Russia’s Uralchem
OJSC produced
62,000 tonnes monoammonium phosphate (MAP) in 2015, a 150%
increase from 2014. However, the prior year’s
output figures had been reduced by 90% as a result of the
closure of the Voskresenek phosphate plant.
The
company’s ammonium nitrate output remained stable
at 2.93m tonnes. Merchant ammonia production rose 6% to 825,000
tonnes, while urea production was up 7% to 1.19m tonnes.
Complex fertiliser production, meanwhile, stood at 617,000
tonnes, up 18% year-on-year (y-o-y).
Dmitry Konyaev, Uralchem’s
CEO, said: "In spite of the complex situation in both the
industry and the economy in general, we closed the year with a
good performance. Uralchem continued to increase its production
and strengthened its position in the market."
"Last year,
particular attention was paid to the domestic market (…)
This year we plan to continue working closely with domestic
agricultural producers," he added.
In Africa, ASX-listed Black
Mountain Resources Ltd has entered into an agreement
to buy Namekera Mine Co. Ltd from
African Phosphate Pty Ltd.
The deal will give Black Mountain
ownership of the Busumbi phosphate project Namakera vermiculite
mine and in Uganda.
Busumbu was intermittently operational for
a 20-year period ending in the 1960s. Drilling at the project
by Gulf Industrials Ltd in 2012 confirmed high
grade and extensive phosphate mineralisation, the company said,
yielding grades of up to 30.5% phosphorous pentoxide
(P2O5).
Also in Uganda, China’s
Guangzhou DongSong Energy Group Co. has signed
a $240m financial closure agreement with the Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to develop the
Sukulu phosphate project, local media sources have
reported.
Guangzhou DongSong intends to establish a
mine and beneficiation plant with a capacity of 2m tpa and a
phosphate fertiliser plant with an output of 300,000 tpa.
The project will be one of the largest
privately-funded mining sector investments in Uganda.
In Asia, Malaysian Phosphate
Additives (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd expects to commission a
proposed Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 1.9bn ($460m*) phosphate
additives plant in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu by
mid-to-late 2018, local media has reported.
The project will be Southeast
Asia’s largest integrated phosphate additives
complex, housing nine different plants to produce food,
fertiliser and halal feed phosphates.
At full
capacity it will produce 500,000 tpa phosphate products,
900,000 tpa coke and 100,000 tpa ammonia.
New Zealand’s Chatham
Rock Phosphate Ltd has said it still intends to
reapply for a license to mine the seabed off Chatham Rise on
the country’s east coast for phosphate
nodules.
The company is currently preparing for a
court action with the Environmental Protection Agency over
disputed fees from a previous unsuccessful case, which it
has described as "unreasonable and unlawful".
The Chatham Rise has been subject to an
environmental consenting regime since 2012.
Finally, Canada’s Potash
Corp. of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) was dropped
from the Standard and Poors (S&P) TSX
Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index a week after being added,
in the wake of its release of a
poor outlook for 2016 as fertiliser prices remain weak, the
Globe and Mail has reported.
PotashCorp was named to the index in late
January in recognition of its track record for increasing
dividend payments, but the company has cut dividends this year
amid its bleakest forecast in a decade, causing the S&P
Index Committee to reverse its decision almost immediately.