All Posts from May 28, 2021

Bayer Considers Options after Judge Rejects Roundup Settlement

Germany, News, News Briefs, U.S.

Germany-based Bayer AG said it will reassess its activities in the U.S. lawn care market after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on May 26 rejected a proposal for the company to pay as much as $2 billion to resolve future claims that its Roundup herbicide causes cancer, according to Bloomberg.

Bayer, which took over Roundup as part of its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto Co. for $63 billion, reached the $2 billion settlement earlier this year (GM Feb. 5, p. 32). The rejected settlement is part of a broader $11.6 billion agreement to resolve Roundup lawsuits in the U.S. from about 125,000 consumers and farmers.

In his decision, Chhabria said the settlement covering future claims is “clearly unreasonable” for consumers who are exposed to Roundup but are not yet diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and may not be for a decade or longer.

Chhabria also said provisions in the settlement “greatly exaggerate” the potential benefits of four years of “vaguely described medical monitoring” for those who have not yet been diagnosed, while describing the benefits of a compensation fund for those individuals as “vastly overstated.”

Bloomberg reported that while Bayer remains committed to the Roundup brand and the residential sector, the company indicated it may no longer use glyphosate in its products. Other steps to mitigate its risks from future Roundup claims, according to Bloomberg, include continuing legal appeals, reassessing settlement efforts, and creating a website addressing Roundup’s safety concerns.

“We have an alternative course of action: we are in charge and in control now,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a May 27 conference call. “We continue to pursue a comparable solution. There are different ways to skin a cat.”

Bayer announced last June that it had agreed to make a payment of $8.8-$9.6 billion to resolve approximately 75 percent of the then current Roundup cases (GM June 26, 2020). The company reported last fall (GM Sept. 18, 2020) that it had settled approximately 15,000 more U.S. lawsuits over Roundup, bringing the total number of resolved cases to 47,000 of an estimated 125,000 filed and unfiled Roundup claims.

Bayer traded down 2.7 percent at €53.50 as of 9:08 a.m. on May 27 in Frankfurt, after falling as much as 3.2 percent.

Canada’s P&H to Distribute Replenish Products

Canada, News, News Briefs, Specialty

Regenerative fertilizer and power producer EarthRenew Inc., Toronto, reported on May 20 that wholly-owned subsidiary Replenish Nutrients Ltd. has signed a distribution agreement with Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. (P&H), Winnipeg, one of the country’s largest grain and fertilizer businesses. The agreement allows P&H to distribute Replenish’s regenerative agriculture products across its 30 facilities throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba for a period of six years, ensuring a reliable channel for movement of both blended and granulated supplies.

It is anticipated that this relationship with P&H will expand distribution of Replenish’s crop inputs by up to 6,000 mt, contributing a minimum value of C$1.95 million in the first year alone, with a gross margin of approximately 30 percent.

Replenish will provide P&H with its regenerative soil health line, including Sustain, Super KS, and Replenish. These products are all built by leveraging Replenish’s soil microbe delivery technology, which focuses on feeding soil microbes to enhance soil conditions to maximize plant nutrient uptake.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to distribute Replenish’s unique brand of regenerative fertilizers to our conventional and organic customer base,” said Colin Hudson, P&H Western Canada Sales Manager. “We have seen an impressive increase in demand for products that not only address plant yield, but also contribute to soil health, and Replenish-line products handily address that need.”

CBH – Management Brief

Australia, Management Briefs

Australian co-operative CBH’s Board of Directors has appointed Ben Macnamara as Acting CEO, effective July 1, 2021. Outgoing CBH CEO Jimmy Wilson will continue to lead CBH until his resignation is effective June 30, 2021.

Macnamara’s contract as Acting CEO will continue until the end of the search process and commencement of a permanent CEO. He was appointed as CBH’s Chief Operations Officer in February 2019 by Wilson, and in this role has been responsible for leading storage and handling, logistics, maintenance, and shipping services. Macnamara joined CBH in 2014, serving as Commercial and Business Development Manager, and then General Manager Planning, Strategy, and Development.

Mick Daw has been appointed Acting Chief Operations Officer. He is CBH’s current Esperance Zone General Manager and has been in that role for 17 years.

Heartland AG Systems Acquires Ag-West Distributing

News, News Briefs, Northern Plains, Pacific N.W.

Heartland AG Systems, Hutchinson, Minn., earlier this spring announced the purchase of Ag-West Distributing, an application equipment manufacturer based in Burley, Idaho, and the Pacific Northwest’s largest dealer of Case IH application products. The acquisition includes Ag-West’s three stores in Idaho, Montana, and Washington, with coverage also extending into the states of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming.

“The acquisition of Ag-West and their expertise in the Pacific Northwest offers an excellent opportunity to improve our commitment to our customers,” said Arnie Sinclair, President of Heartland AG Systems. “We look forward to providing our full portfolio of application equipment, services, and our own manufactured support products to the forward-thinking retailers and growers in our newly-expanded 17-state geography.”

Ag-West Distributing will be integrated into the broader Heartland AG Systems organization, and operate under the Heartland AG Systems name. Don Knopp, who co-founded the business with Mike Nelson in 1986, will join Heartland Ag as the Northwest Regional Manager and a member of the management team. The company’s 40 employees will also transition to the new ownership.

“We are excited about the commitment Heartland AG Systems has for the application business,” said Knopp. “We know Heartland is focused on this segment and will make certain our customers and employees are well taken care of during the transition and on a go-forward basis. The familiarity our organizations had from working together over the years, each as Case IH application distributors, gave us a keen understanding for how this acquisition could benefit our customers.”

Formed through the merger of two large application equipment distributors in 2019, Heartland AG Systems bills itself as the largest application-focused equipment distributor in North America, with a territory that now stretches from Michigan to the Pacific Northwest and from North Dakota to Missouri. The company offers a full product line for row, cereal, and specialty crops, including the complete Case IH commercial application equipment portfolio.

The company also manufactures application-support products, including tenders, pull-type spreaders, liquid trailers, and liquid fertilizer applicators under the Heartland AG Systems Equipment brand.

AGI Partners with Bushel

Canada, News, News Briefs

Equipment provider Ag Growth International Inc., Winnipeg, said on May 25 it has signed a partnership agreement with Bushel Inc., Fargo, N.D., a provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers, and food companies.

Bushel provides customers with solutions, including the automation of weigh-scale tickets issued by grain elevators. In addition, the Bushel platform automates the contracts and settlements required to complete grain sales.

These key functionalities will be added to the AGI SureTrack® platform to extend its capabilities, adding automation to ensure seamless, accurate, and transparent transactions between buyers and sellers of grain. AGI will also have the opportunity to leverage Bushel’s strong relationships, which include more than 60,000 farm-level users, as well as 2,000 commercial-level grain facilities who use the Bushel platform today.

Hydrite Expands ATS, Potassium Thiosulfate Storage

Featured, News, Specialty

Hydrite Chemical Co. on May 25 announced that it is constructing a new three-million-gallon tank at its Terra Haute, Ind., plant to expand the storage capacity of its ATS=TM ammonium thiosulfate fertilizer. The company also confirmed that it recently completed the construction of a 1.8 million gallon tank at the Terra Haute site to expand potassium thiosulfate (Thio 25-17TM) storage.

Hydrite expects the new ATS tank to be completed before year-end, which will bring total ATS storage capacity at the Terra Haute site to 6.8 million gallons. The company’s total potassium thiosulfate storage capacity at Terra Haute is now at 2.5 million gallons.

“We are excited to announce the expansion of our already significant storage infrastructure in Terre Haute, Ind.,” said Nate Ludtke, Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development for Hydrite. “Every spring brings new challenges, and with this additional storage we will be better positioned to respond to the needs of the market.”

The news follows a spring season marked by critical shortages of ammonium thiosulfate across North America, due both to increased demand and production issues. The supply problems pushed wholesale pricing in the Cornbelt up to $450-$500/st FOB for the most recently reported offers, up from the low-$200s/st FOB at the beginning of the year.

Headquartered in Brookfield, Wisc., Hydrite is an integrated manufacturer and supplier of chemicals and sulfur derivatives. The company started producing ATS in 2011 at its facility in Waterloo, Iowa, after reaching an agreement with Kugler Co., McCook, Neb., for its proprietary manufacturing process (GM June 18, 2011). ATS production at Hydrite’s Terra Haute site started in 2012.

The Waterloo facility currently has 4.3 million gallons of ATS storage capacity. Both the Waterloo and Terra Haute plants also produce low salt fertilizer and micronutrients. In addition to those sites, Hydrite operates chemical facilities in Lubbock, Texas, Visalia, Calif., and at Wisconsin locations in Cottage Grove, LaCrosse, Milwaukee, and Oshkosh.

BHP, Nutrien Reported in Jansen Talks

Australia, Featured, News, Potash, Saskatchewan

BHP Group, Melbourne, is in talks with Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, about a potential partnership in its Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan as the world’s largest mining company moves closer to a final decision on the project, according to Bloomberg.

The pair are discussing multiple options, including Nutrien becoming the operator and selling the potash through its existing channels, or the Canadian company taking a stake in the Jansen mine, according to sources familiar with the matter. There is no guarantee the talks will lead to a deal, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.

A deal would offset BHP’s financial and operational risk, said Gavin Wendt, Founding Director and Senior Resource Analyst at Mine Life Pty. “It’s a large-capex project and BHP is new to the potash space. It makes sense for it therefore to utilize Nutrien’s industry knowledge, where it is the world’s biggest fertilizer distributor.”

BHP has struggled with the Jansen project for years. Despite spending about US$4.5 billion and digging two 1,000-meter (3,300-feet) deep shafts, it has yet to approve construction and has faced investor opposition. The miner has said it will decide around mid-year on whether to approve a further $5.7 billion in spending to bring Jansen into production. Completion is expected to take five years, and Stage 1 would bring on 4.3-4.5 million mt/y.

Major potash producers could expect greater price certainty if a BHP-Nutrien deal goes ahead, “and keep new tons marketed within the existing global structure,” said Bloomberg Intelligence Industry Analyst Jason Miner. “A potential Nutrien deal could lift the cloud BHP’s Jansen mine has long cast over this market.”

BHP has repeatedly said it was open to bringing a partner into the project, especially one with expertise in the fertilizer market or potash. While that is a product it currently does not mine, BHP sees potash as a potential cornerstone of its future business, helping to feed a growing global population as the pressure on agricultural land increases.

Spokespeople for BHP and Nutrien declined to comment.

“We continue to like potash. We think the long-term demand and supply fundamentals for potash are attractive,” BHP CEO Mike Henry said at a conference last week when asked about the project. “We’ve always said we’re open to partnering, but the project doesn’t need a partner to proceed,” (GM May 21, p. 1).

Analysts had speculated that the departure of Nutrien President and CEO Chuck Magro in April (GM April 23, p. 1), a major critic of Jansen, “could open the door for an 11th hour deal between the two companies.” New President and CEO Mayo Schmidt has been more conciliatory, and his recent reference to BHP as being “disciplined” was seen as a “potash peace pipe.”

BHP’s willingness to explore partnership options with an established producer such as Nutrien would indicate that it is working to limit potential market disruption that could be caused by Jansen, RBC Capital Markets Analyst Andrew Wong said in a note. That’s “incrementally positive to the longer-term potash market outlook,” he said.

German K Project Gains Permission to Drill

Australia, Germany, News, News Briefs, Potash

South Harz Potash (SHP) (formerly Davenport Resources Ltd.), West Perth, Western Australia, said on May 26 it has received landowner and tenant permission for the first of two drill holes and has applied for regulatory approval for its Ohmgebirge potash project in the South Harz region of Germany.

Discussions with landowners and tenants on further drilling sites are at an advanced stage, with permission anticipated shortly. Work on the Ohmgebirge scoping study is continuing in parallel with regulatory dialogue, and completion of the study remains on track for the end of calendar 2021.

SHP said its portfolio of projects in Germany has an Inferred Resource of 5.3 billion mt, grading at 10.8 percent K2O, with Ohmgebirge at 325 million mt, grading 13.1 percent K2O. The company anticipates that holes will lead to a revised mineral resource estimate.

“This represents the culmination of a massive effort on the part of the operations team, not only to complete the technical design for the deep, large diameter holes, but to conduct a successful public relations exercise from which the Company has won a significant level of local support,” said SHP Managing Director Dr. Chris Gilchrist. “I look forward to a continuation of this successful start to our program.”

FuelPositive Partners with NCA

Ammonia, Canada, Hydrogen, News, News Briefs

FuelPositive Corp., Toronto, said on May 19 it has selected National Compressed Air Canada Ltd. (NCA), Mississauga, Ont., to undertake the manufacturing of the company’s Phase 2 Hydrogen-Ammonia Synthesizer commercial prototype systems for Carbon-Free Ammonia (NH3) production.

“This critical milestone for FuelPositive will confirm the broad application potential for our technology and is the backbone of our Carbon-Free Hydrogen-NH3 offering,” said Ian Clifford, CEO of FuelPositive. “Partnering with the knowledgeable and experienced team at NCA on this commercialization project will bring our development-stage program to life.

“FuelPositive’s modular and transportable systems leveraging various shipping container configurations will be suitable to offer a broad range of Carbon-Free Hydrogen-NH3 capabilities across a multitude of end-user applications,” he added. “This flagship project could pave the way for the broad acceptance of ammonia as a fossil fuel replacement.”

The company said the system will be adaptable to multiple applications, from smaller stand-alone fuel generation systems for transportation companies to larger agricultural systems for significant farming enterprises, all the way to large grid storage systems for hydro, wind, solar, or geothermal electricity generation operations.

Nutrien Seeks LDEQ Permit for Geismar Wastewater

Louisiana, News, News Briefs, Phosphoric Acid, Saskatchewan

Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, is seeking a permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to allow it to release treated wastewater from its Geismar, La., complex into the Mississippi River.

The company previously reused the water during its phosphoric acid production process, however, it stopped making phos acid at the site in late 2018, leaving the water to remain in storage lakes.

The company fears that with Louisiana’s wet weather the lakes could eventually collapse, causing an uncontrolled release of the acid water. The company wants to treat the water and then release it.

In a statement, Nutrien said its PCS Geismar operations are in compliance with LDEQ regulations: “We are proud community members here in Louisiana and understand our responsibility to care for the environment and public health. This water permit from LDEQ allows us to continue to fulfill that responsibility by facilitating our completion of closure and treatment of water from our permanently shut down phosphoric acid operations and associated gypsum stacks, which will benefit the environment and community in which we operate and our employees live.”

Environmentalists have raised concerns about downstream use of the river for drinking water, as well as that nutrient content from the water could add to the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, according to The Baton Rouge Advocate.

A public hearing on the matter was held last month, and comments were submitted. LDEQ has given no timeline for a final decision.

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