H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. announced on Dec. 16 that Mike Dennerlein has joined the company’s fertilizer division as the Western Regional Sales Manager. Dennerlein will oversee sales efforts for all of H.J. Baker’s TIGER® Sulphur Bentonite products throughout Western Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Southwestern U.S., California, and Nevada. H.J Baker said it has been expanding its fertilizer group in response to increased demand for its Tiger-Sul Products.
Dennerlein has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience in the agriculture and fertilizer industries, having spent most of his career at Agrium Inc. and Nu-West Industries. In 2009 he was the recipient of Agrium’s President’s Award for Environmental, Health and Safety Management.
“Mike is an industry veteran and a clear leader, driven both in his focus to succeed and his attention to his customers,” said Mark Hochgesang, director of sales for H.J. Baker’s fertilizer group. “I have no doubt Mike will bring great value to the marketing and sales of our popular TIGER® Sulphur Bentonite products and that our customers will thoroughly enjoy working with him.”
Salt Lake City — Officials with Great Salt Lake Minerals (GSLM), which extracts sulfate of potash and other minerals from the northern part of Great Salt Lake, are not saying what, if any, changes they are expecting in their operation as the result of Union Pacific Railroad closing the only remaining culvert or opening in the railroad’s causeway that bisects the lake as a shortcut for trains between Utah and the West Coast. GSLM is a unit of Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan. A GSLM spokesman would say only that the situation is being watched closely. "We of course are following the UP causeway situation and will be monitoring salinity levels," he told Green Markets, referring to the situation. "GSLM has taken no formal position on the issue – it’s between the state/federal regulatory agencies and UP." Actually, the salinity of the lake has a lot to do with mineral extraction. The project is of acute interest to not just environmentalists, but also the $200 million minerals industry and the $100 million brine shrimp business, which authorities claim could face serious disruptions should the lake’s salinity levels fluctuate. The North Arm of the lake is high in salinity, while the other side is low. The culvert allowed the waters to mix. The 20-mile single-track causeway has been sinking into the lakebed for years, rendering its two major culverts unstable. The culvert closest to the west shore was filled last year while UP developed plans for a 180-foot-long bridge. This structure would span a new breach designed to replace the mixing function played by the culverts.
Boyle, Alberta — Richardson International Ltd., along with the local farming community, is giving up on efforts to maintain in place an anhydrous ammonia tank because of safety concerns raised by village council members. These concerns have continued to grow in this area despite appeals from area farmers that without the availability of ammonia at this site their fertilizer costs would increase significantly. “Council’s decision to prohibit further operations out of this site, and the subsequent loss of the service to the local agricultural community, is a cost that will ultimately be borne by area farm businesses,” farmer Elwood Splane asserted, along with two other farmers at a recent council meeting. “The loss of this service represents a considerable negative impact in lost potential of equipment investments, lost efficiency in product application and delivery, and lost value, as this cost-effective product will no longer be available.” According to Richardson, Boyle officials made their intentions known last October, advising the company to discontinue operations by Nov. 15. Richardson spokeswoman Tracey Shelton reported, "We presented to the council in October to ensure them that we were meeting all regulatory requirements and the tank was safe." But the Village of Boyle continued to press for closure, citing the location of the tank within the village limits and in the path of prevailing winds that would carry ammonia fumes into residential areas if the tank were compromised. "So we made the decision to advise our customers and shut down the tank by the deadline of Nov. 15," Shelton reported. "We will continue to service our customers in the Boyle/Athabasca area through our area marketing representatives and agronomists." She didn’t say if the efforts would be made to relocate the tank, which reportedly could cost as much as $450,000.
Sluiskil — GE Oil & Gas reports that it has signed a 12-year contractual service agreement with Yara International ASA to maintain an array of GE rotating equipment at Yara’s fertilizer complex in Sluiskil, in the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands. GE will provide maintenance and services for 45 compressors, gas and steam turbines, and turbo expanders at the site. This new agreement is part of a long-lasting business relationship between GE and Yara, which was taken further in 2000 with an extended parts and services frame agreement. Yara’s Sluiskil site features Europe’s largest installed ammonia and nitrate fertilizer production capacities, with three ammonia plants, four CO2 plants, two nitric acid plants, two urea plants, and two nitrate granulation plants. Sluiskil has both Yara’s and Europe’s largest installed ammonia and nitrate fertilizer capacities.
Oslo — Yara International ASA has entered into shipbuilding contracts with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) for the construction and delivery of two mid-size LPG carriers, with an expected cost per vessel of US$51 million. Following an evaluation of current new-build and time charter rates, Yara said it has chosen to build new vessels to cover part of its long-term transport requirement at attractive rates, meet stricter environmental regulations, and maintain flexibility to serve Yara’s production system. Yara has a base ammonia transport requirement of approximately 4 million mt/y to serve its European plants, and long-term off-take agreements in Trinidad and Australia. Since time-charter contracts require a parent company guarantee of hire payments, a decision to build rather than charter vessels does not materially impact Yara’s debt capacity. Yara is in discussions with potential partners for combined ship management and equity participation; however, Yara aims to retain majority ownership in the vessels. Yara is currently in discussions concerning further shipbuilding contracts for handy-size vessels, which are expected to be finalized and announced in January 2014.
Port of Howden, UK — Helm Fertilizer Great Britain Ltd. has signed a 10-year agreement with PD Ports to operate a blending and bagging facility for its fertilizer imports at the Port of Howden. The port, which is owned and operated by PD Ports, will also provide the stevedore service for this new agreement, with the first vessel call expected in early 2014. Once received, the fertilizer, which is being imported from Europe and North Africa, will be stored before being blended and bagged ready for onward distribution. PD says the arrival of Helm at the port will see an initial investment of over £500,000 spent refurbishing one of PD Ports’ existing on site warehouses, covering some 68,000 sq ft. With anticipated volumes of over 50,000 mt/y, the port will become the central UK hub for Helm, who has previously used multiple ports of entry for imports. PD said Howden was chosen by Helm to consolidate its imports based on its location and proximity to rural regions such as Lincolnshire, as well as the excellent transport links to and from the port. PD said Helm will be making a significant investment in a state-of-the-art blending and bagging machine that will be one of the first of its type within the UK. It will also be capable of applying coating and micronutrients.
Spiritwood, N.D. — The Township of Spiritwood Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 at a special meeting Dec. 16 to cap building permit fees at $250,000. Just a week before it was standing firm at charging CHS Inc. a $1 million fee for CHS’s proposed $1.5 billion nitrogen facility (GM Dec. 16, p. 1). Afterwards, according to the local press, the board received a letter from CHS indicating that it would not request a full tax exemption for the project, but instead a partial exemption for an extended period. CHS also reportedly asked that the fee be lowered to $100,000. CHS had no further comments last week, but reiterated its earlier position it would make a decision on the plant in early 2014, and that it was not deterred by the $1 million fee.
Koch Fertilizer Canada ULC has announced plans to move forward with an initial $30 million investment to increase ammonia production and operational efficiencies at its Brandon, Manitoba facility. Koch says the project will include the installation of production equipment and process improvements and provides the foundation for a series of further ammonia projects to increase capacity, which could total 90,000 additional tons annually.
Construction for the project is expected to begin in the second-half of 2014 with completion anticipated in late-2015. In addition to the planned increase in ammonia production, the company is also considering a project that would increase urea production capacity at the Brandon plant.
“This investment in infrastructure and increased capacity supports our continuing efforts to provide value for our customers,” said Scott McGinn, senior vice president, North America, “and we will continue to evaluate further production expansion opportunities.”
For more information, see the Green Markets Web Edition Dec. 20.
Pasadena, Calif., and Houston, Texas — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and KBR last week both announced that they have signed on to assist Midwest Fertilizer in building a nitrogen-based fertilizer plant in Posey County, Ind. Jacobs, which will provide program management services, did not disclose the contract value, but estimated the construction value of the total project to be $2.4 billion. The 2,200 mt/d ammonia capacity plant will utilize KBR’s proprietary technology. KBR said the undisclosed value of the contract will be booked in fourth quarter 2013. KBR will also provide the technology license, basic engineering and design package, and supply of proprietary equipment for the world-scale grassroots facility. Jacobs said construction for the new plant is expected to begin in November of 2014 and take three years to complete. Once operational, Midwest Fertilizer plans to manufacture nitrogen fertilizer to supply domestic demand. Midwest Fertilizer says it is backed by Pakistan’s Fatima Group, along with investors from the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
East Dubuque — Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP said Dec. 18 that it expects its ammonia plant that was damaged by fire Nov. 29 to resume production in early January. Rentech says it has completed its evaluation of the equipment damaged in the fire, which occurred in the ammonia synthesis loop of the ammonia plant at its East Dubuque, Ill., nitrogen fertilizer facility. Rentech anticipates the repairs, which are currently underway, to be completed within the next two weeks, with ammonia production of approximately 790 st/d expected to resume on or before the first week of January 2014. Rentech continues to anticipate ammonia production at the increased rate of approximately 1,020 st/d by the end of January 2014. The company confirmed its previous estimate of $1-$2 million for the total cost of repairs due to the fire. As previously disclosed, Rentech intends to file a claim related to the incident under its property insurance policy, which has a deductible of $1 million. Based on these schedules for repairs and production, the company currently expects the overwhelming majority of the impact on deliveries of lost production due to the fire to occur in 2013, with minimal impact on previously forecasted deliveries for 2014.
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