Calamco on July 28 announced new ammonia postings for the California market. Effective Aug. 1, the company’s list price for anhydrous ammonia will drop to $410/st DEL in California, down from the current price of $470/st DEL. Calamco’s aqua ammonia posting will fall to $118/st FOB, down from the current $133/st FOB level, and the company’s AN-20 price in California will move to $270/st DEL on Aug. 1, down from the current $275/st DEL level.
Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) announced the sale of its Africa-based fertilizers and inputs operations, Fertilizers and Inputs Holding BV, to the London-based Africa-focused private investment firm Helios Investment Partners.
Acquired by LDC in 2011, Fertilizers and Inputs Holding BV distributes fertilizers, crop protection products, and seeds, as well as industrial chemicals, throughout West Africa. The company generates approximately US$300 million in sales annually. While no sales price was given, sources close to the deal said it was close to $200 million, according to Bloomberg.
Louis Dreyfus said the deal will allow it to focus on forging partnerships in geographies outside Africa. It will continue to use its Macrofertil brand to continue to deliver fertilizers and inputs products.
The company had been looking to sell the African assets for some time (GM Oct. 14, 2016), and has also been eyeing the possible sale of metals, dairy, and juice properties.
CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., reports that its board of directors has elected John Eaves, 59, CEO of Arch Coal Inc., and Michael Toelle, 55, owner of T&T Farms and former board chairman of CHS Inc., as independent directors of the company. Their elections bring board membership to 12.
Two CHS Inc. member retailers –CHS Eastern Farmers in Brandon, S.D., and the CHS business based in Marshall, Minn. – have voted to unify their businesses, effective Sept. 1. The boards of both organizations voted unanimously in June to combine the organizations, which serve customers in southeastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota.
“The idea to unite was initially brought to our boards by our two general managers, who’d been discussing ways to partner,” said Doug Brake, board chair, CHS Eastern Farmers. “Our board room discussions revealed much greater advantages with a full unification.”
Chuck Miller, current general manager for CHS Eastern Farmers, has been chosen to lead the new operation as general manager until his planned retirement on Dec. 1, 2017. At that time, Kent Mulder, current general manager for the CHS Marshall business unit, will assume the leadership role. The combined business will start operating at the beginning of the new fiscal year on Sept. 1, pending completion of the usual due diligence.
“Both of our operations are financially strong,” said Tom Versavel, board chair, CHS (Marshall). “But our combined size and scope will strengthen things like our risk management of market positions and our leverage with suppliers, for example. Together, we’ll be able to reach efficiencies and enhance service levels that we could not achieve individually.”
In addition to the CHS Eastern Farmers location in Brandon, the Marshall business has Minnesota locations in Marshall, Ruthton, Tracy, Pipestone, and at Elkton, S.D. Both companies operate grain, agronomy, feed, seed, energy, and finance divisions.
The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, reports that it has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its Phosfix liquid fertilizer, which is produced at its facility in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
Part of the family of MicroSolutions micronutrients, Phosfix is a 7-4-9 combination with trace amounts of micronutrients that the company said improves yield and profit by enhancing crop vigor and encouraging crop health. Phosfix is designed for use on all crops and helps plants recover from environmental stress. The company said early application enhances seed set and fruit fill.
Phosfix is derived from phosphorous acid (phosphite), which assists plants in maximizing the efficiency of applied nutrients. Phosphite does not replace phosphate fertilizer. Instead, phosphite should be used in tandem to reduce stress, prevent disease, and increase crop yield.
“Phosfix is a powerful combination of macro and micronutrients that improves plants’ tolerance to stress and helps them grow through adverse growing conditions,” said Bill Wolf, president of The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group (PNG).
The company said the new patent is the first for the PNG’s ag specialty product line. It said PNG holds an additional 50 patents for products in the professional turf and cob businesses.
LSB Industries Inc. said July 25 that its board of directors has not been presented with a sale transaction that they feel is in the best interests of shareholders. As a result, at this time, the board has made a decision to terminate the formal sale process portion of its strategic review, which it began back in November (GM Nov. 4, 2016).
The company said the board always remains open and willing to engage in these types of discussions. It said that while it is not sharing specific details of the process, it believes that, at this time, the current outlook in the nitrogen chemical industry is adversely affecting any potential transactions. The board will, however, continue to work with its outside advisors on evaluating other strategic, financial, and operational options.
“We remain focused on achieving our major objectives of operating at ammonia plant average on-stream rates of 95 percent, continuing the expansion of product sales into new geographic markets, and positioning our business to capitalize on anticipated improvements and agricultural pricing in 2018,” Dan Greenwell, LSB president and CEO, told analysts July 25. He added that the company plans to pursue improvement in its financial flexibility by refinancing debt by year-end and potentially deleveraging to reduce overall cost of capital.
The company also said it plans to continue to streamline its corporate structure and reduce costs. It is bringing in an outside engineering firm in August to evaluate and recommend additional reliability improvements at its Pryor, Okla., plant.
“The second half of 2017 looks more challenging than we anticipated earlier this year due to the current ammonia pricing environment, which is lower than pricing levels seen at this time in 2016,” he added. “We do, however, remain highly confident in our ability to operate all our plants at on-stream rates of approximately 95 percent or higher. Additionally, recent sales of non-core assets have strengthened our balance sheet and provided us with greater financial flexibility, which we plan to further enhance in the coming quarters.”
LSB completed the sale of its gas assets in June for $16.3 million (GM June 30, p. 24). Overall, the company anticipates non-core asset sales to bring in up to or over $20 million this year, with approximately $3.5-$5 million still to come from real estate and the sale of its legacy Summit Machine Tool business.
Three regional cooperatives in Wisconsin who announced merger plans in April (GM April 28, p. 1) have settled on a new name – Synergy Cooperative, which will take effect Oct. 1 and be headquartered in Ridgeland, Wisc.
The merger will bring together Cedar Country Cooperative in Elk Mound, Lakeland Cooperative in Ridgeland, and United Ag Cooperative in Almena. Synergy Cooperative will have projected annual sales of $180 million and cover a trade area stretching approximately 200 miles, from Ashland, Wisc., south to Eau Claire and Menomonie, Wisc. The consolidated company will also serve customers in Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The merger was approved in an April vote by 64.5 percent of the members of each co-op, but the companies wanted to solicit input from members before selecting a new name for the combined venture. David Schoonover, general manager of United Ag, told the local press that more than 700 entries were submitted, with the final selection made after a July 11 board vote.
Synegry will have nearly 2,000 members and employ some 475-500 full- and part-time workers. Equity from each company will transfer dollar for dollar into the new co-op, and members will be eligible to have their equity paid out at age 68 wherever it was earned. Four directors from each company make up the Synergy board of directors.
Cedar Country currently operates from Wisconsin locations at Menomonie, Boyceville, Elk Mound, Colfax, Strum, and Chippewa Falls. Lakeland has locations at Bonneville and Cold Lake, and United Ag operates at Almena, Ashland, Barron, Baldwin, Deer Park, Cameron, Cumberland, Frederic, Hertel, Turtle Lake, Shell Lake, and Trego.
Each of the co-ops serves farmers in western Wisconsin with agronomy, grain, refined fuels, propane, and feed divisions. Convenience stores, tire and repair shops, and a farm equipment dealership will also be part of the combined co-op.
EuroChem reports that it has restructured and merged its North American business units EuroChem Trading USA and Ben-Trei Fertilizer into EuroChem North America with the following changes, effective July 1, 2017.
Charlie Bendana has taken over the responsibility as managing director, North America. The responsibility includes all business in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Ivan Boasherliev will continue to be engaged as a key member of the North American team, and will now be responsible for regional North American trade and sourcing engagements.
Scott Simon has been appointed head of finance controlling. Valerie Conway has been appointed as director of supply chain management, and Don Lambert, most recently of Koch Industries, joins the team to lead the distribution efforts inside the United States.
CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., said July 25 that its board of directors has terminated the tax benefits preservation plan that it adopted on Sept. 6, 2016. The plan was designed to preserve the company’s ability to utilize its net operating losses and certain other tax assets that were primarily related to accelerated tax depreciation of the company’s capacity expansion projects, which were placed in service in 2016. The plan was originally scheduled to expire Sept. 5, 2017.
In June, CF announced that it had received federal tax refunds of approximately $815 million due to the carryback of certain federal tax losses from the 2016 tax year to prior periods. The receipt of the federal tax refunds was earlier than CF’s previously stated expectations for the third quarter of 2017.
“Stockholders were well-served by the tax benefits preservation plan, as it protected the company’s ability to utilize its tax losses and receive $815 million in federal tax refunds,” said Stephen Furbacher, CF chairman. “With the earlier-than-expected receipt of these tax refunds, the plan has served its intended purpose, and the board believes that it is in the best interests of the company and its stockholders to terminate the plan at this time.”
AkzoNobel NV Chairman Antony Burgmans will step down next April, following the completion of his third term in office. The announcement comes after several attempts by activist shareholder Elliott Advisors to oust him from the board over his stand against a takeover battle by U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc. (GM March 24, p. 12; April 28, p. 15; May 12, p. 17). This week, following AkzoNobel’s worse-than-expected second-quarter profit figures, Elliott is reported to have called for a vote for the immediate removal of Burgmans, a move dismissed by the company.
While it is a requirement under Dutch regulations that a chairman cannot stand for more than three terms, Burgmans on July 25 said that “barring any exceptional circumstances,” he intended to retire as planned and in-line with the Dutch corporate governance code. He did not elaborate on what the exceptional circumstances might be. He said that a process is underway to identify a successor.
This will be the Dutch specialty and paintings and coatings manufacturer’s second loss of a top executive who steered the company through the PPG takeover battle. Last week, AkzoNobel announced that its CEO, Ton Büchner, had stepped down, effective immediately, due to health reasons (GM July 21, p. 24). Thierry Vanlancker, who was most recently head of AkzoNobel’s Specialty Chemicals division, was named as the new CEO.
AkzoNobel and PPG are in a six-month cooling off period that is set to expire in December, and analysts said a possible deal could be revived as new management takes over. The Dutch company has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for shareholders on Sept 8, but has limited voting to the appointment of new CEO Vanlancker. Still, a discussion regarding AkzoNobel’s response to PPG’s proposals in March and April is scheduled for the EGM, though with no voting rights. AkzoNobel on July 25 also announced the creation of a supervisory board committee for shareholder relations, among several other actions, aimed at improving shareholder relations.
