Nutrien to pause potash ramp up, ammonia project on falling prices

Nutrien on Wednesday decided to indefinitely pause its ramp-up plans for potash production and halt work on its clean ammonia project at Geismar, Louisiana, as the world's biggest fertilizer producer grapples with falling prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Its U.S.-listed shares fell 2.6% in extended trading as the company cited market conditions for stopping efforts to bolster potash output to 18 million tons. Potash prices have eased after the resumption of shipments from major supplier Belarus, whose exports were largely frozen last year due to western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The suspension of work at its 1.2 million ton clean ammonia plant was due to elevated costs and uncertainty on the timing of emerging uses for clean ammonia, it said. Fertilizer companies have been building ammonia plants along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to take advantage of Inflation Reduction Act subsidies and the existing export infrastructure.

Nutrien also lowered its 2023 adjusted earnings forecast to the range of USD3.85 to USD5.60 from a prior view of USD5.50 per share and USD7.50 per share. It had said in July that it would cut production at its Cory Potash mine and expected its full-year profit to take hit from lower exports due to a strike by Canadian dock workers.

"We expect Canadian potash exports will be constrained by logistical challenges primarily due to the strike at the Port of Vancouver," the company said. The top potash producer said it expects to cut capital expenditure by about $200 million in 2023.

We remind, Clariant announced that the new AmoMax-Casale catalyst, developed in collaboration with Casale, has been successfully utilized in Nutrien's plants in Trinidad and Tobago, Mosaic's plant in Louisiana, USA, and Yara's plant in the Netherlands.

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Korea Investors Service downgraded the unsecured bond credit rating of Hyosung Chemical on Thursday from A to A-, saying that its profit-generating ability and financial structure had deteriorated, said Kedglobal.

The company's commercial paper credit rating was also downgraded from A2 to A2-. “Hyosung Chemical has been in a quarterly operating loss since the fourth quarter of 2021 due to rising raw material costs in response to a drop in selling prices and delays in stabilizing new facilities in Vietnam,” the credit rating agency said in a report.

Hyosung Chemical posted a total operating loss of 336.7 billion won (USD258.5 million) on a consolidated basis last year. It was analyzed that it would take time to improve the financial structure.

Hyosung Chemical's net debt on a consolidated basis increased from 903.4 billion won in 2018 to 2.52 trillion won as of the end of March this year because of the burden of large-scale facility investment.

"Due to the slowdown in the polypropylene (PP) industry and the sluggish performance of the Vietnamese subsidiary, operating losses are occurring, and debt coverage and financial stability indicators are significantly declining," commented Korea Investors Service.

We remind, Hyosung Chemical announced that it will invest USD120 million in its Vietnamese subsidiary, Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co. Hyosung Vina Chemicals is a company that makes propylene and polypropylene.

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TotalEnergies, Baker Hughes, Technip Energies, Azimut and other investors have signed preliminary agreement to invest in Zhero Europe in order to develop large scale renewable energies projects in Europe and Africa spanning across renewable power generation, power interconnections and green molecules, said the company.

Zhero Europe was founded with the vision that large integrated projects, including generation from high quality wind and solar resources, and captive long-distance exports, would be the most effective way to accelerate the energy transition in high demand areas.

With this round of financing, Zhero Europe will advance the development of its project portfolio, leveraging the world class expertise of its new investors.

Paddy Padmanathan and Alessandra Pasini, respectively Chairmain and CEO of Zhero Europe commented: “We are thrilled to welcome new investors who share our ambition to accelerate the energy transition by delivering large scale bankable projects that will inspire others to follow. Green energy is already cheaper than fossil fuels in many countries and we need to accelerate project development and construction to mitigate the growing gap between climate action and climate ambition. There is no time to lose.”

Stephane Michel, President Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies said: “Zhero Europe’s bold ambition is to bring abundant, affordable and clean energy from the best producing location to the large consuming markets and notably from North Africa, to Europe. We welcome the opportunity to join forces with Zhero Europe and its other investors to support the development of those pioneering projects for the mutual benefit of Europe and Africa.”

We remind, TotalEnergies is pursuing its profitable growth in the renewable energy sector with today’s announcement that it is buying out Total Eren’s other shareholders, increasing its stake from close to 30% to 100%, said the company. The Total Eren teams will be fully integrated within TotalEnergies’ Renewables business unit. The deal follows the strategic agreement signed between TotalEnergies and Total Eren in 2017, which granted TotalEnergies the right to acquire all of Total Eren (formerly EREN RE) after a five-year period.

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Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, was recently recognized for its outstanding leadership, safety, and environmental stewardship performance with thirteen Texas Chemical Council (TCC) and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (ACIT) awards, said the company.

The awards program was recently held to recognize member companies for excellent safety performance, caring for Texas, and support for the chemical industry in 2022.

“We are very proud of our teams in Texas for consistently meeting or exceeding safety standards and environmental performance,” said Paresh Bhakta, Senior Vice President and Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer. “The annual TCC-ACIT awards recognize the programs we have in place to keep our employees safe and protect the communities in which we operate.”

The Caring for Texas Awards program recognizes continuous improvement by the chemical industry in community awareness, emergency response, security, and environmental stewardship. Nouryon sites that received awards include Houston (Caring for Texas) and Fort Worth (Honorable Mention Excellence in Caring for Texas). Nouryon’s Pasadena and La Porte sites were recognized with Sustained Excellence in Caring for Texas Awards which recognizes company sites that have won the Excellence in Caring for Texas Award at least once in the past three years and provides information about how their sites consistently demonstrate caring for Texas every year.

The Company’s La Porte site was recognized with a Zero Incident Rate Employee Award for having zero employee OSHA recordable injuries or illness. The La Porte, Pasadena, Houston, and Fort Worth sites were each granted with the Zero Incident Rate Contractor Award, which recognizes company sites with zero contractor injuries recorded. The Occupational Safety Distinguished Service Awards recognized Nouryon’s Fort Worth and Pasadena sites for participating in at least three quarterly Occupational Safety Committee or Subcommittee meetings and demonstrating improvement to their injury and illness rates compared to the previous three years.

Recipients for the Sam Mannan Award for Zero Process Safety Incidents included the Company’s Fort Worth and Houston sites and recognizes company sites with no Tier 1 or Tier 2 incidents.

As a leader in people and process safety, Nouryon is focused on sustaining responsible operations by continuously improving performance, with the ambition to reach zero injuries and harm focusing on people and process safety and product safety.

We remind, Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, announced that it has signed a 30-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Convergent Energy and Power to supply 2-megawatt (MW) of solar power to Nouryon’s manufacturing site in Morris, IL, US. The onsite solar field is expected to be operational in the second half of 2024.

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Evonik, one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals, has expanded and started production at its rubber silanes plant, Evonik Lanxing (Rizhao) Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd, said the company.

This state-of-the-art facility, a joint venture between Evonik Industries AG, DEG (Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH), and Rizhao Lanxing Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., is strategically located in the Rizhao Lanshan Chemical Industrial Park in Shandong province. The expanded plant is specifically designed to meet the growing demand for sustainable solutions within the global tire and rubber industry.

The expansion of the regional product portfolio substantially increases capacity and provides a stable supply for customers with demand for liquid and solid rubber silane products. The regional production footprint was enlarged with grades previously produced only in Evonik’s European production sites. This capacity expansion further strengthens Evonik's production network for tire silanes, solidifying its commitment to supporting the evolving needs of its customers in the tire and rubber industries worldwide.

With a focus on sustainability and efficiency, the expanded plant has implemented advanced technology during the manufacturing process. The facility and technology is upgraded to reduce waste and side reactions while increasing product purity. Additionally, the plant will feature reduced carbon emissions, increased automation, and improved auxiliary facilities, including a wastewater pre-treatment plant.

We remind, Evonik and Guangdong Marubi Biotechnology Co Ltd have entered into a cooperation agreement with the signing taking place on 6 Jul 2023, in Shanghai. The partnership will enable consumers in the local cosmetics industry to benefit from both companies' complementary capabilities in raw materials, research, development, and production. Furthermore, the two organizations will exchange information on diverse topics including ingredient application and development, formulation, and studies on cosmetic market trends.

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