Dyno Nobel sells Phosphate Hill to Mayfair

Dyno Nobel has signed a binding agreement for the sale of the Phosphate Hill plant in Australia to Ryowa II GPS Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mayfair Australia Corporation, it announced 9 March. The purchase is for a nominal A$1.00 (US$0.70), with a deferred value of up to A$100 million payable to Dyno Nobel subject to certain conditions and performance hurdles. Phosphate Hill produces around 400,000 t/a DAP and 200,000 t/a MAP.

Mayfair is set to take over the operation from 1 April 2026. Dyno will provide approximately A$80 million of inventory at completion to support the continuity of operations. The deal secures employment for Phosphate Hill’s roughly 540 employees and contractors, enabling continuity of operation for the North-West Queensland region, Dyno said.

Securing natural gas and sulphuric acid from Glencore’s Mt Isa copper smelter is critical to Phosphate Hill, and the operation is a critical outlet for the smelter’s by-product. Glencore said in July 2025 it had no choice but to start work on placing the loss-making smelter and Townsville refinery in Australia into care and maintenance until market conditions improve, and in October, Canberra and the Queensland state government reached an agreement with Glencore for up to A$600 million of support, so that the smelter and refinery can operate for another three years. The deal concludes the separation of all fertilizer businesses and achieves the company’s strategic objective of transforming into a “pure play global explosives leader”.

Dyno announced last October that it would close Phosphate Hill by 30 September 2026 if it is unable to sell the asset, and the company noted it would still do so if this deal fails to go through. Dyno’s sale of the Incitec Pivot fertilizers distribution business to Ridley Corporation Limited, which was agreed in May, was successfully completed on 30 September 2025. The deal did not include the acquisition of the Phosphate Hill site or the closure and remediation costs associated with the Gibson Island and Geelong manufacturing operations. Ridley also did not acquire Dyno Nobel’s contract with Perdaman for the supply of 2.2 million t/a urea, which was sold to Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets business. Consideration payments of up to A$145 million are subject to operational milestones for the project, which is expected to commence production in 2027.