Dry Fertilizer Barge Rates
| 3/8/2019 | Last Week | |
| Memphis | 9.00-18.00 | 9.00-18.00 |
| St. Louis | 9.00-21.75 | 9.00-21.75 |
| Peoria | 14.00-24.00 | 14.00-24.00 |
| Cincinnati | 14.00-29.50 | 14.00-29.50 |
| St. Paul | 16.00-28.50 | 16.00-28.50 |
| Catoosa/Inola | 18.00-27.00 | 18.00-27.00 |
All Posts from March 8, 2019
AGI Expands Technology Platform
Equipment and technology provider Ag Growth International Inc. (AGI), Winnipeg, announced on March 5 that it has acquired IntelliFarms LLC, Archie, Mo., a provider of hardware and software solutions for grain growers, processors, and other participants in the agriculture market. Founded in 2001, IntelliFarms sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018, were approximately $11 million.
AGI welcomed President and CEO Todd Sears, COO Adam Weiss, and the entire IntelliFarms team onboard.
IntelliFarms products include BinManager, a grain storage management system that uses sensors, cables, and controls to maintain stored grain in ideal condition; SureTrack Farm, a central portal that offers farmers multiple tools, including seed trait data, field management, and bin management; and SureTrack Pro, which is targeted at processors, seed companies, and cooperatives, and provides functionality tailored to their needs.
Scotts Eyes Divestment of TruGreen Stake; Hydroponic M&A Done for Now
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Marysville, Ohio, said on March 4 that it is in talks to divest its 30 percent stake in its venture in TruGreen Holdings Inc., Memphis. Scotts, which made the announcement during a presentation at a Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference, said it is discussing the move with TruGreen majority holder Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
CFO Randy Coleman said nothing has been finalized, but he wanted to give a heads-up that something could happen in 2019 or beyond. He said expectations are that Scotts would recover north of $100 million of after-tax cash proceeds from such a deal.
Scotts transferred its lawn service business to TruGreen back in 2016 for the 30 percent stake in the jv (GM April 29, 2016; Dec. 14, 2015). At the time, Scotts said the jv would create a lawn service business with approximately 2.3 million customers and approximately $1.3 billion in revenue that would be better equipped to bring innovation and improved service to the consumer and better drive category growth.
After moving the lawn service business to TruGreen, Scotts moved to partner with Bonnie Plants and onto acquisitions for the company’s hydroponic supply segment, Hawthorne Gardening Co. Coleman told attendees that M&A activity around Hawthorne is done for the time being. “We already have the best brands, and right now, we’re much more focused on integration, optimization, and making sure that we’re getting our business humming the way it should be.”
Queensland Coal-to-NH3 Project Advances
The Queensland Ministry of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, and Planning reports that Australian Future Energy’s (AFE) A$1 billion Gladstone Energy and Ammonia project (GM Oct. 12, 2018), proposed for the Gladstone State Development Area, is one step closer to being built, as the terms for the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS) have been released. Once the EIS is completed and approved by Queensland’s independent Coordinator-General, the community will be invited to comment on the project.
The latest word on the project is that it would convert 1.5 million mt/y of coal to produce 230,000 mt/y of ammonia and 12 petajoules of synthetic natural gas. This is an adjustment for the figures released last fall – 330,000 mt/y of ammonia and eight petajoules. The project would source low-quality coal from Central Queensland. Waste gas and heat created through the process would be used to produce electrical power required for the plant operation, with surplus power exported to the grid when available.
Construction is expected to begin on the project in mid-2020, with the first ammonia production in mid-2022.
Haldor Topsoe, Honeywell Partner on Technology to Optimize Ammonia Production
Technology providers Haldor Topsoe, Copenhagen, and Honeywell, Charlotte, announced on March 5 that they have formed a technology alliance and launched a new service, Clearview™, to maximize plant output, save energy, and improve reliability. The first Clearview service has been developed to optimize ammonia production, with services for other chemical and refining industries expected to follow.
The parties said Clearview uses Honeywell’s cloud-based software platform to gather and cleanse operating data, and applies Haldor Topsoe’s modelling and simulation tools and experience to deliver performance-enhancing insights to the plant’s process engineers and managers.
Huber to Acquire Miller Chemical & Fertilizer
Huber Engineered Materials, (HEM), Atlanta, a specialty engineered materials company, said on March 5 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Dunes Point Capital LP (DPC), Rye, N.Y., a private investment firm, to acquire Miller Chemical & Fertilizer LLC, Hanover, Penn., which manufactures and distributes crop protection and nutritional agrichemical products.
Founded in 1937, Miller has nearly 100 employees and is headquartered in Hanover, where its manufacturing operations are located, with operations in eight other countries.
Miller reports that it sells its products into the farming and agricultural industries in more than 90 countries via its global sales force of agronomists and distributors, and targets the high-value segment of fruits, nuts and vegetables. It provides soluble fertilizers, crop protection products, adjuvants, micronutrients, fertilizer additives, plant growth regulators, abiotic stress products, soil complexing agents, organic compliant inputs, and anti-transpirants.
Miller has been a portfolio company of DPC since 2014. A year later, Miller acquired most of the assets of PlantBioTech Inc., Deming, N.M., a provider of plant growth regulators, soil conditioners, seaweed fertilizers, and related products (GM June 15, 2015).
“The acquisition of Miller furthers HEM’s mission to build a diverse portfolio of small- to medium-sized, competitively advantaged businesses in the chemical and mineral markets,” said HEM President Dan Krawczyk. “We are excited to welcome Miller’s employees into the HEM organization and work with them to continue to serve their customers globally with world-class products and services.”
The current management team and employees will continue to operate Miller’s operations and serve the company’s customers as a business unit within HEM, which said it looks forward to investing and growing the capabilities of the business for the long-term strategic needs of its customers.
Current HEM products include specialty alumina trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, molybdate compounds, and industrial, food, and USP-grade calcium carbonate.
“This acquisition is a strategically important step in Huber’s ongoing effort to diversify its overall portfolio with new specialty businesses that can grow and deliver significant value to their customers,” said President and CEO Mike Marberry of J.M. Huber Corp., which owns HEM. “This marks a significant milestone in HEM’s history, and we look forward to introducing Miller’s employees to the Huber principles, and working with them to expand this business on a global basis.”
Founded in 1883, the family-owned J.M. Huber Corp., also headquartered in Atlanta, operates as a portfolio management company, with assets including HEM, CP Kelco, Huber Engineered Woods, and Huber Resources Corp. Businesses include specialty chemicals, minerals, hydrocolloids, engineered woods, and timber management. Huber said it is a diversified, multinational company that creates products that are used in a broad range of consumer and industrial applications, including fire retardant additives and smoke suppressants, personal care, food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, and building materials.
Michigan Potash Reports EPC
Junior miner Michigan Potash & Salt Co. LLC (MPSC), Denver, and Barton Malow Co., Southfield, Mich., a general contractor, announced on March 5 that they have materially completed a definitive agreement for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of the Michigan Potash and Salt facility in Evart Township in Western Michigan. The two companies said they have worked collectively as a team over the last four years to advance the EPC schedule.
“MPSC and Barton Malow have advanced the technical and management documentation to a level that is much further defined compared to other similar projects,” said Rick Helper, MPSC EPC Program Manager. “We are pleased to work with Barton Malow. They have a proven capability to safely and effectively deliver large projects in Michigan and the greater United States.” Founded in 1924, Barton Malow said it is the largest union trade employer in Michigan.
MPSC said it began ground clearing and infrastructure improvements this winter, including power and road upgrades, in partnership with infrastructural providers servicing Osceola County. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued permits for well construction last summer (GM June 8, 2018; March 9, 2018).
The company said its planned solution mining process will enable it to produce efficient, low-cost potash and co-product food grade salt near the heart of the U.S. Cornbelt.
MPSC said its $750 million initial investment in the mine will unlock a generational gain for the region, with a project life of over 150 years. The parties said the project will create approximately 260 direct construction jobs over a three-year period, and an approximate 150 direct full-time skilled trade jobs upon commissioning of the facility. The company calls its asset a $65 billion, tier 1 potash reserve with 150 million tons of recoverable K20.
Mexican Fertilizer Plant Construction Reported Halted by Federal Judge
A federal judge in Los Mochis has halted the construction of the US$5 billion nitrogen fertilizer complex that began construction in Topolobampo, Sinaloa, in Mexico last year (GM Sept. 7, 2018), according to the Mexico News Daily. Chief Judge Jose Francisco Perez Mier issued the order after locals argued that the plant would do irreparable damage to local lagoons. According to the paper, the plant has been delayed for years due to environmental concerns.
The first stage of the facility was to cost US$1 billion and produce 770,000 mt/y of ammonia and 700,000 mt/y of urea.
Proman AG, Wollerau, Switzerland, and its Mexican subsidiary, Gas y Petroquimica de Occidente, have been identified by the paper as the project investors. Proman has not commented on the plant, however, its website said it is expanding in Mexico.
Proman, one of the world’s largest methanol producers, is also involved in fertilizer, and is invested in three Trinidad nitrogen projects – N2000, AUM, and Caribbean Nitrogen Co. (CNC).
Iowa Farm Fined $50,000 for Manure Pollution
Etcher Family Farms, a livestock operation in southeastern Iowa, has been fined $50,000 after the owner and an employee pled guilty to charges of violating the Clean Water Act while discharging manure, according to a Feb. 28 announcement from the Department of Justice.
Scott Allen Etcher and Benjamin Allen McFarland of New London, Iowa, were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose on Feb. 26 after pleading guilty to Discharge of a Pollutant. Etcher Family Farms was sentenced to five years of organizational probation, a $50,000 fine, and a $400 special assessment payable to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
According to the DOJ, McFarland “negligently discharged agricultural waste pollutants” to land via an umbilical hose on or about July 22, 2015, at the Etcher Family Farms facility in New London, resulting in runoff to an unnamed tributary to Big Creek.
The incident, which was reportedly done under the supervision of the farm’s owner and operator, Scott Etcher, was investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency. Both Etcher and McFarland pled guilty on Oct. 25, 2018.
Nigeria’s NNPC Plans Fertilizer Plant
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), Abuja, disclosed on March 5 that it plans to construct a fertilizer plant in Brass, in the coastal state of Bayelsa in southern Nigeria, in addition to new power plants in the capital city of Abuja, and the northern cities of Kaduna and Kano, to add 4,000 megawatts to the power grid.
More details about the plants were not immediately available. NNPC has established a subsidiary, Gas and Power Investment Co. (GPIC), to monetize the abundant natural gas resources in the country. The company will be focused on developing power stations, as well as fertilizer and petrochemical plants.
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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.