Tag: Mosaic

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

The Ma’aden Wa’ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company (MWSPC) has signed a service agreement for a period of three years with DuPont Clean Technologies for its sulphuric acid plant at Sirhan. The service programme will include activity testing of catalyst samples, evaluation of catalyst performance, plant optimisation, troubleshooting and management of catalyst replacement. DuPont says that it will also track plant performance and assess its overall health using pre-agreed metrics and its proprietary PeGASyS™ gas chromatography system, which can be used to detect possible leaks in gas-gas heat exchangers, identify SO2 gas bypassing and measure overall plant conversion in order to optimise plant operation, reduce SO 2 emissions, increase production and improve converter performance.

CRU’s Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid 2019 conference was held in Houston last November.

After a poor 2019, when global demand contracted by nearly 2.5%, phosphate markets are expected to rebound in 2020. Saudi Arabia and Morocco dominate new capacity additions while India and Brazil continue to be the key importers. US and Chinese production is in slow decline, meanwhile.

Brazil is the main centre for new nitrogen demand in Latin America, but in spite of major oil and gas discoveries in the 2000s, has failed to develop a downstream nitrogen fertilizer industry.

Sirius Minerals is in talks with Anglo American about a £386 million cash offer for its UK-based polyhalite mine project.

CRU events will convene the 2020 Phosphates International Conference & Exhibition in Paris at the Marriott Rive Gauche between 8-10 March.

Andy Hemphill , senior editor for potash at ICIS Fertilizers, takes a deep dive into the potash market. Potash producers are praying that tight capacity control and resurgent demand will curb the current bearish price trend.

We look ahead at fertilizer industry prospects for the next 12 months, including supply and demand growth, and explore the key agricultural, macroeconomic and geopolitical drivers likely to shape the market during 2020.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media