The Mosaic Co., Plymouth, Minn., said Jan. 8 has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sinochem, China’s largest agricultural inputs company. Sinochem intends to purchase phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizers, including premium products, from Mosaic.
“We are pleased to build on our promising relationship with Sinochem,” said Mosaic President and CEO Joc O’Rourke. “Sinochem is developing a Modern Agriculture Platform for China, and we at Mosaic look forward to partnering with Sinochem to contribute to this important progress for Chinese farmers.”
The MOU establishes a mutually beneficial relationship through which Mosaic could contribute to Sinochem’s success by providing both expertise and products. Terms and conditions of the purchases are to be outlined in a separate contract between the two parties.
“We believe this agreement can lead to meaningful value for Mosaic, Sinochem and China’s farmers,” he added.
Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) will halt operations at its SAFCO 3 plant as of Jan. 11 for 117-day scheduled maintenance, the company said in a bourse statement Jan. 6.
The company aims to enhance reliability at its SAFCO 3 ammonia plant, and implement regular maintenance at the ammonia and urea facilities.
The fertilizer producer added that it expects the related financial impact at average prices to reach nearly SAR 121 million, and show in the first and second quarters of 2019.
SAFCO will work on containing this financial impact through the optimum use of available stock.
The ammonia reliability enhancement project, which aims to improve energy utilization, will boost annual production capacity by 100,000 mt.
The results of the Jan. 3 TCP urea tender for 50,000 mt confirmed reports the global urea market was softening.
The lowest of 10 offers in the tender came from Keytrade at $295.98/mt CFR. The Keytrade offer was backed by suppliers from the Arab Gulf, Russia and China. The netback to the Arab Gulf and China is expected to be lower than levels noted at the end of the year.
The netbacks to the Arab Gulf and China are pegged in the upper $270s/mt FOB against a December 2018 price range of $280-$285/mt FOB in the Arab Gulf and $285-$290/mt FOB for Chinese prills.
As of Jan. 7 no awards were issued.
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