Without any announcement, PotashCorp is expanding one of its ammonia lines in the US.
Tag: PotashCorp
POT+AGU merger is on
The merger of equals between PotashCorp and Agrium was confirmed to be moving ahead this morning, in a press release announcing their boards' unanimous approval of the plan "to Create a World-Class Integrated Global Supplier of Crop Inputs."
"A new parent company will be formed to own both companies. PotashCorp shareholders will receive 0.400 common shares of the new company for each common share of PotashCorp they own, and Agrium shareholders will receive 2.230 common shares of the new company for each common share of Agrium they own."
Merger rumor: Agrium+PotashCorp
Bloomberg broke news today of a potential merger between Agrium and PotashCorp:
The combination could be announced as soon as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No final decisions have been made and the Canadian companies could decide against a deal, they said.
PotashCorp: downgraded, capex reduced, but new urea brownfield
In a move that might appear contrary to its "Disciplined Approach" of "Matching Supply to Demand," PotashCorp is quietly planning a potential new urea plant at Geismar.
More details of the brownfield project, which received its air permit in December 2015, are in my Research Note for Geismar, LA. The new urea plant is an addition to PotashCorp's existing plans for a major ammonia expansion.
2015 in review: start-ups and cancellations, but mainly delays
Nine ammonia projects were supposed to start up in 2015. Two succeeded.
OCI's debottleneck at Beaumont, TX, came on-stream in April 2015, and PotashCorp completed its expansion at Lima, OH, in October 2015.
So: in 2015, less than 200,000 mtpy of new ammonia capacity came on-stream.
Of the seven other projects slated for 2015, two were cancelled and the rest have been pushed into 2016.
PotashCorp’s Lima expansion is complete
PotashCorp has "successfully completed" the ammonia expansion at Lima, OH.
They "brought production back online" in October, after a 7-week turnaround that started in August, according to their Q3 2015 earnings call last week.
PotashCorp's accompanying Q3 2015 presentation described the Lima project as ...
Major expansion at Geismar
PotashCorp is planning a major ammonia expansion at its Geismar nitrogen plant.
Although the company has made no announcements, the expansion project has already had its air permits approved by Louisiana DEQ.
Company reps tell me that the project is "in the preliminary planning stage only at this point," and has yet to receive the final investment decision.
Nevertheless ...
CEO commentary, Q1 2015. Discuss: Will the US be a nitrogen exporter?
If you want to know whether - or when - the US will become a nitrogen exporter, read what the fertilizer company CEOs say during the latest round of quarterly earnings calls.
These guys should have formed pretty solid opinions by now about how the capacity expansions will affect long-term supply and demand, and how they're going to gain/keep market share and competitive advantage. But it can be a challenge to infer what those opinions might be.
I've summarized the pertinent parts of the debate here, with quotes from Agrium, CF Industries, KBR, LSB Industries, OCI, Potash Corp, and Yara.
Augusta, GA — Nutrien
UPDATED: 02/01/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Nutrien
PROJECT: Nitrogen plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Ammonia production began at Augusta in 1964. The present plant started up in 1977, with revamps and expansions in 1996 and 2012, and a significant ammonia expansion during turnaround in 2016. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
Geismar, LA — Nutrien
UPDATED: 03/19/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Nutrien
PROJECT: Nitrogen plant, restart, expansion and urea brownfield
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational, Planning Phase
The Geismar ammonia plant started up in 1967 but was idled in 2003, due to the high cost of natural gas feedstock. PotashCorp restarted the plant in February 2013 at a cost of $260 million. Air permit documents reveal plans for significant future expansions. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
Lima, OH — Nutrien
UPDATED: 02/01/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Nutrien
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer plant, expansion
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Announced in 2013, PotashCorp's latest ammonia expansion came online in October 2015 after a 7-week turnaround. The urea expansion came online in 2014. The Lima site has been producing ammonia since 1955. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
Potash shareholder Q&A
Wayne Brownlee, EVP and CFO of Potash, during a Q&A with shareholders on 6/10/13:
So it's very competitive, very healthy. We may well see a situation where excess capacity comes on in the United States. And we may see some more challenging times on ammonia prices than we've seen ...
The nice thing about United States is that there is a lot of room to displace the imports ...