Despite a dismal spring planting season, The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, reported an uptick in Plant Nutrient Group pretax income for the second-quarter to $15.9 million from the year-ago $15.1 million. However, fertilizer volumes were down for both primary and specialty nutrients.
Company-wide second-quarter net income was $29.9 million, up from the year-ago $21.5 million.
Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., reported a second-quarter 2019 net loss of $11.8 million, compared to year-ago net loss of $7.6 million. While operating earnings increased $1.3 million to $4.1 million, a year-over-year increase in non-operating costs, primarily related to foreign exchange losses and interest expense, drove the higher net loss compared to prior year.
Compass said that while the second-quarter results demonstrated ongoing improvement in its Salt business, its Plant Nutrition business delivered modest gains in operating earnings despite a challenging global agriculture market. The lingering impact of unfavorable agriculture conditions in the U.S. continued to limit Plant Nutrition North America results. In South America, demand increased across many product categories and lifted earnings ahead of prior-year results.
EuroChem Group AG, Zug, Switzerland, reported a 191 percent rise in first-half net income to $612 million on sales of $3.05 billion, up from the year-ago $210 million and $2.67 billion, respectively.
The group cited a favorable pricing environment and an increase in sales volumes for the 14 percent year-on-year boost in sales.
Six-months EBITDA came in 21 percent higher, at $819 million, up from the corresponding 2018 period’s $677 million. EBITDA growth was driven primarily by sales and prices improvements, the positive effects of foreign exchange rates for rouble-denominated costs and control of costs, EuroChem said.
Fertilizer sales volumes increased by 9 percent to 7.76 million mt, up from 7.13 million mt a year-ago.
Potash sales rose to 389,000 mt in the first six months of the year, up by 253,000 mt from a year-ago. Just under two-thirds of potash sales went to Latin America.
Intrepid Potash Inc. reported second quarter net income of $5.6 million up from a year-ago loss of $1 million, citing a diversified portfolio as well as good Potash and Trio segment results despite a challenging spring season.
The Mosaic Company, Plymouth, Minn., announced that the unprecedented wet weather in the Midwest United States negatively impacted its North American spring fertilizer sales volumes and phosphates margins. Mosaic reported a net loss of $233 million for the second quarter of 2019, including a $284 million noncash after-tax charge for the permanent closure of the company’s Plant City phosphate facility. In addition, it said that the acceleration of the development of the K3 potash mine is prompting the company to curtail potash production at the Colonsay mine.
Sirius Minerals plc’s plans to complete its North Yorkshire polyhalite mine and processing plant in northeast England have been thrown into doubt today after the company suspended a proposed US$500 million bond offer, citing current market conditions.
The company said it intends to revisit the market when conditions have improved later this quarter. It had launched the bond on July 19.
Sirius Minerals needs to complete the full US$500 million bond sale before Oct. 30, 2019 to unlock a US$2.5 billion revolving credit facility from JP Morgan, as part of its ambitious US$3.8 billion stage 2 financing requirement to complete its polyhalite project.
However, Bloomberg cited Liberum Capital Markets analyst, Richard Knights, one of Sirius’ corporate brokers, as reminding that Sirius still has effectively two months to get the bond done.
