Nexant reports that it has added Honn Tudor as a new Vice President for its Energy & Chemical Advisory team based in Houston. The company said he is an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in plant operation, marketing, and consulting, with experience at plants in Texas, Louisiana, and overseas.
Tractor Supply Co., Brentwood, Tenn., said on Aug. 23 it has extended the employment contract with CEO Greg Sandfort. The Board of Directors has retained Egon Zehnder, an executive search firm, as part of its ongoing CEO succession planning process. Sandfort will continue to serve as CEO until a successor is appointed, and will assist in the transition. His contract was extended for a period of up to one year.
“Under Greg Sandfort’s leadership, Tractor Supply has delivered exceptional financial results and built a deep and talented management team. Given Greg’s track record of success, it is clear that the company and our shareholders will be best served by his continued leadership as the Board conducts the process of identifying a successor to lead Tractor Supply’s continued growth and success,” said Cynthia Jamison, Tractor Supply’s Chairman of the Board.
The company also announced that Steve Barbarick, President and Chief Operating Officer, has resigned effective Aug. 23.
“In his two decades with Tractor Supply, Steve has made numerous valuable contributions to the growth and success of the company,” said Sandfort. “On behalf of the entire Tractor Supply team, we thank him and wish Steve and his family the very best in the future.”
Norway’s government warned companies present in Brazil against any involvement in deforestation amid escalating international criticism of the Latin American country’s management of the Amazon rainforest. Norway’s Environment and Climate Minister, Ola Elvestuen, said businesses involved in Brazil should make sure that their value chains in the country “don’t contribute to deforestation.”
Elvestuen met with major Norwegian companies with stakes in Brazil – Yara International ASA (fertilizer), Norsk Hydro ASA (bauxite/aluminum), and Equinor (oil) – along with environmental groups and academics on Aug. 27, according to a recent Bloomberg report. The government owns major stakes in all three of the companies.
“We think it is very important to safeguard the rainforest,” a Yara spokesperson told Green Markets on Aug. 29. “This has high priority in Yara, and we do our utmost to ensure compliance across the supply chain to prevent the illegal clearing of land.”
The world’s largest wealth fund, Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), with $1 trillion in investments across more than 9,000 companies, is adding its clout to a growing number of asset managers scrutinizing the wildfires. “We have had a focus on deforestation for several years and follow the ongoing serious situation,” NBIM Chief Corporate Governance Officer Carine Smith Ihenacho told Bloomberg. She said in 2017 the fund initiated dialog with companies that buy and sell soy and cattle products in Brazil. By the end of 2018, the fund had invested $6.2 billion in stocks in Brazil and about $2.8 billion in bonds, according to a holdings overview on its website.
“We have in previous years divested from one soy producer in this region due to links to unsustainable production and deforestation,” said Ihenacho.
Norwegian investment funds Storebrand Asset Management (SAM) and KLP are also reaching out and intensifying their research as to which firms are responsible for the damage. “We have an ambition to exit companies that contribute to deforestation by 2025 should a dialog not achieve the desired changes,” Matthew Smith, SAM Head of Sustainable Investments, told Bloomberg.
Pension fund KLP said it was also reaching out and calling on other large investors and banks to exert pressure on companies such as Cargill Inc., Bunge Ltd., and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM).
ADM stressed that it has taken measures to protect the Amazon, including signing the Amazon Soy Moratorium in 2006, putting in place a “strict No Deforestation Policy,” and satellite monitoring. “We understand the significant role the Amazon plays in our ecosystem worldwide, and we are leveraging our role as a major merchandiser of sustainable crops with a traceable supply chain to help do our part to protect it,” said Jackie Anderson, an ADM spokesperson.
Cargill and Bunge had not responded. Norway and Germany, both concerned over the situation in the Amazon, recently froze millions of dollars for a preservation fund for the Amazon because they said the agreement had been broken.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Aug. 22 responded to Norway’s fund suspension by saying the country should instead allocate the funds to help German Chancellor Angela Merkel reforest Germany, according to O Globo newspaper. The Norwegian and German withholding was put at R133 million (NOK300 million) and R155 million, respectively. Norway estimates that it has paid some NOK8.3 billion to the reforestation fund over the years.
Bolsonaro, feeling insulted by French President Emmanuel Macron, refused to take €20 million that was recently offered by the Group of Seven (G7) to fight the fires, with more insults being passed back and forth thereafter.
As of Aug. 29, Bolsonaro did ban legal fires for land-clearing for a 60-day period. Fires are still being allowed if set by indigenous people involved in subsistence farming.
In the meantime, perhaps more under the radar, fires are also occurring in outer reaches of the Amazon in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, reportedly set by miners, ranchers, and cocaine producers wanting the land for expansion.
Woods Hole Research Center Senior Scientist Michael Coe said at the deforestation rates seen in recent years, the whole forest will lose an area about the size of Virginia over the next decade.
Countries like Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia are not encouraging deforestation, but lack the resources and political will to enforce existing regulations, according to Carolina Gil, an attorney with Amazon Conservation, an environmental protection group.
Brazil has experienced more than 83,000 fires so far this year, up 77 percent from the same period last year, according to the country’s National Institute for Space Research. Meanwhile, Bolivia and Peru have seen their number of fires roughly double during the same period.
In Bolivia, where 19,000 fires have destroyed more than 1 million acres, left wing President Evo Morales has mobilized firefighters and used a Boeing 747 Supertanker to fight the blaze. He said he is open to international help, and called for a summit of Amazon countries to “coordinate immediate actions and long-term plans.”
Univar Solutions, Downers Grove, Ill., earlier this month named Jeanette Press as Vice President, Corporate Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer. The company said she brings more than 20 years of accounting experience, with extensive knowledge in controllership and financial policies and procedures.
She was most recently with USG Corp., where she held the role of Vice President, Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer. Prior to USG, she was with KPMG LLP as a Senior Manager of both Audit and Professional Practice.
Press is a certified public accountant and earned her undergraduate degree in accounting from Loyola University. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the SEC Professionals Group, and serves as a Board Trustee on The Conservation Foundation and Loyola University Accounting Advisory Board.
Crystal Peak Minerals Inc., Toronto, on Aug. 28 announced receipt of the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of the Interior for its Sevier Playa Project, located in west central Utah. It said the ROD de-risks the project and authorizes that construction can begin.
“The signing of the ROD is the most important milestone in this company’s history,” said Crystal Peak CEO Jon Mansanti. “As one of the few greenfield SOP projects approved in the world, we are absolutely thrilled. Securing the ROD initiates an exciting phase for the company. We look forward to a number of important announcements in the coming months in relation to financing, offtake, and the project.” Upon receipt of funding and completion of detailed engineering, the company said it will be in a position to begin construction in 2020.
Crystal Peak said it is engaged with several offtake candidates with strong North American and global distribution networks. In addition, BNP Paribas continues to advise the company on securing debt financing for the project, and the company said it is in advanced stages of selecting an advisor to assist with obtaining the required equity finance.
The facility would include evaporation ponds on some 124,223 acres of federal and state mineral leases in Milford County, with nearby rail and highway access. The playa itself is 26 miles long and eight miles wide. The minerals include potassium, magnesium, sulfate, and others, with the company eyeing the production of specialty fertilizers, particularly sulfate of potash (SOP), which is popular for use on chlorine-sensitive crops such as tree nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
Crystal Peak sees a 30-year life for the venture that could eventually produce up to 337,500 mt/y of SOP (GM Jan. 12, 2018). The company sees a market to sell some 300,000 mt/y of product without negatively impacting the premium SOP price over muriate of potash (MOP). The company believes that most of the product would be sold domestically.
SOP imports into the U.S. were less of a factor in the fertilizer year ending June 30, 2019, down 43 percent to only 65,733 st from the year-ago 115,586 st, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The project would essentially double U.S. and Utah SOP production; the only other major producer is also in Utah –Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., which produces product from its Ogden, Utah, facility using the Great Salt Lake.
The project is expected to create some 175 full-time jobs, with 275 during the construction phase.
The Crystal Peak news was widely reported in Utah and the ROD Aug. 27 signing ceremony in Salt Lake pulled in major dignitaries, included Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Joseph Balash, who signed the ROD. Also attending were U.S. Representative Chris Stewart, leadership from the Utah Department of Natural Resources, state, district, and field office personnel from the Bureau of Land Management, Millard County commissioners, and the permitting team for the company.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) on Aug. 22 revised its 2019 prevented planting total to 19,559,775 acres, up from the Aug. 1 estimate of 19,259,925 acres. The prevented planting total for corn was raised to 11,394,703 acres, up from 11,210,627 acres on Aug. 1, while the soybean prevented planting total climbed to 4,451,712 acres, up from 4,350,704 acres on Aug. 1.
Increases in prevented planting acreage were also reported for cotton, barley, oats, rice, sorghum, and wheat. The 2019 total shatters the previous prevented planting record set in 2011, which was just shy of 10 million acres for the eight principle crops.
FSA said it published the Aug. 22 update “due to the large amount of questions” raised by the difference between the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Aug. 12 planted acreage estimates and FSA’s prevented plantings estimates released on the same day (GM Aug. 16, p. 1). FSA said it plans to release updated prevented planting estimates on Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 8, and Dec. 10.
While the Tampa anhydrous ammonia price bumped up $10/mt CFR to $225/mt CFR for September, the Mosaic Co., Plymouth, Minn., told analysts earlier this month that it is working to keep ammonia costs down. Specifically, the company is making a modest investment in a dock at its Louisiana ammonia plant that will allow it to ship more of its internally-produced ammonia to its Florida phosphate operations. The company expects to see the benefits from the modifications in 2020.
Mosaic said its own ammonia production is the most cost effective of its three sources – internal production, imports, and production from a long-term contract with CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill. Mosaic struck the major supply deal with CF in lieu of building its own giant NOLA ammonia complex (GM Nov. 4, 2013). Under the terms, Mosaic is to take 600,000-800,000 mt/y for up to 15 years.
The CF product, which is fixed-price, fixed-volume, has wound up being the highest cost of the three options under current market conditions, with the company in early August estimating the CF cost in the $320s/mt CFR range.
By comparison, the Tampa import ammonia was sitting at $215/mt CFR in July and August. Mosaic said since it has cut phosphate production, the CF tons have contributed a higher percentage for its ammonia consumption, at approximately 40 percent in the second quarter. The company said a one-third ratio for each source is more normal.
| NH3 $/mt CFR | 2Q-19 | 2Q-18 | 1H-19 | 1H-18 |
| Mosaic Costs | 337 | 325 | 344 | 334 |
| Tampa Price | 237.33 | 266.67 | 259.50 | 300 |
U.S. ammonium sulfate (AS) imports were up 28 percent, to 566,751 st for the year ending June 30, 2019, from the prior year 442,271 st, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data. Imports from the European Union countries were up 35.3 percent, to 253,526 st from the year-ago 187,361 st.
Currently, E.U. AS enters the U.S. duty free, while most U.S. fertilizer exports to the E.U. require a 6.5 percent duty. Interoceanic Corp., White Plains, N.Y., which is an affiliate of AS producer PCI Nitrogen, Pasadena, Texas, is arguing that the U.S. should level the playing field and impose at least a 6.5 percent tariff on E.U. AS imports (GM Aug. 23, p. 1; Aug. 16, p. 34). U.S. nitrogen producer CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., argues for at least a 6.5 percent duty, if not 100 percent.
Archer Daniels Midland Co., Chicago, has been the main opponent arguing against tariffs on AS imports, as it is a major customer of Belgium-made AS, though other players such as Yara North America, Tampa, Wilbur-Ellis Co., San Francisco, and others have argued against across-the-board tariffs on all nitrogen products.
The U.S. has the capacity to produce just over 3 million mt/y of AS, according to Green Markets data. U.S. exports exceed imports; exports were up 12 percent for the fertilizer year ending June 30, to 851,728 st from the year-ago 758,121 st. E.U. countries took a very small amount of U.S. exports – a total of 4,330 st in the recent year, or 0.5 percent, with the amount spread between Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Lithuania. The bulk of U.S. exports went to Canada and Latin American countries.
| U.S. AS Imports (July-June) st | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 6 |
| Netherlands | 657 | 85,022 |
| Belgium | 155,510 | 123,197 |
| Germany | 12,890 | 45,108 |
| Czech Republic | 9 | 24 |
| Latvia | 55 | 0 |
| Spain | 18,240 | 168 |
| Italy | 0 | 1 |
| European Union Total | 187,361 | 253,526 |
| Others | ||
| Canada | 184,474 | 198,399 |
| Mexico | 11 | 0 |
| Dominican Republic | 813 | 1,178 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 331 | 413 |
| Russia | 41,612 | 76,857 |
| India | 6 | 2 |
| China | 50 | 0 |
| South Korea | 0 | 22,046 |
| Taiwan | 55 | 0 |
| Japan | 1 | 14,330 |
| Australia | 16,535 | 0 |
| Morocco | 11,023 | 0 |
| Total | 442,271 | 566,751 |
PhosAgro, Moscow, reported a three-fold increase in second-quarter IFRS net income to RUB11.79 million on revenue of RUB58.15 billion ($901 million), up from the year-ago RUB2.96 billion and RUB56.63 billion, respectively. However, net income adjusted for non-cash foreign exchange items was down 21 percent year-over-year, to RUB9.2 billion ($142 million) from RUB11.69 billion. EBITDA was also lower, down 2 percent at RUB18.32 billion ($284 million) from RUB18.67 billion a year-ago, but was in line with the average analyst estimate of RUB18.34 billion, according to Bloomberg data (range of RUB17.95 billion to RUB18.96 billion based on three estimates).
PhosAgro cited global price correction for the decline, which, it said, was partially mitigated by the ruble appreciation against the U.S. dollar.
CEO Andrey Guryev noted that 2019 so far has seen market turbulence on unfavorable weather conditions in the U.S. and Europe and high export activity in China and the Middle East. But he pointed to PhosAgro’s “resilience,” with it reporting “an industry-leading EBITDA margin of 32 percent for the second quarter, “impressive” free cash flow generation, and decreasing leverage.
The group attributed the 3 percent increase in revenue as mainly driven by “meaningful growth” in domestic sales. Second-quarter domestic sales were 37 percent higher year-over-year at 0.8 million mt, due to an early start to the high season.
However, it reported this growth was largely offset by an 18 percent decline in export sales volumes from a year ago, to 1.4 million mt. Export sales of phosphate fertilizers accounted for 62 percent of total phosphate fertilizer sales in the second quarter of 2019, down from 73 percent a year-ago, while export sales of nitrogen fertilizers accounted for 68 percent of total nitrogen fertilizer sales against 80 percent a year ago.
For the Phosphate segment, second-quarter gross profit came in 3 percent lower over a year ago, at RUB21.4 billion ($332 million) against RUB22 billion, reflecting the downturn in global prices, which was offset by the devaluation in the ruble. In contrast, the Nitrogen segment saw gross profit increase 5 percent to RUB4.9 billion ($76 million), up from RUB4.7 billion, on account of higher prices for urea and ammonium nitrate
Looking ahead at the short-term outlook, Guryev believes the group’s second-quarter EBITDA margin will be sustainable through year-end.
“This will be driven by a recovery in seasonal demand from Europe and Latin America, a correction in feedstock prices, as well as a recovery in the premium NPK markets and a stable nitrogen market,” he said. “Our domestic market, which is a strategic priority for us, is also expected to support sales, driven by higher farmer purchasing power.”
Regarding the six-months result, PhosAgro posted a two-fold increase in net income to RUB32.95 billion on revenue of RUB130.43 billion, up from the year-ago RUB9.83 billion and RUB111.25 billion, respectively. First-half adjusted net income came in 26 percent up at RUB22.74 billion, against the prior-year’s RUB17.99 billion. EBITDA increased 31 percent to RUB43.1 billion from RUB32.97 billion.
Six-months Phosphate Segment gross profit came in 24 percent up over a year-ago at RUB48.9 billion, up from RUB39.3 billion. The Nitrogen segment saw a first-half 19 percent increase in gross profit to RUB11.5 billion, against the year-ago RUB9.7 billion.
PhosAgro confirmed that it is maintaining its full-year 2019 production guidance of around 9.4-9.5 million mt of fertilizers. Fertilizer and MCP output in the first six months of the year amounted to 4.7 million mt, a 3 percent increase on the same year-ago period (GM Aug. 2, p. 27). If the full-year guidance is achieved, it will mark a 5-to-6 percent increase on the group’s 2018 production of fertilizers and MCP of 8.975 million mt (GM Feb. 8, p. 25). Of the 2019 output guidance, the group expects around 35 percent of overall production to comprise NPKs.
The Russian fertilizer group reported its capital expenditure in the second quarter totaled RUB9.1 billion ($141 million), a 19 percent increase over a year-ago. It said the main capex items during the reporting period were scheduled maintenance and development of the upstream business, in addition to completing the construction of midstream capacities at the Cherepovets site – namely, nitric and sulfuric acid units, and ammonium sulfate lines.
It has raised its expected capex for the full-year to RUB36 billion ($545 million) from the earlier planned RUB33-34 billion ($515 million), according to an Itar-Tass (Russia) report, citing PhosAgro’s CEO.
Guryev said the expected increase in capex is on account of the group deciding to buy out its mineral wagons from leasing on account of the leasing rates remaining unchanged despite a decrease in Russia’s Central Bank’s key rate. Additionally, he said, the ruble component of investments will also be affected by the ruble exchange rate.
Revenue by Selected Key Products
| RUB million | 2Q-2019 | 2Q-2018 | % change | 1H-2019 | 1H-2018 | % change |
| DAP/MAP | 16,824 | 18,884 | -11% | 42,935 | 37,514 | +14% |
| NPK(S) | 17,756 | 15,041 | +18% | 35,263 | 28,544 | +24% |
| Phos Rock | 6,448 | 5,492 | +17% | 13,100 | 10,364 | +27% |
| Urea/AN | 8,731 | 8,891 | -2% | 19,796 | 18,194 | +9% |
Sales Volumes1
| ‘000 mt | 2Q-2019 | 2Q-2018 | % change | 1H-2019 | 1H-2018 | % change |
| Phosphate-based and MCP | 1,628 | 1,647 | -1% | 3,557 | 3,400 | +5% |
| Of which export sales | 1,008 | 1,199 | -19% | – | – | – |
| Of which domestic sales | 620 | 448 | +38% | – | – | – |
| Nitrogen-based | 531 | 601 | -12% | 1,148 | 1,268 | -9% |
| Of which export sales | 370 | 477 | -22% | – | – | – |
| Of which domestic sales | 161 | 123 | +31% | – | – | – |
| Phos Rock | 831 | 732 | +14% | 1,657 | 1,424 | +16% |
1 Totals may not add up due to rounding
Acron Group, Moscow, reported a five-fold increase in first-half IFRS net profit to RUB17.20 billion on revenues of RUB60.47 billion, up from the year-ago RUB3.43 billion and RUB49.41 billion, respectively.
Ruble-denominated revenues increased 22 percent, with the group attributing the rise to a near 5 percent increase in sales volume and higher global dollar-denominated prices for most of its products, as well as a 10 percent increase in the average U.S. dollar/ruble exchange rate.
Six-month EBITDA came in 34 percent higher at RUB21.04 billion, up from the previous year’s RUB15.67 billion, while EBITDA for the second quarter to June 30 at RUB10.58 billion was 37 percent higher than a year earlier, but fell slightly below VTB Capital analysts’ expectations of RUB11 billion, according to an Interfax report.
Acron posted a net exchange profit of RUB5.91 billion in the reporting period due to the revaluation of assets, loans, and liabilities, against a RUB2.189 billion loss in the first half of last year. It also made a RUB941 million gain in the current reporting period from change in the fair value of derivatives, against a RUB1.778 billion loss a year-ago.
In U.S. dollar equivalent, the group saw its first-half net profit rise by a factor of 4.6 to $263 million, against $58 million a year ago, while revenues increased 11 percent, to $926 million from $833 million. EBITDA in U.S. dollar equivalent was 22 percent higher year-over-year, at $322 million against the year-ago $264 million.
Six-month sales of key products increased nearly 5 percent, reaching 3.835 million mt. Output of key products was 1.5 percent higher year-over-year at 3.803 million mt, up from the year-ago 3.749 million mt (GM July 26, p.26).
“We continued to implement investment projects in the first half of 2019 as part of our Development Strategy, and allocated $127 million to capital expenditures in the period, up 22 percent on the same prior-year period,” said Acron Chairman Alexander Popov.
During the first half of this year, the group brought on stream two nitric acid units at the Veliky Novgorod site in northwest Russia, raising aggregate nitric acid capacity at the site to 1.8 million mt/y (GM June 28, p. 27). It also has started constructing a third nitric acid unit, which is expected to start operating by the end of this year. Production of nitric acid has been a bottleneck at the site, according to the group, and the additional supply will allow it to increase output of key products – ammonium nitrate, UAN, and NPK. This year, it also plans to complete construction of a 700,000 mt/y urea granulation unit at Veliky Novgorod (GM June 14, p. 28), which it said will produce a premium product.
At its Dorogobuzh subsidiary in Russia’s Smolensk region, the upgrade of the ammonia plant also will be finalized this year, boosting the unit’s production capability by 130,000 mt/y from the current 600,000 mt/y (GM May 10, p. 31).
At the North-Western Phosphorus Co. (NWPC) subsidiary’s Oleniy Ruchey phosphate mine in Russia’s Murmansk region, Acron said development of the underground mine is progressing. The first ore from the underground operation was extracted in 2017, and the group is targeting ramp-up to 2 million mt/y of apatite concentrate by 2023. The open pit mine at Oleniy Ruchey has capacity of 1.2 million mt/y apatite concentrate. NWPC produced a total of 1.21 million mt of apatite concentrate at Oleniy Ruchey last year.
At the Talitsky potash project under development in Russia’s Perm region, the group reported vertical shaft sinking was 70 percent complete. Acron continues to target first potash product in 2023, but now expects to reach the full 2.0 million mt/y design capacity in 2026. Earlier this year, it had been targeting 2025 (GM June 7, p. 27; May 31, p. 27). Following full ramp-up, there could be a subsequent expansion of production to 2.6 million mt/y. The group expects to consume some 700,000 mt/y of the potash produced in-house from 2025.
Acron reminded that it has agreed to the preliminary terms of project financing for Talitsky. In early June, it reached a preliminary deal for a 15-year syndicated loan from Russian banks to fund the construction of the project (GM June 7, p. 27). At the time, it indicated that VEB RF may provide $869 million, and Gazprombank and Sberbank could provide a combined $802 million.
The Russian fertilizer group has put the total required capital expenditure for an initial 2 million mt/y mine and processing plant at Talitsky at $1.5 billion (excluding the cost of the license, which was secured in 2008). A further $0.3 billion will be required to expand production to 2.6 million mt/y. The group in June put the total budget for the project at $2.5 billion (GM June 7, p. 27).
Acron’s subsidiary developing the potash project – Verkhnekamsk Potash Co. (VPC) – in early June signed a special investment contract (SPIC) with Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry and the Perm regional government on the construction of Talitsky. Acron owns a 60.1 percent shareholding in VPC, with the balance of 39.9 percent held by a pool of financial investors.
Acron’s Board of Directors plans to recommend paying dividends for a third time since the beginning of 2019, reflecting the group’s “stable financial position,” said Popov. The group so far this year has paid out $164 million in dividends.
Average Indicative Prices, FOB Baltic Sea/Black Sea ($/mt)
| 2Q-2019 | 1Q-2019 | 2Q-2018 | 1H-2019 | 1H-2018 | |
| NPK 16-16-16 | 305 | 312 | 291 | 309 | 288 |
| AN | 197 | 182 | 166 | 190 | 176 |
| UAN | 138 | 178 | 155 | 158 | 158 |
| Urea | 250 | 243 | 225 | 246 | 224 |
| Ammonia | 223 | 276 | 232 | 249 | 258 |
Data source: Acron
Reports have been circulating in recent weeks speculating that Acron is the would-be-buyer of Brazilian state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro SA’s (Petrobras) still-to-be completed nitrogen fertilizer complex, Unidade de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados III (UFN-III), in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul state. According to a report by Brazilian financial newspaper Valor Econômico last month, the two companies were expected to sign a sale and purchase agreement before the end of August (GM July 26, p. 26; July 19, p. 25; and June 28, p. 27).
Last year, Acron was reported to be in exclusive negotiations with the Brazilian group to buy UFN-III together with Petrobras’ nitrogen fertilizer plant, Araucária Nitrogenados SA (ANSA), in Paraná state, which at the time were being offered for sale as a package (GM May 11, 2018). The Russian fertilizer group, for its part, has never confirmed publicly its interest in the Petrobras fertilizer plants.
Acron and Bolivian state-run oil and gas company Yacomientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) were also said to have reached an agreement for the supply of gas to “a fertilizer plant in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state,” according to the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons (GM July 12, p. 1). The two are also reported to be in talks to set up a joint venture for fertilizer production (GM June 28, p. 27).
