No injuries were reported from a fire that occurred underground at Nutrien Ltd.’s Lanigan potash mine on Monday, Sept. 24, around 1:00 p.m. However, 101 workers were sent to underground refuge stations while the fire was extinguished. They were allowed to exit around 6:30 p.m.
As of Sept. 27, the cause of the fire was still unknown. Nutrien said there was no impact to overall production.
Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, and Sulvaris Inc., Calgary, said on Sept. 27 that they have entered into an agreement to collaborate on the commercialization of Sulvaris’ proprietary Micronized Sulphur Technology (MSTTM) by incorporating it into certain Nutrien NPK product lines.
“We are excited to enter into this agreement with Nutrien, the world’s largest crop inputs company, to commercialize our proprietary technology,” said Rick Knoll, Sulvaris CEO. “Through collaborative efforts with Nutrien, we anticipate the development and commercialization of various MSTTM products.”
Sulvaris has granted Nutrien a license for an initial term to integrate MSTTM into multiple fertilizer product lines. Sulvaris will be responsible for providing Nutrien with the necessary engineering and agronomic support for the continued development of the technology into fertilizer products.
Nutrien will be responsible for the evaluation, engineering, construction, and operation of the facilities where the MSTTM is implemented, and will distribute and market all MSTTM-based products. Sulvaris will continue its research and development activities on its other technologies and will continue to pursue commercialization opportunities beyond agricultural use for its MSTTM.
Two workers have died after a Sept. 14 ammonia leak at a Horana rubber factory that injured five, according to Sri Lanka’s Hiru News. Citing Dole Philippines Inc. company officials, MindaNews reported that at least 35 individuals were sent to a local hospital after a Sept. 24 ammonia leak at the Barangay Cannery in Polomolok. While 18 were quickly discharged, 17 were held for observation.
Junior sulfate of potash (SOP) producers Salt Lake Potash Ltd. (SO4), and Australian Potash Ltd. (APC), both based in Perth, Western Australia, said on Sept. 14 that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Cooperation Agreement to undertake a joint study of the potential benefits of development cost sharing for each company’s project developments at Lake Wells.
Their Lake Wells holdings are contiguous and have recently been granted mining leases. The assets share many common infrastructure elements, including access roads, proximity to the Leonora rail terminals, and potential power and fresh water solutions. Both companies anticipate substantial potential Capex and Opex benefits from some level of infrastructure sharing, with further potential benefits arising from shared or common evaporation and salt processing facilities.
Both company projects will proceed independently in parallel with the study, with no impact on their respective timelines.
SO4’s scoping study, released in August 2016, indicated a staged development producing 200,000 mt/y to 400,000 mt/y on a fully ramped basis. APC’s scoping study released in March 2017 indicated a staged development producing 150,000 mt/y, rising to 300,000 mt/y of SOP from its stand-alone development.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on Sept. 25 that it will launch a new program to address hazards from exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate and agricultural anhydrous ammonia. The Regional Emphasis Program (REP) starts on Oct. 1, and will be effective in the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
OSHA said the program will begin with a three-month period of education and prevention outreach to encourage employers to bring their facilities into compliance with existing OSHA standards. Enforcement activities will begin after the outreach period and run through Sept. 30, 2019, unless extended.
“This program is an enforcement tool to emphasize the obligations under existing OSHA standards,” said Kimberly Stille, OSHA regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. “The 90-day outreach period is an opportunity for employers to proactively seek compliance assistance to ensure they are adequately protecting workers.”
OSHA said workers employed in the storage, mixing/blending, and distribution of fertilizer face multiple hazards that can lead to serious injury, illness, and death, including fire and explosions, as well as exposure to toxic gases and hazardous chemicals.
OSHA said it offers compliance assistance to all employers at no charge. Each state has an On-Site Consultation Program, a free and confidential program to help small- and medium-sized employers learn about potential hazards at their workplace and improve safety and health programs.
OSHA’s website contains standards and guidance for the storage and handling of both anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate, based on a list of practices and codes developed by the federal government and various industry groups. These include OSHA 1910.111 – Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.109(i) – Storage of Ammonium Nitrate; Joint EPA-OSHA-ATF guidance – Chemical Advisory: Safe Storage, Handling, and Management of Ammonium Nitrate; Joint Institute of Makers of Explosives and National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association guidance – Safety and Security Guidelines for Ammonium Nitrate; and The National Fire Protection Association Hazardous Materials Code (NFPA 400) chapter 11 on ammonium nitrate.
“The goal is to improve worker safety and reduce the potential for catastrophic incidents,” said Eric Harbin, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Dallas. “At the end of the day, we want to ensure workers go home safely to their families.”
The new program comes exactly two years after OSHA attempted to expand its Process Safety Management (PSM) standard to cover retail facilities that handle anhydrous ammonia. In response to the West Fertilizer Co. tragedy, OSHA in 2015 issued a revised interpretation of the PSM’s retail exemption that more narrowly defined the term “retail facility,” and, as a result, required an estimated 3,800 anhydrous ammonia dealers who had previously claimed the exemption to come into PSM compliance.
The revised PSM was slated to take effect at the end of September 2016, but was challenged (GM Sept. 21, 2015) by The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), and also opposed by a number of farm-state legislators and state departments of agriculture (GM May 20, 2016). The revised PSM was ultimately blocked by a federal appeals court in September 2016 (GM Sept. 23, 2016).
OSHA in October 2013 issued 24 serious safety violations against Adair Grain Inc., the owner of West Fertilizer, which carried citations and fines totaling $118,300 (GM Oct. 14, 2013).
Arianne Phosphate, Saguenay, Quebec, the development-stage phosphate mining company advancing the Lac à Paul project in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, announced on Sept. 25 the formal execution of its first offtake agreement.
The unnamed buyer has entered into a long-term contract to purchase Arianne’s phosphate concentrate, which will be shipped to the buyer’s processing plant for further processing into downstream phosphate products. Arianne said the agreement also has a mechanism whereby it can be extended beyond the initial contract period and applies pricing that accounts for the high quality of Arianne’s concentrate.
“After a lot of hard work, this agreement represents a major milestone for our company,” said Brian Ostroff, Arianne Phosphate CEO. “Comprising part of our annual output, this agreement accomplishes many objectives. First, receiving an offtake from a well-known, bankable, industry player validates our product and confirms the marketability of it. Further, this agreement also confirms a pricing model that accounts for Arianne’s high-purity, low-contaminant concentrate. Lastly, we also now have a template on how to move from MOU to formal agreement and what it takes to get there.”
Arianne said it currently has several other MOUs in place and is working towards turning them into formal purchase agreements. It said their completion is a necessary component to formalize the company’s project financing and has become central to Arianne’s ongoing efforts to move its Lac à Paul project into development.
OCP Group SA, Casablanca, and China’s Hubei Forbon Group, a company specializing in fertilizer additives, have signed a framework agreement to establish a global partnership in the new generation of fertilizers. Both partners are also discussing the creation of a joint R&D center in China.
“This partnership will allow both companies to combine their expertise and know-how to develop a new generation of high added-value fertilizers such as biostimulants, slow/controlled-release fertilizers, sulfur fertilizers, fertilizers with micronutrients, microbial fertilizers, water-soluble fertilizers, etc.,” said OCP.
The group added that one of the targets is to implement innovative solutions that meet the needs of the market and farmers by providing custom solutions and formulations of fertilizers designed to be efficient and eco-friendly.
The proposed joint R&D center will be dedicated to innovation and will address subjects directly related to challenges that OCP faces in the areas of fertilizers and agriculture, and particularly the development of specific and integrated smart agriculture solutions, it said.
OCP described the partnership with Forbon as in line with the “Open Innovation Initiative” the Moroccan group launched to accelerate its ambition to become the world leader in agricultural integrated solutions, and reflects its aim to strengthen its collaboration with “world class” industrials.
“As part of our Open Innovation Initiative, we rely on an innovative ecosystem through the expertise of the best leaders in our areas of interest in order to build up co-development partnerships,” said OCP Group Executive Vice President of Industrial Operations Iliass El Fali. “Forben is a world leader in coating for fertilizers and new products for smart agriculture, and this partnership will allow us to combine our two companies’ expertise to develop new products and improve our offer in fertilizers.”
He added that it was also an opportunity to access the “very dynamic ecosystem” that the Chinese innovation represents.
Two Rivers Terminal, Pasco, Wash., has licensed Shell Thiogro Technology to produce a highly concentrated sulfur enhanced fertilizer (11-0-0-75) at its facility at Moses Lake, Wash., to be marketed to growers in the Pacific Northwest and California, according to a Sept. 25 announcement from Shell and Two Rivers.
“Two Rivers Terminal is excited to begin production of this product as soon as possible,” said Steve Peot, general manager of Two Rivers. “We feel there is a great fit within the Pacific Northwest and California for a product that can provide a controlled release of sulfur over a single growing season.”
The product, which will be produced on IPCO Rotoforms at the Two Rivers location, uses Shell Thiogro Urea-ES technology, a patented process to incorporate micronized elemental sulfur in a matrix of urea. In addition to this technology, Shell will also be providing technical expertise and sulfur through an offtake agreement from its Puget Sound refinery. The technology is expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2019.
Jason Wong, vice president of Shell Global Bitumen and Sulfur, said the product’s small particle size, coupled with its grade of 11-0-0-75, can not only be used as a replacement to bentonite, but also as a viable replacement to ammonium sulfate. Wong also said the product addresses nutrient leaching, saying it will “provide continuous, season-long sulfur nutrition while minimizing losses from leaching.”
Two Rivers is a diversified chemical formulator, distributor, and importer, with facilities in Pasco, Moses Lake, and Umatilla, Ore. These facilities have bulk storage capacity of more than 15,000 tons of liquid and 18,000 tons of dry products. In addition, the company operates two packaged goods warehouses used for the storage of packaged specialty chemicals and imported products.
Record flooding continued in parts of the Carolinas in late September, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Florence made landfall (GM Sept. 14, p. 1). Although the region’s fertilizer facilities generally escaped significant damage from the storm and the flooding that followed, Florence’s impact on agriculture was reportedly significant and worsening by the day.
Near Conway, S.C., the Waccamaw River was expected to crest at 21.2 feet on Sept. 26, at least three feet higher than its previous record. The Pee Dee River near Bucksport, S.C., topped its previous record by more than two feet, and evacuations were urged early in the week for about 8,000 residents of Georgetown County, S.C., as floodwaters continued to threaten homes and businesses.
Carolina-Eastern Inc. reported that most of its facilities weathered the storm in good shape, but the company’s location in Nichols, S.C., took on 4-5 feet of water after Florence. “That’s the only significant event as far as our fixed asset are concerned,” said Al Phillips, Carolina-Eastern president. “The water was three inches deeper than Hurricane Matthew, but we were better prepared for Florence.”
Phillips said all products at the Nichols and other locations were stored well off the ground to avoid floodwaters. The flooding at Nichols has since subsided, he said, and power has been restored to all locations.
Will Tigley, spokesman for Nutrien Ltd., confirmed that the company’s phosphate mine at Aurora, N.C., will soon be operating at normal rates after ramping up production late during the previous week. He said the complex’s chemical plants are all operating normally, and transportation lines to the plant have also returned to normal schedules.
The most significant losses, Phillips reported, are to crops just over the border in North Carolina. “The best cotton will lose 30 percent,” he told Green Markets. “The worst fields are completely gone.”
Initial estimates for crop damage and livestock losses to North Carolina’s agriculture industry are expected to be over $1.1 billion, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS) said on Sept. 26, adding that this number easily tops the $400 million in damages experienced with Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
The state agency estimated current rowcrop losses at $986.6 million; forestry losses at $69.6 million; green industry losses at $30 million; vegetable and horticulture losses at $26.8 million; and livestock, poultry, and aquaculture losses at $23.1 million.
NCDACS estimated poultry losses at about 4.1 million birds, while swine deaths remained at the 5,500 total announced on Sept. 18 (GM Sept. 21, p. 1). Those figures also topped the toll from Hurricane Matthew, when livestock deaths numbered 2,800 swine and 1.8 million poultry.
“We knew the losses would be significant because it was harvest time for so many of our major crops and the storm hit our top six agricultural counties especially hard,” said N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “These early estimates show just what a devastating and staggering blow this hurricane leveled at our agriculture industry.”
The NCDACS issued a bulletin on Sept. 21 warning farmers that flooded crops cannot be used for human food. Crops and commodities exposed to floodwaters are considered adulterated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency said, and cannot enter human food channels. They also cannot be used for animal feed unless they pass a testing protocol.
“Floodwater may contain sewage, harmful organisms, pesticides, chemical wastes, or other substances,” said Troxler. “Also, wet foods may grow mold, which can produce toxins that can harm humans and animals.”
The FDA guidance applies to all food crops, including surface crops such as leafy greens, tomatoes, and corn; underground crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes; crops with a hard outer skin, such as watermelon and winter squash; and commodities such as grains, nuts, corn, and similar products stored in bulk. The FDA guidance applies to crops that were flooded with water from rivers, creeks, or streams. Pooled water, or rainwater that has collected in the field, is different from floodwater and is not likely to contaminate field crops.
The NCDACS said it is collaborating with N.C. State Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University to help farmers determine safe uses for crops affected by Florence’s floodwaters. Under an FDA process, farmers can submit a request to divert flooded crops or commodities to animal feed as long as they pass a testing protocol.
Before crops or commodities contacted by floodwaters can be used for animal feed, the farm must develop a diversion request detailing the process to assure the safety of the crop or commodity. Requests must be submitted to the NCDACS Food and Drug Protection Division. To assist farmers submitting diversion requests, the department said it will provide testing at no cost to the farm.
“This testing process can help farmers find alternative uses for their crops and commodities while maintaining confidence in the safety of our food supply,” Troxler said. “The department and the university are committed to helping in this recovery effort. We encourage farmers not to initiate any diversion actions until their request has been approved.”
Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, announced on Sept. 24 that Jochen Tilk will be stepping down as executive chair and as a director of the company, effective Sept. 30, 2018, to pursue other opportunities. Nutrien said Tilk’s key objectives are well on track, and he and the board have decided that it would be the right time to hand over the leadership of the board to an independent chair.
Tilk was the president and CEO of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. prior to its merger with Agrium Inc. to form Nutrien.
Effective Sept. 30, Derek Pannell, Nutrien’s current lead director, will assume the role of non-executive chair of the board through the 2019 annual general meeting (AGM). It is expected that the plans regarding the new independent chair, post the 2019 AGM, will be contained in the proxy circular for that meeting.
Prior to the merger, Pannell was chair of the Agrium board (GM May 6, 2016). He has been on the Agrium board since 2008, moving up to chair in 2016. He is the past president and CEO of Noranda Inc. and Falconbridge Ltd.
