All Posts from August 3, 2018

Nutrien Cuts 80 Jobs at Vanscoy; 400,000 mt of Potash Production Shifted to Other Mines

News, Potash, Saskatchewan

Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, announced on Aug. 1 operational and workforce changes at its Vanscoy potash facility that will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2018. The changes include a reduction of approximately 30 staff and 50 hourly positions, with approximately 585 employees expected to remain at the site. These changes are associated with a rebalancing of Nutrien’s overall potash production.

“This is a difficult day for our employees and their families, and we are committed to easing the transition for our impacted employees,” said Susan Jones, president of Nutrien Potash. “The changes will position Vanscoy to operate more efficiently within Nutrien’s entire potash network and ensure we can competitively serve our customers on a long-term basis. We have provided opportunities for Vanscoy employees to transition to other roles since the beginning of 2018 as we rebalance our network, and expect to increase staffing levels at other Saskatchewan mines going forward.”

Nutrien will provide severance packages, assistance, transition programs, and information on existing openings for affected employees. The company expects to have between 50 to 70 vacancies at other Saskatchewan potash mines over the remainder of 2018, and will continue to provide opportunities for Vanscoy employees to transition to other roles within Nutrien.

Nutrien confirmed plans to shift some 400,000 mt/y of potash production from Vanscoy to other Nutrien mines in Saskatchewan. This will take effective Vanscoy production down to 2.1 million mt/y from 2.5 million mt/y. Capacity is approximately 3 million mt/y.

Growmark Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Growmark Inc., Bloomington, Ill., reports that Rod Wells was appointed to the new position of executive director, enterprise supply chain optimization, effective Aug. 1. In this role, he will lead the overall supply chain organization from the various wholesale divisions through corporately-owned retail divisions and FS member cooperatives to the farm gate. Wells, who has 31 years of experience with Growmark, most recently served as manager of the Crop Nutrients division. He will continue to report to Growmark Vice President of Agronomy Mark Orr.

A search for Wells’ replacement is underway.

Joe Tearney has been promoted to manager, barge and rail logistics, reporting to the Crop Nutrients division manager, also effective Aug. 1. He will be responsible for all aspects of barge and rail transportation within the Crop Nutrients division. This includes rate negotiations, equipment leases, and barge and rail freight contracting. He has 27 years of experience with Growmark, and previously served as traffic manager in the energy and logistics division.

Orr said the organizational changes will accelerate Growmark’s pursuit of an optimized and efficient supply chain. “It is imperative that the Growmark System maximizes its investment in assets and gains increased efficiencies from manufacturers to the farm gate across all business units. We strive to provide the best possible service to our customers in order to maintain a leading position within our industry,” he said.

Uralchem – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Russia

Uralchem, Moscow, reports that Dmitry Konyaev was named deputy chairman of the board of directors, effective Aug. 1. He has been Uralchem CEO since 2011. He will now be in charge of the company’s strategic development.

Konyaev has also worked for Sederrot International AB, Mineral Trading, and Uralkali Trading SA (Singapore). He is a graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University (Department of Economics) and California State University Hayward (MBA).

Sergey Momtsemlidze became CEO effective Aug. 1. He was formerly the director of Uralchem’s KCCW branch in Kirovo-Chepetsk, Kirov region, and has also worked for Uralkali and affiliated organizations. He will focus on improving operational activities and efficiency.

Momtsemlidze is a graduate of Perm State Technical University (Industrial Economics and Management) and the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation (MBA).

 

Fifteen Sent to Hospital Due to NH3 Leak

Ammonia, News, News Briefs

Fifteen employees of the Birds Eye Foods location in Darien, Wisc., were sent to the hospital on Sunday, July 29, due to an ammonia leak, according to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office. Twelve were treated and released and three more were kept overnight, according to local reports. Seventy-five others were evaluated by emergency responders at the scene and released.

The leak was reported around 5:30 a.m. Local authorities said there was no danger to area residents, and no evacuation was called or roads closed. EPA and OSHA were notified. Ammonia levels inside the facility were deemed acceptable by 2:30 a.m. on July 30, and the building was cleared for Birds Eye staff to resume control.

SiteOne Adds Florida, Virginia Companies

News, News Briefs, Specialty

SiteOne® Landscape Supply Inc., Roswell, Ga., has announced the acquisition of CentralPro, Fla., and Stone Center-Northern Virginia, Manassas, Va.

CentralPro, founded in 1972, has 11 locations across Central Florida and is a distributor of irrigation, lighting, and drainage products to landscape professionals throughout the state.

“CentralPro significantly expands the scale of our irrigation business in the State of Florida,” said Doug Black, SiteOne chairman and CEO, on July 31. “The addition of CentralPro complements our existing branch network and strengthens our irrigation and landscape lighting market leadership in the state. They have an extremely talented and seasoned team with a rich history of providing excellent customer service for over 45 years.

“This is our 11th acquisition to date in 2018 as we continue to build our market leadership and expand the number of markets where we provide a full range of landscape supply products and services to our customers,” continued Black.

On July 30, SiteOne made its 10th acquisition of the year – Stone Center-Northern Virginia, which has one location in Manassas. The business was started in 1999 and distributes hardscapes, landscape supplies, and outdoor lighting in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Black said the business was a perfect complement to SiteOne’s current irrigation, agronomics, landscape lighting, and nursery products businesses in the metro area.

Arianne Enters Sulfuric Acid MOU

Canada, News, News Briefs, Phosphate, Phosphoric Acid

Junior phosphate mining company Arianne Phosphate Inc., Saguenay, Quebec, said on Aug. 1 that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a large marketer of sulfuric acid. The decision was made as Arianne continues to assess whether to proceed with the construction of a downstream phosphoric acid facility. In addition to having its own supply of phosphate rock, Arianne also notes the improving phosphate market as another reason to seriously consider downstream production.

“The cure to a low commodity price is a low commodity price,” said Brian Ostroff, Arianne CEO. “Demand for phosphate grows every single year, yet consistently lower prices for phosphate over the last five years affected supply growth, with expansion plans curtailed and new projects being shelved. After a prolonged period of time, a lot of what was believed to be excess supply gets taken up, and you go from excess supply to tightness, and the price correspondingly starts to increase, sometimes quite dramatically.

“Since the beginning of the year, phosphate prices are already up by 25 percent, and most industry watchers believe there is more to come. Arianne, with its world-class Lac à Paul project, should be in a position to take advantage of the industry revival,” said Ostroff.

Arianne said over the next few months it will continue to move forward its due diligence and discussions with potential partners regarding the viability of constructing a phosphoric acid plant.

Verde Commissions New Plant

Brazil, News, News Briefs, Specialty

Verde AgriTech Plc. Belo Horizonte, Brazil, said on Aug. 1 that it has commissioned and started up its new Super Greensand® processing plant in São Gotardo, Minas Gerais. The production capacity of the plant is 45/mt per hour. Verde said it is operated by a ten-person crew on an 8-hour shift that can be expanded as demand picks up. However, the current design allows it to operate in dry conditions only, during the dry season from April to October. The company said the period of production coincides with the period of heightened demand for Verde’s production.

While the cost of the production facility was initially budgeted at US$500,000, the company said total investment reached $600,000 because the company advanced part of the ground work necessary for an expansion to reach the 600,000 mt/y capacity projected for Phase 1 in the pre-feasibility study.

“We are proud to see the culmination of years of research and work in the form of Verde’s own processing plant,” said Cristiano Veloso, Verde president and CEO. “We are successfully working on the market growth for Super Greensand® in Brazil and abroad. As with any new product, there is plenty of marketing and information work to be done, two tasks to which we are devoting an increasing amount of effort. As we expand our markets, we will expand our production facility so that Verde can hit its full production potential in the near future.”

Verde said its product should it benefit from the recent rise in freight rates as its plant is located in the agricultural heartland, therefore, making it even more competitive than imported product.

Jacobs Inks Contract with Mosaic

News, News Briefs

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, reports that it has signed a three-year, multi-site maintenance and construction contract with Mosaic Fertilizer LLC. Jacobs will provide small capital construction and maintenance services at the Uncle Sam and Faustina facilities in St. James Parish, La. Jacobs said that it has provided full lifecycle services to Mosaic and its predecessor companies at projects across North America since 1964, and currently provides construction management support and provision of services at these sites, which now extends to direct hire construction and maintenance.

Land O’Lakes Acquires Agren

News, News Briefs, Specialty

Land O’Lakes Inc., Arden Hills, Minn., said on July 31 that its Sustain division has acquired substantially all assets of Agren Inc., an Iowa-based soil health and conservation planning software company founded in 1996 by Tom Buman. The Agren business and tools will be operated by the Land O’Lakes Sustain division.

Land O’Lakes said it has held minority equity in Agren since 2016, teaming with the company to offer precision conservation software for farmers. Land O’Lakes said these tools, delivered through the SoilVantage platform, will now provide farmers and agricultural retailers with an industry-leading, comprehensive soil health platform.

“This acquisition bolsters our goal at Land O’Lakes Sustain to be industry leaders in conservation stewardship and sustainability, helping ensure Land O’Lakes and the farmers we serve can lead the way on stewardship using the latest technology in our industry,” said Matt Carstens, senior vice president of Land O’Lakes Sustain. “By strategically designing conservation practices and visualizing results using these innovative tools, retailers and farmers can maximize conservation benefits while keeping productive land in farming. It’s one more way Land O’Lakes is leading in the conservation arena.”

Carstens said the tools complement existing capabilities offered by Sustain and WinField United, and will help growers and dairy farmers safeguard water quality, reduce erosion, and improve soil health.

Since 2016, the software has played a key role in Sustain’s suite of tools to help farmers install best-in-class sustainability practices, customized to each operation’s unique landscape and needs. Last year, BufferBuilder was approved by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources as an alternative practice option under Minnesota’s waterway buffer law.

Record May Helps Scotts Sales Catch Up; Impairments, Hawthorne Weigh On 3Q

News, Specialty

A record May helped Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Marysville, Ohio, catch up in U.S. Consumer sales, though impairments and lower-than-expected results from its Hawthorne hydroponic unit weighed on income for the third-quarter ending June 30, 2018.

“Our U.S. core business was simply outstanding in May, with record results and positive year-over-year consumer purchases nearly every day during the month,” said Jim Hagedorn, Scotts chairman and CEO. “The fact that consumer purchases were down 12 percent entering May and were essentially flat versus year-ago levels by the end of June speaks to the resilience of our category and strength of our brands. It also speaks to the commitment of our team, as well as our consumers and retail partners.”

Third-quarter U.S. Consumer segment profits were just off 1 percent, while sales were up 1 percent. Profit was $243.1 million on sales of $810.9 million, compared to the year-ago $246.4 million and $801.4 million, respectively.

The Hawthorne segment reported a loss of $3.6 million, down from year-ago profit of $10.3 million. Sales were up 2 percent in the third-quarter, to $74.2 million from the year-ago $72.4 million.

“While we remain disappointed with sales in the Hawthorne segment, we are pleased to see the rate of decline we’ve seen this year has begun to improve recently,” Hagedorn said. “Due to regulatory changes in California and an over-production of cannabis in that state and others last year, we continue to expect to see pressure on revenue at least through the balance of the calendar year.”

“We remain confident in the revised sales and non-GAAP adjusted earnings guidance we provided in June and are optimistic that we also will report cash flow productivity of more than 100 percent for the second consecutive year,” Hagedorn continued. The guidance is for full-year sales to be flat to 2 percent higher, with adjusted earnings expected to be $3.70-$3.90 per share.

During the quarter, the company recorded a $17.5 million non-cash impairment charge related to the write-off of previously acquired customer relationship intangible assets due to the acquisition of Sunlight Supply, as well as restructuring charges of $12.9 million related to staffing reductions and facility closures.

“The integration of Sunlight into the Hawthorne operations is moving swiftly, and we are already more than halfway to our goal of achieving at least $35 million in synergies by combining our two businesses,” Hagedorn said. “While we still have a lot of work to do to finish the integration, I’m confident that our Hawthorne business will be vastly improved as a result of this transaction, and will be uniquely positioned to benefit from the rapidly evolving market place for hydroponic products.”

The company also recorded a $65 million charge in discontinued operations related to recent developments in an unresolved class-action lawsuit filed in 2012 in connection with the sale of wild bird food products that were the subject of a voluntary recall in 2008 by the company’s previously sold and discontinued wild bird food business. The company continues to dispute the allegations in the case.

Scotts reported third-quarter net income of $82.8 million ($1.47 per diluted share) on net sales of $994.6 million, down from the year-ago $151.9 million ($2.53 per share) and $973.4 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was $253.7 million, down from $288.1 million.

Nine-month net income was $210.6 million ($3.67 per share) on net sales of $2.23 billion, down from the year-ago $252.3 million ($4.16 per share) and $2.26 billion, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was $481.8 million, down from $555 million.

Nine-month U.S. Consumer profit was $491.4 million on sales of $1.86 billion, down from the year-ago $521.8 million and $1.9 billion, respectively. Hawthorne reported a loss of $6.6 million on sales of $192.8 million, versus the year-ago profit of $26.5 million and $195.2 million, respectively.

Disclaimer of Warranty
All information has been obtained by Green Markets from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Green Markets or others, Green Markets does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.

For additional details visit our Terms of Use.