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The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) elected seven new representatives to its Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting, held in Singapore on 22 May. The AGM took place on the final day of the IFA Annual Conference 2024. The seven new Board Directors elected by the membership are: Bruce Bodine, Mosaic; Soufiyane El Kassi, OCP Nutricrops; Xiaofeng Hou, China BlueChemical; Dmitry Konyaev, Uralchem JSC; Jahangir Piracha, Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd; Edward Weiner, Trammo, Inc.; and Kelvin Wickham, Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

Alzbeta Klein, CEO and Director General, IFA, said: “I warmly welcome each of our new members to the IFA Board of Directors. I am looking forward to working with them all in support of IFA’s mission to help feed the world sustainably.”

IFA welcomed 34 new members to the Association – five Ordinary Members, 24 Associate Members, two Affiliate Members and three Correspondent Members, and awarded its 2024 Green Leaf Award for outstanding safety, health, and environmental practices to Engro Fertilizers in Pakistan for nitrogen production, and to IMACID (a joint venture of OCP, CFCL Group, and TATA Chemicals) in Morocco for phosphate/ potash production. Applicants for the Green Leaf Award undergo an extensive evaluation of performance indicators by an independent panel of experts. IFA runs the award every two years and received a record 47 eligible applications from 27 member companies in 2024.

IFA noted that Engro Fertilizers’ application exemplifies a comprehensive approach to safety, health, and environmental (SHE) management in its fertilizer manufacturing division. Through robust SHE programs and strategic initiatives like the ECO-GREEN project (a 60-day project aimed at enhancing plant energy efficiency, including the inspection and repair of 400 equipment pieces and installation of low NOx burners) Engro Fertilizers demonstrates a commitment to reducing emissions and promoting sustainability.

Brazilian state oil company Petrobras has appointed Magda Chambriard as its new Chief Executive Officer. Chambriard has spent four decades in the industry and is a former head of oil and gas regulator ANP. She was chosen by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to replace former CEO Jean Paul Prates after he was dismissed on May 14th, the day after the publication of results showing a 38% drop in profits year on year for Petrobras. The results and turbulence at the top of the company led to a sharp drop in Petrobras share price. However, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira has sought to allay fears about political interference, stating that Chambriard would execute the firm’s existing $102 billion investment plan for the 2024-2028 period.

TotalEnergies SE has reappointed Patrick Pouyanné as Chairman and CEO and confirmed Jacques Aschenbroich as Lead Independent Director at a combined shareholders meering on May 24th. The shareholders adopted all resolutions supported by the board of directors, including approval of the 2023 financial statements and payment of an ordinary dividend of e3.01 per share, and renewal of the three-year terms as directors of Patrick Pouyanné, Jacques Aschenbroich and Glenn Hubbard, as well as appointing Marie-Ange Debon as director for a three year term.

Closing the shareholders’ meeting, Patrick Pouyanné declared: “I would like to thank our Shareholders for their support on the resolutions approved by the Board of Directors, and in particular to the renewal of my term of office as Director and that of Jacques Aschenbroich, Lead Independent Director, as well as to the report on the transition strategy implemented by the Company”.

MBAC Fertilizer Corp, which last year began production of phosphate fertilizer at its Itafos facility in central Brazil, has appointed Cristiano Melcher as president and CEO. The previous CEO, Antenor Silva, will step down from that position and remain a director, MBAC. Melcher was previously CEO of Fosbrasil, a South American producer of purified phosphoric acid, and before that executive director of Copebras, a Brazilian phosphate producer owned by Anglo American PLC. MBAC’s previous chief operating officer, Roberto Busato Belger, left the company in November.