purchased a 51,000 square foot facility in Moultrie for $600,000 in December 2018, according to the Moultrie Observer.
Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Cambira, Paraná, Forquímica says it now has some 50 products, specializing in foliar fertilizers and adjuvants. The company, which employs 500 in Brazil, said its goal is to get as big or larger in the U.S.
Weather Weighs on Compass 4Q
Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., reported on Jan. 8 that fourth-quarter highway deicing sales were below expectations due to the timing of snow events. The company estimates that variances from average winter weather, as well as mild winter weather in the U.K., produced a negative sales impact of $16-$18 million and an estimated $6-$8 million negative operating earnings impact on fourth-quarter 2018 results.
“Although significant snow activity occurred in November in our North American markets, December was rather mild in North America as well as in the U.K., which resulted in lower year-over-year salt sales for the 2018 fourth quarter,” said Dick Grant, Compass Minerals CEO and chairman. “On a more positive note, our efforts to improve production with the continuous mining and haulage systems at Goderich are driving better results, although work remains to be done. We continue working with external experts to fine-tune the use of continuous mining and haulage, and are evaluating options for greater efficiency.”
Ostara Raises $11 M in Equity Financing
Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc., Vancouver, announced on Jan. 3 the closing of preferred equity financing for aggregate proceeds in excess of US$11 million. The financing was co-led by Wheatsheaf Group Ltd. and VantagePoint Capital Partners, with follow-on participation by other existing Ostara investors.
“The second half of 2018 was an exciting and productive period in the growth and evolution of our company, and to have committed investors who share our vision for expansion is extremely satisfying,” said Dan Parmar, Ostara president and CEO. “In the last few months, Ostara has signed two significant fertilizer distribution agreements: one for Western Canadian distribution with Taurus Agricultural Marketing Inc., and one for distribution in Western Europe with ICL Specialty Chemicals.
“Partnerships with respected and influential industry leaders like Taurus and ICL are creating significant uptake of our Crystal Green® fertilizer and have resulted in the immediate expansion of our global sales footprint. Funds from this financing will further assist in the scaling of our global production and supply-chain footprint and allow us to continue to add talented individuals to our core team,” Parmar added.
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All information has been obtained by Green Markets from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Green Markets or others, Green Markets does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.
For additional details visit our Terms of Use.