All Posts from April 25, 2011

Washington stops short of outright phos ban

News Briefs

Olympia, Wash.-Washington state legislators have stopped short of banning phosphorus in lawn fertilizer effective in 2013 under a bill signed earlier this month by Gov. Chris Gregoire. “It was initially thought to have an outright ban on the sale phosphorus, but it turned out that homeowners who want it for new or damaged lawns will have to request it from dealers,” according to John Stuhlmiller, director of government relations for the Washington State Farm Bureau. Stuhlmiller said the bill doesn’t restrict phosphorus in fertilizers for agricultural uses, vegetables, or flowers, but does include golf courses. In signing the bill, Gregoire said she was disappointed the bill does not exempt fertilizer made from organic materials such as manure. Although they contain phosphorus, using them as fertilizer is a good way to manage waste, she said. But because the bill doesn’t take effect until 2013, she urged the sponsors and other legislators to take that issue up in next year’s session. The bill did note that of approximately 60,000 lakes in Washington, only a small percentage have phosphorus issues and that rivers with high levels are being affected by natural sources, activities in upstream states, fish hatcheries, and other non-turf sources. Other states with similar bans have not been able to show a corollary reduction in water phosphorus levels. Stuhlmiller also noted that a petroleum tax that would have affected fertilizer appears to be a dead issue for this session. “There is still a lot of uncertainty because the budget and tax package have not been settled at this point,” he offered. “But at this time it appears that that package is unlikely to pass although legislators are still looking for sources of additional revenues.”

The Week in Fertilizer Stocks

Fertilizer Stocks
Producer Symbol Price Week Ago Year Ago
Agrium AGU 90.61 88.20 64.66
CF Industries CF 133.22 133.69 87.28
Intrepid Potash IPI 34.24 33.10 27.02
Mosaic MOS 75.77 75.49 54.92
PotashCorp* POT 57.28 56.19 36.67
Terra Nitrogen TNH 110.83 109.05 81.72
CVR Partners UAN 19.00 17.00 N/A
Distribution/Retail
Andersons Inc. ANDE 48.68 47.60 33.73
Deere & Co. DE 93.89 94.25 60.20
Scotts SMG 56.75 56.57 48.33
*represents three-for-one stock split

Ammonia

Ammonia, Black Sea, Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, Market Watch, Northern Plains, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf/Tampa: Chatter had begun on Tampa prices for May, but no new business was reported. If not a price decrease, buyers were reportedly at least looking for a rollover of April pricing for May. Sellers were hoping for some uptick, maybe as high as $20/mt.

Trinidad supplies are a little tighter than originally expected. Just when things appeared to be returning to normal in Trinidad after one spate of gas curtailments, another round of curtailments was announced. As a result, all major producers are expected to see some cutback through the end of April. PotashCorp is running its number one and two plants at 85 percent production, with its other two ammonia plants and urea plant running at capacity.

Yara already had one plant down for a month through April 20 for a turnaround.

U.S. imports of ammonia were up 7 percent in February, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), to 543,533 st from the year-ago 506,673 st. July-February imports were up 19 percent, to 5.06 million st from the year-ago 4.24 million st.

Eastern Cornbelt: Ammonia pricing was steady at $675-$690/st FOB in the region, with the low out of Illinois terminals and the upper end in Indiana. Illinois sources also reported some lower offers for rail-delivered ammonia in the $660-$680/st range last week, which one source attributed to the weather delays and narrowing window for preplant ammonia applications.

Powerful storms ripped through the region on April 19-20, producing tornadoes and damaging winds, hail, and torrential rains in some locations. As of April 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that 9 percent of the Illinois corn crop was planted, compared with just 2 percent in Indiana and zero in Ohio.

Western Cornbelt: The ammonia market was steady at $625-$650/st FOB regional terminals for prompt tons. USDA reported that 26 percent of Missouri’s corn crop was planted by April 17, compared with just 2-3 percent in Iowa and Nebraska. Additional weather delays hit northern Iowa last week in the forms of rain and snow.

Northern Plains: Anhydrous ammonia prices were down slightly from last report, with sources citing fieldwork delays and a shrinking preplant application window as reasons for the drop. The dealer market for ammonia out of regional terminals was tagged at $650-$685/st FOB last week, with delivered tons in the $720-$725/st range in North Dakota.

Rain and snow returned to the Northern Plains region last week, compounding fieldwork delays. One source said some growers were trying to scratch fields in central Minnesota early in the week, but work was limited to lighter soils. No corn was planted in the region yet. A North Dakota source said growers in his location are looking at starting in the May 5-11 time frame, provided weather conditions cooperate.

Great Lakes: Some preplant ammonia had been applied in the region before the latest round of precipitation. Winter weather returned to the Great Lakes region last week, bringing snow and rain to large sections of Wisconsin and Michigan. Fieldwork delays continued as a result. “It’s not looking good here,” said one Wisconsin source early in the week. “We’ll be lucky if we’re going next week. I think it’ll be May before anything starts here.”

Wisconsin sources quoted the ammonia market at the $685/st FOB level for prompt or forward tons, while Michigan dealers pegged the market at $695/st FOB Huntington, Ind., and $700/st FOB Courtright, Ontario. Several sources said the weather delays might result in lower spot ammonia prices, since any remaining preplant volumes may be cut if growers move directly to planting when fields dry out.

Black Sea: Sources report producers are confident th

Management Briefs – April 25, 2011

Management Briefs

Gerhard Horn was named the executive director of K+S North America Corp., New York, effective April 1. He succeeds Jan Döge, who returns to Germany as a senior product manager, taking on global responsibility for sulfate of potash and Patentkali®. Until recently, Horn was marketing director for K+S Kalki GmbH.

CoreAgri, LLC, Arroyo Grande, Calif., a producer of specialty fertilizers and liquid and dry micronutrients, has promoted Mike Barry to the position of national sales manager. He previously served as vice president. Barry will now guide CoreAgri’s sales team while contributing to an enhanced Web presence, product brochures, and technical sheets. CoreAgri, a unit of CoreClean Group LLC, has production facilities in California, Texas, and Tennessee.

The laureate of the 2011 IFA Norman Borlaug Award for excellence in crop nutrition research is Dr. Roland Buresh of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. He is principal scientist at IRRI, where he leads the IRRI’s work on site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). The award recognizes his work in transforming the scientific concept of SSNM to innovative knowledge transfer tools based on decision-support software, the Internet, mobile phones, and field practices readily usable by rice growers. Such tools bring precision agriculture techniques to small-scale farmers in developing countries. Dr. Buresh’s most recent and recognized accomplishment is “Nutrient Manager,” an IT-based decision-support tool that provides extension workers, farmers, and researchers field-specific nutrient management practices for rice. Prior to joining IRRI, Dr. Buresh was principal soil scientist at the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya, and soil scientist at the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), where he led a collaborative project between IFDC and IRRI in the Philippines. Dr. Buresh graduated from Louisiana State University in 1978 with a PhD in Marine Sciences. He also received an M.Sc. in Soil Science from North Dakota State University. Dr. Buresh will accept the award at the IFA Annual Conference May 24 in Montreal.

Martin Midstream Partners LP, Kilgore, Texas, reports Byron Kelley has been named as an advisory director to the board of directors of Martin Midstream GP LLC, which is the general partner of MMLP. Kelley brings over 40 years of experience in both domestic and international activities covering operations, engineering, natural gas marketing, business development, strategic planning, and executive management. He was most recently president, CEO, and board member of Regency GP LLC. He has also held executive positions with CenterPoint Energy and El Paso Energy International. He holds a bachelor degree in civil engineering from Auburn University.

The Sulphur Institute has elected Mark Whittemore, executive vice president, ICEC, a division of Oxbox Carbon, as its chairman. Jack Cohn, senior vice president, Savage Services Corp., is vice chair.

Sen. Cardin issues appeal to reduce runoff

News Briefs

Baltimore, Md.-Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate’s water and wildlife subcommittee, is behind a movement to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay by reducing fertilizer runoff from lawns. Cardin last week joined Environment Maryland at the unveiling of a grassy patch installed on a pier as a reminder of how runoff can contribute to bay pollution. Cardin advised homeowners “to be part of the solution” this spring when they fertilize their lawns, urging them to be mindful that those and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to the fragile watershed. In its report Urban Fertilizer & the Chesapeake Bay, Environment Maryland reminded everyone that grass covers more acres in the bay watershed than any other crop, and fertilizers that help lawns grow are harming water quality as they spill into the bay. The report declared, “Turfgrass as the state’s biggest unregulated crop with as much as 1.3 million acres statewide becomes a pollution problem when it is covered with too much nitrogen and phosphorus, which washes into nearby waters when it rains and snows and harms the Bay, whether it’s organic or chemical.” The study comes as lawmakers in Annapolis are considering new regulations for lawn fertilizer that would require changes in ingredients and its application.

Rash of ammonia incidents prompts appeal

Ammonia, News Briefs

Springfield, Ill.-With accidental releases doubling in 2010 over previous years, the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture is advising farmers to review safety and handling procedures before applying anhydrous ammonia fertilizer to their fields this spring. “If greater attention had been paid to the proper operation of equipment, many of these accidents may have been prevented,” Jim Larkin, chief of the Ag Products Inspection Bureau, stated. “Our investigations show the leading cause of accidents in 2010 was the improper management of ammonia hoses.” That’s why applicators are reminded to follow these rules: inspect hoses prior to each use for cracks, cuts, rubs, and soft spots, as well as slippage near couplers; purge the hose or system prior to inspection; perform regular maintenance on the tool-bar quick-coupler per manufacturer’s recommendations to assure it is suitable for service; visually inspect prior to each use; check to assure hoses are the correct length; always use the safety chains provided on the nurse tank, along with the attached hitch pin and safety clip, to prevent hoses stretching and breaking; before pulling a nurse tank on a roadway, purge toolbar and hoses and secure end valves of the hoses to the parking plugs on the tool-bar and attach safety chains, hitch pin, and safety clip; and drive 25 mph or less. The applicator in control during a release must report promptly to regulatory agencies. “We have definitely seen an increase in enforcement of the reporting regulations from both USEPA and IEPA,” Jean Payne, president of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Assn., reported. “There is no penalty for reporting an ammonia release on time, only for not reporting.”

CHS Harvest for Hunger raises two million meals

News Briefs

St. Paul-More than two million meals are headed for hungry families thanks to the first-ever CHS Harvest for Hunger food and funds drive by the Country Operations division of CHS Inc. “CHS Harvest for Hunger generated great participation and really harnessed the power of CHS Country Operations to make a difference in the fight against hunger,” says John McEnroe, senior vice president, CHS Country Operations. “In only 18 days, CHS employees, customers, and partners worked together to collect 314,162 pounds of food and $247,935 in cash and grain. That’s double our original one million meal goal and powerful proof of how much the country cares about helping others in need.” In addition, McEnroe says that for every donation made to CHS Harvest for Hunger, CHS Country Operations is making a local contribution back to the communities. “These matching donations will be reinvested back into a local cause to help nearby friends and neighbors. It’s yet another example of the fact that CHS values being responsible stewards in its communities, a tradition it has built for 80 years.” CHS Harvest for Hunger was held March 1-18 at most of the CHS Country Operations retail locations. Donations collected went to Feeding America’s network of regional food banks. Fundraising activities varied at each location and included serving a pancake breakfast, hosting a taco salad day, and providing grocery-bagging services.

Lawsuit filed over Austin Powder plant

News Briefs

Greeneville, Tenn.-Nearby landowners have filed suit against Greene County authorities for their decision to approve the zoning for a new $160 M nitrogen/explosives complex (GM Feb. 28, p. 1, April 11, p. 10). The suit, filed in local court, faulted local zoning officials and county commissioners for hastily approving the plant without giving proper notice to the community, according to The Greeneville Sun.

Koch completes Nitamin purchase

News Briefs

Wichita-Koch Agronomic Services has broadened its agronomic portfolio with the acquisition of the Nitamin® and Nitamin Nfusion® slow-release foliar- and soil-applied nitrogen fertilizers from Georgia-Pacific Chemicals. Completing the acquisition is the first step in establishing the business as a more comprehensive agronomic solutions provider, said Koch. Koch Agronomic Services, a subsidiary of Koch Fertilizer LLC, was formed with the vision of bringing enhanced efficiency fertilizers and value-added technologies to the marketplace. In November 2010, Koch Agronomic Services entered into an agreement to market the Nitamin® brand product line to extend the reach of the brand to more markets in the U.S. and Canada. “We are excited to permanently add the Nitamin® brands to our global portfolio of enhanced efficiency fertilizer products. This growth reinforces our vision for Koch Agronomic Services to be a leader in innovative and efficient fertilizer solutions,” said Steve Packebush, president of Koch Fertilizer. “Customers can expect Koch Agronomic Services to continue to develop and deliver innovative agronomic solutions that meet their changing needs.” Koch Agronomic is investing in a range of enhanced efficiency fertilizer technologies that can improve nutrient efficiency and boost yields, while reducing nutrient loss and protecting the environment. “We continually look to expand our capabilities by bringing added value to growers,” said Tom Snipes, business manager for Koch Agronomic Services. “As growers look to maximize their production and return on crop inputs, enhanced fertilizers and new crop technologies are important tools.” Koch Agronomic Services is part of a global network with the capability to manufacture, market and distribute more than 13 million tons of fertilizer products annually.

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