All Posts from November 12, 2021

USDA Projects More Corn, Less Soybeans

News Briefs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Nov. 9 raised its estimates for corn production and yields but lowered the soybean production and yield forecast slightly in its latest Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates reports.

Corn production for grain is now forecast at 15.1 billion bushels, up 43 million bushels, or less than 1 percent, from the previous forecast and up 7 percent from 2020. Based on conditions as of Nov. 1, corn yields are expected to average a record 177.0 bushels/acre, up 0.5 bushel from the previous forecast and up 5.6 bushels from last year. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 85.1 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but up 3 percent from the previous year.

USDA also raised its corn used for ethanol estimate by 50 million bushels, and lowered corn ending stocks by 7 million bushels with use rising slightly more than supply. The season-average corn price received by producers was unchanged at $5.45 per bushel.

Soybean production is now projected at 4.42 billion bushels, down 23 million bushels, or 1 percent, from the previous forecast but up 5 percent from last year. Soybean yields are expected to average 51.2 bushels/acre, down 0.3 bushel from the previous forecast, with lower yields in Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Kansas accounting for most of the change in production. Area harvested for beans in the U.S. is forecast at 86.4 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but up 5 percent from the previous year.

With use falling more than supply, USDA raised soybean ending stocks by 20 million bushels from last month, with the U.S. season-average soybean price for 2020/21 now projected at $12.10 per bushel, down 25 cents.

All cotton production is forecast at 18.2 million 480-pound bales, up 1 percent from the previous forecast and up 25 percent from 2020. Cotton yields are expected to average 880 pounds/acre, up 9 pounds from the previous forecast and up 33 pounds from 2020. All cotton area harvested is estimated at 9.92 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but up 20 percent from 2020.

U.S. ending stocks for cotton were raised 200,000 bales, to 3.4 million, while the projected marketing-year average price received by upland producers remained unchanged at 90 cents/pound, a 36 percent year-over-year increase.

USDA said the outlook for 2021/22 U.S. wheat is for lower supplies, higher domestic use, reduced exports, and slightly higher ending stocks. Wheat exports fell 15 million bushels, to 860 million, while projected 2021/22 ending stocks were raised slightly to 583 million bushels, up 3 million from last month’s forecast but still the lowest U.S. ending stocks since 2007/08. The projected 2021/22 season-average farm price for wheat was raised $0.20, to $6.90/bushel.

Nutrien Launches Experience Centers in Brazil

Brazil, News, News Briefs

Nutrien Soluções Agrícolas, São Paulo, has launched five new Experience Centers in Brazil, with plans for seven more this year. The company said the Experience Centers are a new innovative retail experience to deliver all agricultural input support to farmers, including products, service advice, technology, and financial management needs. The first five centers opened their doors in Patos de Minas, Uberaba, Patrocínio, Uberlândia, and Coromandel (MG).

“Agribusiness has changed over the years through the adoption of technologies,” said André Dias, President of Nutrien for Latin America. “Brazil is a world benchmark in agricultural sustainable productivity, with indices tripling on the same hectare of land. As a result, service to the farmer can no longer be the same.

“The sale of agricultural inputs and the services offered need to support this transformation,” he added. “Farmers are looking for customized recommendations to enhance their production. Our objective is end-to-end business partnership. The Nutrien Experience Centers connect growers to a broad selection of products, services, technologies, and financial management in a simple and streamlined way.”

“The Experience Centers go far beyond product points of sale,” said Carlos Brito, Nutrien’s Retail Director in Brazil. “They create an experience for connection and knowledge expansion. We provide a broad portfolio of products and services, intelligent logistics, specialized consultants, and differentiated information through digital tools. Nutrien brings to the market what the farmer needs with the partnership and trust at the center of every decision and every action.”

In addition to the Experience Centers, Nutrien said it has created an intelligent logistics model, with an efficient and streamlined delivery system that will guarantee access to its multi-brand platform to the market.

Nutrien reported that in addition to the five Experience Centers, it has 42 retail branches in Brazil, 48 in Argentina, 12 in Chile, and six in Uruguay.

Johnson Matthey – Management Brief

London, Management Briefs

Johnson Matthey (JM), London, has announced the appointment of Alberto Giovanzana as Managing Director of Catalyst Technologies.

He joins JM from BASF, where most recently he was Senior Vice President and Head of Global Technology for the €2B Nutrition and Health Division. Prior to this, he ran BASF’s Plastic Additives business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and has also held various Marketing and Operations roles.

UBS Selected to Find Buyer for Argentina’s Mendoza Potash Project

Argentina, Featured, News Briefs, Potash

Argentina’s Province of Mendoza has selected Swiss financial services company UBS Group AG to find a partner to develop the Potasio Rio Colorado potash mine or sell the deposit. The province, which expects the selection process to take 18 months, believes it would cost at least US$1 billion to get the idled project into production.

Mendoza took over the project last year after Brazil’s Vale SA completed the handover of the asset to the provincial government after years of wrangling between the two parties. Vale had pulled the plug on the Rio Colorado potash project in 2013 after spending some $2.2 billion to build almost half the mine (GM Jan. 28, 2013). It acquired the potash project in February 2009 from Rio Tinto Plc (GM Feb. 9, 2009).

The original plans for the project envisaged an initial 2.1 million mt/y capacity with a second phase increasing that to 4.35 million mt/y, as well as the construction of a railway spur of 350 km to transport the potash to Argentina’s Bahia Blanca port.

However, according to a Bloomberg report, citing provincial officials, a more likely scenario for the project would be for an annual output of 1 million mt, which could be transported by truck. This scenario would need an investment of some $1 billion.

According to the Bloomberg report, Mendoza is prepared to scale down the project still further simply to get it operational. An investment of $200 million would reportedly produce enough potash for the Argentinian market and nearby neighbor Uruguay.

Fortescue Chief Aims for First Ammonia-Powered Ship

Ammonia, Green Ammonia, News, News Briefs

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest said he aims to create the world’s first ammonia-powered ship before the end of next year, part of an ambitious plan to run his company’s fleet on a carbon-free version of the fuel, according to Bloomberg.

“This is just the first,” Forrest, Chairman and Founder of Fortescue Metals Group, said in an interview. “We have about 100 ships on the water, and we’ll be converting all our own ships over to green ammonia at the earliest possible opportunity, well within this decade.”

The first ship itself is tiny, with a transportation capacity less than a 100th the size of some of the world’s largest bulk commodity carriers. The announcement came on transport day of COP26, the climate summit held in Glasgow.

Keras Reports Temporary Processing Halt

London, News, News Briefs, Phosphate, Specialty, U.S.

London-based organic phosphate producer Keras Resources PLC reported on Nov. 5 that due to a capital shortfall, operations at the Spanish Fork processing plant in Utah have been temporarily halted until funding issues can be resolved.

Keras acquired the majority stake in the organic phosphate operation in 2020 (GM Aug. 14, 2020), having acquired a 51 percent stake in Salt Lake City-based Falcon Isle Holdings.

Keras said it is now pursuing its legal options, which could include restructuring as it is the major creditor of Falcon Isle. It said to date it has already provided approximately $625,000 in additional working capital to Falcon Isle, which has been funded from Keras’s cash reserves, and that it has offered to acquire additional equity in the project.

Keras added that it is now looking at outsourcing marketing with a solution in place for first-quarter 2022 sales. The company reported that it has completed its 2021 mining campaign from the Diamond Creek Mine, with 8,520 mt mined and delivered to a laydown area.

While the tonnage falls below the company’s goal of 10,000 mt, it said there was previous inventory available from the 2020 marketing campaign. Keras said sales since the commencement of marketing in June 2020 total 3,061 mt.

The Diamond Creek Mine is located in Utah in a region between Vernal and Spanish Fork. The J.R. Simplot Co. operates a phosphate mine north of Vernal that supplies its Rock Springs, Wyo., fertilizer complex with phosphate ore via a slurry pipeline.

Seed Price Uptick Predicted

News, News Briefs

Seed pricing is likely to rise in the 2022 season as seed companies look to benefit from high corn and soybean prices, according to a Rabobank report on Nov. 8, as reported by Bloomberg. Farmers could see “an aggressive upward price movement for 2022 seed,” possibly as much as 8-14 percent.

In the meantime, quoted prices on some agrochemicals have increased 40-250 percent on freight increases, Chinese environmental protection initiatives, and weather events.

Rabobank thinks fertilizer prices could see further gains between now and spring 2022. The firm expects farmers’ margins in 2022 will be greatly reduced from 2020 and 2021.

Halliburton to Aid Teck Resources in Mineral Exploration

Houston, TX, News, News Briefs, Vancouver

Halliburton Co., Houston, announced on Nov. 10 that it has signed an agreement with Teck Resources Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., to grant Teck access to Neftex® Predictions to support their global mineral exploration efforts.

Teck is one of Canada’s leading mining companies, with major business units focused on copper, zinc, and steelmaking coal, as well as investments in energy assets, with operations in Canada, the U.S., Chile, and Peru.

Neftex® Predictions provides geoscience context, knowledge, and insight, and delivers integrated geological framework for subsurface evaluation and risk assessment. The cloud-deployed portfolio also provides access to a suite of predictive global models for exploration, tools for subsurface visualization, and analytical capabilities.

Emmerson Secures $46.8 M Investment

Isle of Man, Morocco, News, News Briefs, Potash

Emmerson PLC, Isle of Man, reported on Nov. 10 that it has secured a strategic investment of up to $46.8 million from investors for the development of the Khemisset Potash Project in Morocco. The primary investor is Global Sustainable Minerals Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based company backed by a significant Southeast Asia investor.

Emmerson expects to invest some $500 million in the project, which would produce 800,000 mt/y and have a 19-year mine life.

New Saskatchewan Facility Near Completion

News, News Briefs, Saskatchewan, Specialty

A new C$2.5 million, 1,600 mt fertilizer plant at the Lake Lenore Agro Co-op in Lake Lenore, Sask., is near completion, according to the Toronto Star, which reported that the new 16 mt scale and blender is expected to triple speed and capacity.

The upgraded blend system will also allow for better utilization of micronutrients and nitrogen stabilizers. The new facility was built with eye toward further expansion. It replaces an older plant that was deconstructed in June.

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