All Posts from November 21, 2018

CHS Funds SDSU Precision Ag Program/Center

News Briefs

The CHS Foundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., funded by charitable gifts from CHS Inc., announced on Nov. 15 a $1.5 million grant to support the South Dakota State University (SDSU) precision agriculture program and construction of the new Raven Precision Agriculture Center on campus. CHS said the gift aligns with CHS priorities around ensuring that educating the next generation of ag leadership includes technology and tradition.

SDSU is the nation’s first land-grant university to offer a bachelor’s degree and minor in precision agriculture.

“The gift in support of the Raven Precision Agriculture Center will positively impact our students and industry for decades to come,” said John Killefer, the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council Endowed Dean of the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences. “This commitment from the CHS Foundation illustrates the leadership role and vision they have within the agricultural industry.”

The building has 129,000 square feet of floor space that will be able to house modern precision farm equipment and will provide collaborative learning spaces for student design projects. Flexible space will give scientists from a variety of departments and industry space to collaborate on research and education.

Final construction plans are in-progress. Some ground work is expected to begin this fall, with construction starting in the spring of 2019.

Incitec Pivot Ltd. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Incitec Pivot Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, has appointed Bruce Brook as a non-executive director, effective Dec. 3. IPL said he is an experienced non-executive director with directorships and an executive career across a range of industries, including the mining, manufacturing, banking, and services industries. He is currently a non-executive director of CSL Ltd. and Newmont Mining Corp. Brook was previously chairman of Programmed Maintenance Services Ltd. and Energy Developments Ltd., and non-executive director of Boart Longyear Ltd.

During his executive career, Brook was the CFO of WMC Resources Ltd. and deputy CFO of the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.

Brook will offer himself for re-election by shareholders at IPL’s 2018 annual general meeting of shareholders, which will be held Dec. 20, 2018.

IPL also announced that Graham Smorgon will retire as a non-executive director at the conclusion of the shareholders meeting.

Pacific Coast EIS Delayed; Construction Start Still Eyed for 2019; Partner Drops Out

Ammonia, Featured, News, Pacific N.W.

Pacific Coast Fertilizer (PCF), Houston, expects to have a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) ready during the first quarter of 2019 for its proposed $1 billion mid-scale plant that would produce 1,500 mt/d of anhydrous ammonia near Longview, Wash. PCF had originally planned to have the draft EIS prepared this past summer, with the final EIS wrapped up by the end of this year.

“Our hope is to turn that final document around as soon as possible, however, take time to make sure it is accurate and thorough,” PCF spokesman David Richey told Green Markets, referring to the project’s final EIS. “We’re spending time working through the project plan, making sure the facility will be built to protect communities and the environment. It’s been going well.”

During the scoping process, PCF has been working closely with citizens, stakeholder groups, and elected officials to determine what a draft EIS should include, examining and analyzing potential effects. Richey said there has been enthusiasm for the project both locally and statewide, adding that Kelso/Longview union building trades and Lower Columbia College have been especially supportive.

After the final EIS is completed following several public comment events, the project’s construction schedule will be firmed up. Construction had been targeted to begin in 2019 and be finished by late 2021 or early 2022. “We hope to continue with that existing time frame,” Richey said, noting that the plant will be designed to withstand earthquakes.

Up to 1,000 construction workers will be directly employed, in addition to many indirect jobs created by the project. When the plant is fully functioning, 100 permanent employees will work there.

“With its industrial heritage, Longview has the workers with the skills and services Pacific Coast Fertilizer will need,” Richey said.

More than a year ago the Longview City Council unanimously approved Pacific Coast’s purchase of 53 acres of the Mint Farm Industrial Park for the project (GM May 17, 2017). The property was developed two decades ago by the city and Weyerhaueser, one of the world’s largest owners of timber land. Its advantages include good water supply and discharge systems, access to the Columbia River and Pacific Coast, and proximity to a Williams Northwest pipeline that would provide natural gas essential to the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers such as anhydrous ammonia.

Richey said product will be trucked to agricultural markets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and possibly northern California, but none of it will be hauled by rail. Monthly shipments by barge also could be sent to overseas customers.

PCF said Pacific Northwest farmers have been paying premium costs of $150 to $200 a ton more for anhydrous ammonia than their Gulf Coast counterparts. About 80 percent of it is shipped by rail from Canadian producers, with the rest coming via the Panama Canal by ship from Trinidad, some 6,000 miles away.

“Farmers in the region are very aware of the burden they must pay in high annual fertilizer costs,” said Richey.

PCF has chosen Saipem, an Italian oil and gas industry contractor, as its Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor, partnering with JH Kelly, a Longview industrial mechanical contractor. Haldor Topsoe and Saturn Gas Chemicals remain development partners, but Richey said Ferrostaal of Germany is no longer involved in the project.

 

Pursell Agri-Tech – Management Brief

Management Briefs, South Central

James T. “Jimmy” Pursell on Nov. 15 was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, which honors business leaders and key figures who have influenced the economic, political, and cultural aspects of life in Alabama.

“We’re proud of this prestigious recognition for our family patriarch, which places him alongside more than 200 of our state’s most impactful individuals,” said Taylor Pursell, chairman of Pursell Agri-Tech, Sylacauga, Ala. “Although Pursell has been a leader in the fertilizer industry for more than a century, my father’s legacy for innovation drives us every day at our new business, Pursell Agri-Tech.”

In 1956 Jimmy Pursell joined Parker Fertilizer, which was owned by his father-in-law, Howard Parker, and had been started by Howard’s father, DeWitt Parker, in 1904. Pursell became president of the company in 1964, and began moving the company away from traditional fertilizer to newer specialty products, such as slow-release fertilizers.

In the 1980s, Pursell built a manufacturing plant that used a special coating known as sulfur-coated urea (SCU), which allowed the fertilizer – and essential nutrients for turf growth, color, and disease resistance – to be released over a longer period. When the plant opened in 1986 to produce Pursell’s SulfurKote®, it was one of only four SCU plants in the world, and brought national and international attention to the company. The company also developed, manufactured, and marketed Polyon® Fertilizers.

Pursell relocated the company headquarters to the family farm in 1997, and established Pursell Farms, as well as a hospitality-oriented educational program for golf course superintendents and ornamental nursery growers. He built FarmLinks Golf Course, the world’s first and only research and demonstration course, designed by Hurdzan-Fry Environmental Golf Course Design. Utilizing the hospitality strategy, the Pursells grew the Polyon business to leading positions in the golf and nursery segments.

The fertilizer business was sold in 2006, but did not include any Pursell Farms assets. Today Pursell Farms is a full-amenity luxury resort, and one of the top-rated hospitality businesses in the southeastern U.S.

Pursell attended Auburn University and supports several initiatives there, including the Center for Organizational Cultures in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, endowed chairs, and programs for student athletes. He has served as chairman of the State of Alabama Ethics Commission.

Yara International ASA – Management Brief

Europe, Management Briefs

Yara International ASA, Oslo, announced on Nov. 19 that Lars Røsæg will take on the position of executive vice president and CFO, effective immediately. Petter Østbø has stepped down as CFO and will leave the company.

Røsæg joined Yara in 2017, and since March 2018 has held the position of vice president, global joint ventures and CEO office. He holds a degree (Siviløkonom) from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). Yara said he has broad experience from senior finance and strategy positions at Sapa (2012-2017) and Orkla (2005-2012).

“I want to thank Petter for a good job for Yara over many years, including having a key role in implementing and driving Yara’s production improvement program,” said Svein Tore Holsether, Yara CEO. “I also want to underline that this change is not related to Yara’s financial performance nor any disagreement around strategic direction. We separate on good terms, and I wish Petter the best of luck for the future.”

Østbø, previously EVP, Production, became EVP and CFO in March (GM March 23, p. 24), succeeding Torgeir Kvidal, who became become Head of Mining operations, reporting to EVP Production.

Innophos Holdings Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

The board of directors of Innophos Holdings Inc., Cranbury, N.J., has appointed Jane Hilk as a director effective Nov. 19. The company noted that she has over three decades of experience in executive positions within the food and beverage industry. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and president of Kraft Foods from March 2013 to August 2015.

Hilk began her career with Kraft in 1991. Previously, she held various positions with the MARC Group, a global market research company. She earned her B.S. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and her MBA from DePaul University, Chicago.

Petrobras – Management Brief

Brazil, Management Briefs, Specialty

State-owned Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) CEO Ivan de Souza Monteiro will leave the company Jan. 1, 2019. University of Chicago-trained economist Robert Castello Branco was named as the next chief executive of the Brazilian oil and gas group by Brazil’s new incoming government on Nov. 19. Petrobras, however, said it still awaits official confirmation of the appointment.

The incoming new CEO is widely said to want to push ahead with selling non-core assets and focusing on oil exploration and production, but, according to media reports, has said he has not been tasked with selling off the company.

Acron Group – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Russia

Acron Group, Moscow, has announced the appointment of Alexander Lebedev as the group’s vice president for domestic business. In this position, Lebedev will focus on strategies for promoting Acron’s products in Russia, which remains a priority market for the group, with sales of more than 630,000 mt of mineral fertilizers in the first nine months of the year.

Lebedev has worked at Acron since 2011, serving as a sales department specialist, head of the organic and non-organic chemical product sales team, and deputy head of the sales department. From January 2017, he served as head of the sales department, overseeing mineral fertilizer sales in Russia, the CIS, and the Baltic States, as well as sales of agricultural goods produced by Plodorodie agricultural holding, a part of the Acron group.

BHP Potash Terminal Under Review

Featured, News, Pacific N.W., Potash, Saskatchewan, Vancouver

Hoquiam, a city of roughly 8,700 in western Washington state, has determined that a proposed BHP Billiton Canada potash terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor would not cause an adverse environmental impact, and scheduled a Dec. 19 public hearing to solicit comments.

Vancouver, B.C.-based BHP Billiton Canada would like to use the redeveloped industrial port to export potash from a proposed Jansen mine in Saskatchewan that would produce up to 8 million mt/y of potash.

At peak operation, the Hoquiam terminal near Bowerman Airport and the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge would receive up to 10 trains a week, each potentially hauling 20,000 tons of product that would either be stored or loaded on up to four ships per week, or 220 bulk ocean-going vessels annually, for fertilizer export. Up to 50 full-time employees would work there.

To minimize the impact of increased train volume at the port, construction would include an 8,500-foot rail loop that would tie into existing rail facilities, allowing entire trains to be confined within the project’s boundaries; a covered rail car unloading zone; a potash storage structure; upland conveyors; and a marine terminal that would include a conveyor ship loader.

Enclosed train cars loaded with potash would be taken to a covered transfer station. The potash would either be taken directly to awaiting vessels or stored. A BHP study indicated that any attributable emission increases “are sufficiently low enough to protect human health and safety from potential carcinogenic and/or other toxic effects.”

For the last year, BHP has been filing environmental impact review papers and modifying its plans after getting input from Hoquiam officials and agencies to offset potential environmental threats. It also studied the visual impacts on five properties surrounding the proposed project site. It has requested substantial shoreline development, shoreline conditional use, and zoning conditional use permits, as well as a shoreline variance from Hoquiam.

An electrical substation and water, electricity, sewer, and storm water utilities would be included in the Hoquiam project’s infrastructure. Administrative and maintenance buildings, each about 38,000 square feet, a parking lot, and a fueling station with double-walled tanks above ground also would be featured.

BHP proposes to remove existing over-water structures and pilings near a port terminal, plus more than 1,300 creosote-soaked pilings from the Chehalis River. In-water construction would include a new marine terminal and berth next to another terminal’s existing dock, and grated over-water coverage would be constructed. BHP also proposes to install a wetland and aquatic site at the mouth of the Hoquiam River, including the restoration of a 43-acre site where tide lands were previously filled.

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