The staff of Green Markets extends warm holiday wishes to all. Green Markets publishes 51 issues annually. There will be no issue dated Dec. 24, 2021. However, a special edition will be published over the holidays that will include Breaking News Alerts and other industry news. Alerts will be e-mailed during the holidays. Regular publication resumes with our Jan. 7, 2022, issue.
EnviroKure, Philadelphia, Penn., is currently building a fertilizer plant near Hicksville, Ohio, near Hillendale Farms, a major egg production facility. EnviroKure will process manure from the chicken facility into fertilizer. Ground was broken on the plant in July, with completion expected in March 2022, according to the Crescent-News.
EnviroKure plans to invest $22 million to develop the plant over the next five years, according to the Defiance County Economic Development Office. It will employ 15-30. The company received a ten-year, 75 percent property tax abatement from Defiance County on $10 million of the investment, and in return will make annual donations to the local schools and career center, according to the paper.
EnviroKure had not responded to inquiries at press time, however, its website said the company was founded in 2011 to develop technology to provide sustainable solutions to issues caused by the over-abundance of chicken manure in the Delmarva/Chesapeake Bay region.
Since then, it has looked beyond the Eastern Shore of the U.S. to expand its reach. It said its products are licensed in 42 states and are OMRI-listed. In 2018, it said its products were applied to over 50,000 acres, including 20,000 acres of trials in the Midwest.
EnviroKure said it has developed a proven, proprietary technology that transforms the manure into powerful biostimulants and organic biofertilizers. It reports three patents awarded, four pending, and additional technology in development with extensive trade secrets.
The company said its technology eliminates pathogens, transforming the manure into safe plant growth biologic amendments that also improve the soil health without food safety harvest restrictions.
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, a division of Australia’s Incitec Pivot Ltd., Southbank, Victoria, announced on Dec. 13 that it will invest A$38 million in Australian Bio Fert Co. (ABF), Rowville, Victoria, and build the country’s first large-scale sustainable fertilizer plant. Construction of the 75,000 mt/y granular biofertilizer plant near Lethbridge, Victoria, is expected to begin in second-quarter 2022, with completion in mid-2023. It will create about 25 jobs.
IPL said the fertilizer will combine torrefied organic waste materials with carbon and fertilizer products to create a more sustainable fertilizer that improves soil health. The company said the plant will enable IPF to recycle organic waste materials sourced predominantly from the poultry industry to develop products with consistent and guaranteed quality, free from pathogens.
IPL Managing Director and CEO Jeanne Johns said the announcement was an investment in sustainable farming of the future and part of a transformation of the fertilizer business into a soil health company.
“This investment in regional Victoria is a great example of the environmentally friendly circular economy in action and part of a commitment to help our farming customers reduce environmental impacts while using our safe and effective products,” said Johns.
“As Australia’s largest domestic manufacturer of plant nutrition products, we are pleased to be able to demonstrate our support for regional manufacturing with this investment,” said IPF President Stephan Titze. He said it would add to IPF’s suite of market leading products and services and meet the growing demand from Australian farmers for sustainable, effective, and practical fertilizer solutions.
“This innovative Australian technology creates a new product category for farmers, which we can now commercialize and take to market through IPF’s established and respected professional services and distribution network across the East Coast of Australia,” said APF Chairman Andrew Buchanan.
Founded in July 2015, ABF developed a pilot plant, product development, and research facility near Maddingley in Victoria in 2018, where it now produces a series of biological fertilizer formulations. Major ingredients include poultry materials, sea bird guano, and ammonium sulfate.
The Mosaic Co. on Dec. 16 reported that sales revenues for November increased for all major business segments – Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. However, volumes were off in both the Phosphates and Potash segments, while they were up in the Brazil-based Mosaic Fertilizantes.
Mosaic reiterated that it expects fourth-quarter Phosphates sales volumes to be in the range of 1.8-1.9 million mt, with average realized prices rising $55-$65/mt over prices realized in the third quarter. The company said November Phosphates revenue was positively impacted by low-margin intercompany sulfur sales.
In Potash, Mosaic continues to expect fourth-quarter sales volumes of 2.0-2.1 million mt, with average realized prices expected to be at the low end of its guidance range of $110-$130/mt over third-quarter realized prices. The company said port congestion in Brazil has shifted expected recognition of higher-priced sales tons to the first quarter of 2022.
| Phosphates | Nov. 2021 | Nov. 2020 |
| Sales Volumes (000 mt) | 576 | 719 |
| Sales Revenue ($/M) | $465 | $312 |
| Potash | ||
| Sales Volumes (000 mt) | 576 | 719 |
| Sales Revenue ($/M) | $465 | $312 |
| Mosaic Fertilizantes | ||
| Sales Volumes (000 mt) | 731 | 694 |
| Sales Revenue ($/M) | $489 | $242 |
Arianne Phosphate, Saguenay, Quebec, a development-stage phosphate mining company advancing its Lac à Paul project in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, announced on Dec. 15 that it is working with the University of Quebec at Three-Rivers (UQTR) to assess the use of Arianne’s phosphate concentrate in electrolysers that produce hydrogen for use in hydrogen fuel cells.
UQTR’s work is focusing on designs around the proton exchange membrane (PEM) within electrolysers that produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells.
Arianne said that currently, electrolysers have three main challenges for mass production: performance, durability, and cost. The current research centers on the use of phosphate-based materials in the components of the electrolyser and would address these challenges. It said phosphate allows for greater ionic conductivity and will optimize hydrogen production.
“Although early in the process, electrolysers, as well as our recently announced work with LFP batteries, continues to demonstrate the increasing demands for phosphate beyond the agricultural sector,” said Brian Ostroff, Arianne President.
“Arianne’s high-purity phosphate is ideal to meet the world’s growing demand for phosphate as it very well-suited for applications of all sorts; from fertilizer to advanced energy applications. Further, with the project located in Quebec, Canada, it addresses many offtakers’ concerns around security of supply, an issue that has, and continues to, affect the global availability of phosphate,” Ostroff added.
Seven Republican U.S. Senators have written a letter to U.S. Geological Survey Acting Director Dave Applegate urging him not to remove potash from the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior 2021 List of Critical Minerals and to add phosphate as a critical mineral.
“As you are aware, we are facing a serious supply shortage of fertilizers for our farmers and ranchers, leading to prices more than doubling for potash and phosphate fertilizers,” said the senators. “Nothing is more core to national security than food security, and without fertilizer, American agricultural yields will quickly suffer and so too will Americans who have long enjoyed affordable food prices.”
The senators included Roger Marshall (Kan.), John Boozman (Ark.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), John Hoeven (N.D.), Mike Braun (Ind.), John Thune (S.D.), and Tommy Tuberville (Ala.).
The Critical Minerals List published to the Federal Register on May 18, 2018, included potash as a critical mineral. However, the updated draft list of minerals removed potash in its findings (GM Nov. 24, p. 1). Furthermore, a 2018 National Science and Technology Council Report identified phosphate as a potentially critical mineral, yet phosphate has not been listed as a critical mineral in any draft lists.
“To us, it is clear – under the definition of ‘critical mineral,’ potash should remain as a critical mineral and phosphate should be added to the list of critical minerals,” said the senators. “Potash in the United States only comes from a few sources: one domestic producer, Canada, Russia, and Belarus. Currently, Belarus is under trade sanctions due to human rights violations, and that nation is the third largest producer and exporter globally. Our relationship with Russia is certainly not free of political risk nor anti-competitive behavior. While Canada is a quality trading partner, putting all our potash import eggs in one basket is not a smart strategy.
“Phosphate is under even more of a geopolitical threat,” said the senators, noting that China recently banned the export of phosphate fertilizer through June 2022 and Russia placed a six-month quota on exports. “The U.S. International Trade Commission has also issued countervailing duties on phosphate from Russia and Morocco, which clearly indicates a global market of anti-competitive behavior.”
They added that phosphate deposits contain some rare earth elements (REEs) that have been identified as critical minerals, and accordingly, phosphate should be granted the same identification as those REEs.
Azomureş Targu Mureș, Romania’s biggest fertilizer producer, said it stopped fertilizer production on Dec. 17, and in the next few days the production facilities and equipment will be completely shut down.
The company had announced on Dec. 6 it was starting preparations for the temporary production shutdown due to the “very high prices” for energy, natural gas, and electricity (GM Dec. 10, p. 28).
In its Dec. 17 statement, the company said the price of natural gas in Romania has continued to “significantly increase,” with the price for gas delivered in January at €132 per MWh (approximately $149.3 per MWh at current exchange rates) on Dec. 15, up from €90 per MWh on Dec. 6.
Azomureş pointed out that at the European level the price of gas has continued to increase, but the increase in Romania was “even more pronounced,” and the gap for Romanian buyers is getting worse. It said in the first half of 2021, the gas quotation on the Romanian Commodities Exchange (BRM) was a discount of €3 to the European benchmarks, but in the last months in Romania, the final price was a €9 premium above European benchmarks.
The company also noted carbon certificates have increased to a level beyond €80/mt CO2 after starting the year at around €30/mt.
Azomureş said for the company, the resulting fertilizer prices will not be affordable to distributors and farmers.
“The combination of effects in the Romanian market means that the price of Romanian fertilizers would be among the highest in Europe, if the local costs of the main raw material, natural gas, were completely transferred to the final product,” said Azomureş CEO Harri Kiiski.
“It is impossible for Romanian farmers to accept such premiums, and therefore it is impossible for Azomureş to operate at such costs,” he said.
The company has activated the technical plan for the protection of its production installations and equipment for the cold period (winterization), and its employees continue to come to work.
“We are ready at any time to restart production if and when market conditions allow it,” said Azomureş.
The company put its annual production under normal operating conditions at 1.6 million mt of fertilizers, with approximately 75 percent of the production being destined for Romanian farmers.
Agrofy, a leading Latin American agri-fintech , has announced a series C round of $30 million led by Yara Growth Ventures. Yara Growth Ventures Head Erkki Aaltonen will join the Agrofy board of directors.
Agrofy has emerged as one of the leading agriculture marketplaces in Latin America, said Yara in its Dec. 17 statement. Started in 2016, Agrofy has grown into multiple business lines with expansion throughout Latin America.
Yara Growth Ventures joins Agrofy among existing investors such as SP Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, Bunge Ventures, Syngenta Ventures, Cresud, Lartirigoyen, Fall Line Capital, and Brasil Agro.
Just a few weeks after announcing that it plans to double capacity in Brazil, expanding from four to eight blending facilities (GM Dec. 3, p. 1), Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, has confirmed that it plans to add four more, for a total of twelve. With twelve units, Nutrien said it will be able to cover 10 percent of local demand.
Nutrien delivered a record 1 million mt of fertilizer in Latin America so far this year, heading for 1.2 million mt total in 2021. In Brazil, the company expects a 40 percent increase this year.
Nutrien’s four current blending plants are in Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo, with two in Goiás. They have an approximate capacity of 700,000 mt/y. The next four will be in Cerrado and Southeast regions – close to farms, according to the company, as opposed to competing suppliers who are based near ports. The company has not indicated where the four after that will go.
Nutrien has made several acquisitions in Brazil in the past few years, but still sees the market as fragmented with more opportunities. Nutrien just recently announced the launch of five new Experience Centers in Brazil, with seven more planned for later this year (GM Nov. 12, p. 1). In addition to the Experience Centers, the company has 42 retail branches in Brazil, 48 in Argentina, 12 in Chile, and six in Uruguay.
Nutrien said it plans to spend R$600 million in 2022 on Brazil expansion, and that it grossed R$1.8 billion in the country last year. Revenues this year are expected to increase 70 percent, which would be nine times higher than in 2019.
Timac Agro USA, a subsidiary of France-based Groupe Roullier and a provider of plant nutrition technologies, reported on Dec. 16 that it has completed the acquisition of Rainbow Plant Food, based in Americus, Ga., from Nutrien Ltd. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Timac Agro USA said the acquisition will allow it to locally manufacture its patented granular technologies to serve American growers. The company said Rainbow Fertilizers will continue to offer the Super Rainbow, Rainbow, and International Rainbow grades and operate as an independent brand within the Timac Agro USA portfolio.
“Rainbow is iconic and tied to the land, as the hometown brand of the family farmer. This brand recognition is invaluable, and the ability to maintain and continue its legacy is critical for our future endeavors,” said Alex Goullier, CEO of Timac Agro USA. “Keeping the Rainbow brand consistent will allow our relationship with dealers and farmers to grow even more due to Rainbow’s historical footprint in the Cotton Belt and the Southeast.
“Timac Agro USA has been largely successful in this geographical area as well, because of the work of our Agronomic Technical Consultants on the farm, partnering with growers and retailers at the local level, to help ensure productivity and success,” Goullier added.
Goullier said the acquisition is an important part of Timac Agro USA’s growth strategy, and Rainbow will become the first Timac Agro granular unit in the country, along with 14 other NPK granulation manufacturing facilities Timac Agro has around the world.
“Besides adding the Rainbow brands to our portfolio, this addition will allow us to manufacture some of our most innovative granular technologies, such as NutriRhize and, in the future, Sulfammo, here in the United States,” Goullier said.
Headquartered in Reading, Pa., Timac Agro USA currently markets and distributes a portfolio of more than 60 patented technologies for plant nutrition in 30 states, including specialty liquid formulas, seed treatments, water soluble fertilizers, fertilizer additives, high efficiency and microgranular fertilizers, soil conditioners, and OMRI listed products.
Timac Agro USA has 200 employees at four U.S. locations. These include a biostimulant plant at Reading, where all the company’s liquid products are manufactured, and blending facilities in Eden, N.Y., Springerton, Ill., and St. Louis, Mich. Its parent, Groupe Roullier, has 8,500 employees globally, with marketing operations in 131 countries and consolidated revenues of €2 billion.
