Tag: Nutrien

We profile North America's phosphate and potash industries – focusing in on Florida and Saskatchewan, those two centres of P&K excellence.

OCP Group has launched what it calls the Mzinda-Meskala Strategic Programme, aimed at significantly expanding fertilizer production in the country. Initially announced in December 2022, the program is set to enhance production capacity in two key regions: the Mzinda-Safi Corridor and the Meskala-Essaouira Corridor. This initiative is part of OCP’s broader strategy to meet growing global demand for fertilizers while committing to long-term sustainability goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.

Venkat Pattabathula, a member of the AIChE Ammonia Safety Committee, reports on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Safety in Ammonia Plants and Related Facilities Symposium held in San Diego on 8-12 September 2024.

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).

QatarEnergy has announced the construction of a new world-scale ammonia-urea production complex at Mesaieed Industrial City in Qatar.

Mark Thompson became Nutrien’s executive vice president (EVP) and chief financial officer (CFO) on 26th August. Mr Thompson succeeds Pedro Farah , who will remain with the company in an advisory capacity until 31st December as part of a succession plan.

Market snapshot, 15th August 2024 Urea: A stand-off between buyers and sellers has left prices fairly flat in recent weeks with little liquidity. India's latest import tender was, however, finally confirmed for 29th August closing. The tender’s long shipment window allows NFL to secure tonnages through to end-October and took the market by surprise. This is a bearish signal that should increase dramatically the volume offered to NFL. The tender could exclude volumes from China with supply instead focused on the Middle East and Russia.

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.

Nutrien has announced the appointment of Mark Thompson as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective from 26 August 2024. Thompson succeeds Pedro Farah, who will remain with Nutrien in an advisory capacity until his departure on 31 December 2024.

Ammonia benchmarks west of Suez remain supported by limited availability at key regional export hubs amid increased potential for cargoes to arrive from the East, where availability is far healthier, and prices appear under pressure. The disparity in prices was illustrated towards the end of August, when Nutrien sold 25,000 tonnes to multiple buyers in NW Europe for 1H September delivery at $550-555/t c.fr. When netted back to Trinidad, the price marks a sizeable premium on the $375/t f.o.b. last achieved by Nutrien back in late June, although given that last business in Algeria was fixed at $520/t f.o.b., it appears there is room for delivered sales into Europe to move up further. Regional availability is still limited, with extreme weather conditions in the US Gulf and North Africa potentially impacting supply further over the coming weeks.