CRU’s 2025 Phosphates Conference – now in its 16th year – will be held in Orlando, Florida, 31 March - 2 April next year. The 2024 event convened in Warsaw was one of the most successful to date (Fertilizer International 519, p4).
Market snapshot, 17th October 2024 Urea : Prices firmed in a thin market in mid-October. Middle East values shot up $20/t on expectations that Indian Potash Limited (IPL) would announce another tender to secure tonnes for India in December. If correct, this will follow hot on the heels of the latest Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) purchase tender for 0.56 million tonnes of urea. Sohar International Urea & Chemical Industries (SIUCI) sold a November cargo at $390/t f.o.b. with further trader interest reported at $385/t f.o.b. This demand was probably generated by traders positioning themselves for IPL’s expected tender, given that other markets generally remained quiet.
QatarEnergy has announced the construction of a new world-scale ammonia-urea production complex at Mesaieed Industrial City in Qatar.
Sophisticated control of phosphates production is now possible thanks to the availability of real-time process analysers. The emergence of laboratory robots is also improving process efficiency and delivering cost savings.
The US fertilizer industry, ranked fourth globally in terms of total production capacity, has grown and developed alongside an increasingly sophisticated domestic agricultural sector. The Biden administration has earmarked $900 million for investment in fertilizer assets to boost domestic production capacity and reduce input costs to farmers.
This year will be the 40th Sulphur – now Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid – Conference to be held. From its beginnings in Canada to this year’s meeting at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Barcelona, much has changed, but its mission – to be an essential annual forum for the global sulphur and acid community – remains the same.
Veolia says that its subsidiary Veolia North America has signed an agreement for the divestment of Veolia North America Regeneration Services, which includes its sulphuric acid and hydrofluoric acid regeneration activities for refineries, to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $620 million. These activities represented revenues of around $350 million in 2023. The financial closure of the transaction is expected soon. Veolia’s Sulphuric Acid Regeneration Business includes its sulphuric acid and potassium hydroxide regeneration, as well as sulphur gas recovery, and sulphur-based products production businesses.
Brazilian phosphate producer Galvani says that it has begun work on its major phosphate expansion in Bahia state, including a new production plant at Ceará, in partnership with Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB). The company aims to reduce Brazil’s northern and northeastern regions’ reliance on imported fertilizers. The first phase includes $133 million of investment, including $76 million for new phosphate mining at Irecê, and $38 million for Luís Eduardo Magalhães factory, also in Bahia. This expansion will take capacity from 600,000 t/a to 1.2 million t/a by 2026. The expansion at Luís Eduardo Industrial Complex includes expansion of sulphuric acid capacity from 165,000 t/a to 250,000 t/a.
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.
Intermittent supply from China due to export restrictions and US duty changes have kept markets guessing over the past couple of years, and there is no sign of that changing.