quarta-feira, 31 de maio de 2017

Major Fertilizer Producer Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to Ensure Proper Handling, Storage and Disposal of 60 Billion Pounds of Hazardous Waste

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 1, 2015

Manufacturer Committing Close to $2 Billion in Funding to Address Environmental Impacts From Phosphoric Acid and Fertilizer Production
The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer LLC that will ensure the proper treatment, storage and disposal of an estimated 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste at six Mosaic facilities in Florida and two in Louisiana.  The settlement resolves a series of alleged violations by Mosaic, one of the world’s largest fertilizer manufacturers, of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which provides universal guidelines for how hazardous waste must be stored, handled and disposed.  The 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste addressed in this case is the largest amount ever covered by a federal or state RCRA settlement and will ensure that wastewater at Mosaic’s facilities is properly managed and does not pose a threat to groundwater resources.
At Mosaic’s eight facilities in Florida and Louisiana, hazardous waste from fertilizer production is stored in large piles, tanks, ditches and ponds; the piles can reach 500 feet high and cover more than 600 acres, making them some of the largest manmade waste piles in the United States.  The piles can also contain several billion gallons of highly acidic wastewater, which can threaten human health and cause severe environmental damage if it reaches groundwater or local waterways.
Under the settlement, Mosaic Fertilizer will establish a $630 million trust fund, which will be invested until it reaches full funding of $1.8 billion. These funds will cover the future closure of four Mosaic facilities—the Bartow, New Wales and Riverview plants in Florida and the Uncle Sam plant in Louisiana—and also be put toward the treatment of hazardous wastewater at and long-term care of those facilities and two additional  facilities which are already undergoing closure. The Mosaic Company, Mosaic Fertilizer’s parent company, will provide financial guarantees for this work, and the settlement also requires Mosaic Fertilizer to submit a $50 million letter of credit.
Mosaic will also spend $170 million on projects to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing and waste management programs at its facilities and $2.2 million on two local environmental projects.  Mosaic will also pay a $5 million civil penalty to the United States and $1.55 million to the State of Louisiana and $1.45 million to the State of Florida, who joined the Department of Justice and EPA as plaintiffs in this case.
“This settlement represents our most significant enforcement action in the mining and mineral processing arena, and will have a significant impact on bringing all Mosaic facilities into compliance with the law,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “Moreover, through this settlement, we establish critical financial assurance to cover the enormous closure and care costs at all these facilities.  This sets the standard for our continuing enforcement of RCRA in the entire phosphoric acid industry. And, it reflects our emphasis on working jointly with impacted states.”
“This case is a major victory for clean water, public health and communities across Florida and Louisiana,” said Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.  “Mining and mineral processing facilities generate more toxic and hazardous waste than any other industrial sector.  Reducing environmental impacts from large fertilizer manufacturers operations is a national priority for EPA, as part of our commitment to pursuing cases that have the biggest impact on protecting public health.”
The alleged violations in this case stem from storage and disposal of waste from the production of phosphoric and sulfuric acids, key components of fertilizers, at Mosaic’s facilities in Bartow, Lithia, Mulberry and Riverview, Florida, and St. James and Uncle Sam, Louisiana.  Mosaic failed to properly treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste, and also failed provide adequate financial assurance for closure of its facilities.
As part of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiative for mining and mineral processing, the agency has required phosphate fertilizer production facilities to reduce the storage volumes of hazardous wastewaters, ensure that waste piles and ponds have environmentally-protective barriers installed and verify the structural stability of waste piles and ponds.
Mosaic has committed to spending approximately $170 million over the next several years to implement an innovative reconfiguration of their current operations and waste management systems.  The development of these of industry-leading technologies will optimize resource efficiency and decrease the amount of raw materials required to produce fertilizer.  This case spurred Mosaic to develop advanced engineering controls and practices to recover and reduce some types of acid wastes that result from fertilizer production, which will reduce the amount and toxicity of the waste materials stored at Mosaic’s facilities and the severity of potential spills while cutting Mosaic’s costs for treating material at closure, which would otherwise have been categorized as hazardous waste.
Under the settlement, Mosaic will also fund a $1.2 million environmental project in Florida to mitigate and prevent certain potential environmental impacts associated with an orphaned industrial property located in Mulberry, Florida.  In Louisiana, Mosaic will spend $1 million to fund studies regarding statewide water quality issues.
Mosaic produces phosphorus-based fertilizer that is commonly applied to corn, wheat and other crops across the country. Sulfuric acid is used to extract phosphorus from mined rock, which produces large quantities of a solid material called phosphogypsum and wastewater that contains high levels of acid.  EPA inspections revealed that Mosaic was mixing certain types of highly-corrosive substances from its fertilizer operations, which qualify as hazardous waste, with the phosphogypsum and wastewater from mineral processing, which is a violation of federal and state hazardous waste laws.
A consent decree formalizing the settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Courts for the Middle District of Florida and the Eastern District of Louisiana and is subject to a 45-day public comment period and approval by the federal court

Exclusive: Vale resumes search for Cubatão fertilizer assets buyer - sources

By Tatiana Bautzer | SAO PAULO
After Norway's Yara pulled out as a potential bidder, Vale SA (VALE5.SA) has resumed searching for a buyer for four fertilizer plants that were not included in a $2.5 billion sale to Mosaic Co, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
A reworked sale process for plants located in the southeastern city of Cubatão was launched in recent days, in the wake of Yara International ASA's November decision to withdraw, the people said. Talks between Yara (YAR.OL) and Vale had taken place for several months, said the first person.

segunda-feira, 29 de maio de 2017

The legacy of Murilo Ferreira

Vale said goodbye to Murilo Ferreira.


Fertilizer conduction was a kind of disastrous.
The value was reduced to less than half in 6 years.

Mariana Fundao Dam rupture do not help with the public image.

But he leaves a more focused and less indebited company.
And, up to now, no scandals arose like at Petrobras.

The company is so keen in politics (internal and external) that there are small room available for technicalities.
No good for a mining and industrial company.


The King is dead.
Long live the king.

Good luck to new CEO, Fabio Schvartsman.



terça-feira, 23 de maio de 2017

ITAFOS TO ACQUIRE STONEGATE AGRICOM LTD. BY WAY OF PLAN OF ARRANGEMENT

Toronto, May 19, 2017  - Itafos (TSXV:IFOS) and Stonegate Agricom Ltd. (TSX:ST) (” Stonegate”) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement dated May 18, 2017 (the ” Arrangement Agreement”) pursuant to which Itafos would acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Stonegate (the “Stonegate Shares”) not already owned directly or indirectly by it by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the ” Arrangement”).
Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, each shareholder of Stonegate (a “Stonegate Shareholder”) will receive 0.008 of an ordinary share of Itafos (an “Itafos Share ”) for each Stonegate Share held. Itafos anticipates issuing an aggregate of approximately 2,985,777 Itafos Shares to Stonegate Shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement.
The Arrangement is expected to provide Stonegate Shareholders with the opportunity to participate in a larger phosphate entity, with a diversified portfolio of phosphate projects and a prospect for growth in the short to medium term.
The Arrangement is subject to the approval of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) and (i) at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Stonegate Shareholders at the Stonegate Meeting (as defined below); and (ii) a majority of the votes cast by disinterested Stonegate Shareholders at the Stonegate Meeting.
In addition to the aforementioned approvals, completion of the Arrangement is subject to other customary conditions, including the receipt of all necessary regulatory and stock exchange approvals. The Arrangement is expected to close by August 2017.
The Arrangement Agreement contains customary non-solicitation provisions which are subject to Stonegate’s right to consider and accept a superior proposal subject to a matching right in favour of Itafos. In the event that the Arrangement is not completed as a result of a superior proposal or for other certain specified circumstances, Stonegate will pay Itafos a termination fee.
The Arrangement constitutes a “business combination” under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 — Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”) for Stonegate and a “related party transaction” under MI 61-101 for Itafos as Itafos currently indirectly owns 202,450,642 Stonegate Shares, representing approximately 35.2% of the issued and outstanding Stonegate Shares. Itafos is relying on the formal valuation exemption in section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101, on the basis that no securities of Itafos are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) or other specified markets, and the minority approval exemption in section 5.7(a) of MI 61-101, on the basis that neither the fair market value of the Stonegate Shares to be acquired pursuant to the Arrangement nor the consideration to be paid for the Stonegate Shares exceeds 25% of Itafos’ market capitalization. As required by MI 61-101, Stonegate will obtain a formal valuation (the “Valuation”) from Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. (“ Echelon”) and will seek the requisite approvals of the Arrangement from Stonegate Shareholders at a special meeting which is expected to be held in July 2017 (the “ Stonegate Meeting”).
The Valuation is being prepared under the supervision of a special committee of the board of directors of Stonegate consisting of independent and disinterested directors (the “ Stonegate Special Committee”) and will be included in the management information circular (the “Circular”) to be mailed to Stonegate Shareholders in connection with the Stonegate Meeting. Prior to the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Echelon provided a verbal opinion that, based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Stonegate Shareholders is fair, from a financial point of view, to Stonegate Shareholders (other than Itafos and its affiliates). A copy of the fairness opinion will also be included in the Circular. All Stonegate Shareholders (other than Itafos and its affiliates) will be treated on the same basis and no additional consideration or benefit is available to any Stonegate Shareholder (other than Itafos and its affiliates). In connection with the Arrangement, all outstanding options of Stonegate will be cancelled, and the 100,000,000 outstanding common share purchase warrants of Stonegate will be exchanged for replacement warrants of Itafos exercisable to acquire that number of Itafos Shares as is equal to 0.008 multiplied by the number of Stonegate Shares that the holders of the warrants so transferred and assigned would have acquired if such holders had exercised such warrants immediately prior to the effective time of the Arrangement.
The Stonegate Special Committee, following a review of the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement and consideration of a number of factors, unanimously recommended that the board of directors of Stonegate (the “Stonegate Board”) approve the Arrangement. After receiving the recommendation of the Stonegate Special Committee and advice from its advisors, the disinterested members of the Stonegate Board have unanimously determined that the Arrangement is in the best interests of Stonegate and is fair to Stonegate shareholders (other than Itafos and its affiliates) and will recommend that Stonegate Shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement. Mr. Brian Zatarain, a director of Stonegate and Chief Executive Officer of Itafos, is a related party and, as such, declared his interest to the Stonegate Board in connection with the Arrangement and did not attend the meetings of the Stonegate Board relating to the Arrangement. All of the directors and senior officers of Stonegate, as well Mr. Lloyd I. Miller, III (a Stonegate Shareholder who beneficially owns, or controls or directs, directly or indirectly 21.3% of the Stonegate Shares), have entered into customary support agreements (collectively, the “Support Agreements”) with Itafos pursuant to which, among other things, they have agreed to vote their Stonegate Shares in favour of the Arrangement.
If the Arrangement is completed, the Stonegate Shares will be delisted from the TSX.
A copy of the Arrangement Agreement is available through Stonegate’s and Itafos’ filings with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada in SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ U.S. Securities Act”), or any state securities laws, and any securities issued in the Arrangement are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
Itafos will file an updated early warning report in connection with entering into the Arrangement Agreement and the Support Agreements. A copy of the report will be available under Stonegate’s profile at www.sedar.com, or by contacting Brian Zatarain, the Chief Executive Officer of Itafos at brian.zatarain@itafos.com.
ADVISORS
Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. is acting as the financial advisor to Stonegate in connection with the Arrangement. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as Canadian legal counsel to Stonegate, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP is acting as US legal counsel to Stonegate and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is acting as legal counsel to Itafos in connection with the Arrangement.

quinta-feira, 11 de maio de 2017

Vinachem

Enterprise’s name:TẬP ĐOÀN HÓA CHẤT VIỆT NAM
Trading name:VIETNAM NATIONAL CHEMICAL GROUP
Abbreviated name: VINACHEM
Head Office:
Add.: 1A Trang Tien, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel.:( 84.4)38240551
Fax: (84.4)38252995
Website: vinachem.com.vn
Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh City:
22 Ly Tu Trong , District No 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Tel. (84.8)38225163
Fax: (84.8)38225893
Vietnam National Chemical Group is a multi-possession enterprise in which state possession governs over other possessions. The Group is functioning as a parent company - subsidiaries and was formed according to Decision No 2180/TTg signed by Prime Minister concerning the rearrangement and restructuring Vietnam National Chemical Corporation. The parent company - Vietnam National Chemical Group is a 100% state capital enterprise and restructed from Group Office, departments and dependent companies including: Centre for Information of the Chemical Science and Technicques, Chemical Services and Trade Center.
Apart from the parent company - Vietnam National Chemical Group, the Group has 03 companies which Vinachem holds 100% registered capital, 21 companies which Vinachem holds the leading shares (over 50% registered capital), 13 affiliates which Vinachem holds under 50% registered capital, one Research Institution and one College.
On June 23rd 2010, according to Decision No 953/QD-TTg signed by Prime Minister, the Parent Company - Vietnam National Chemical Group was changed into a Limited Company owned by the State.

quarta-feira, 10 de maio de 2017

Itafos is the new name for MbAC in Arraias - Campos Belos Brazil

Commencement of Itafos-Arraias operations expected in Q2 2017
 Capacity utilization and related production expected to ramp up to about 80% by the end of Q4 2017
 Significantly de-levered balance sheet which together with strong equity capital base facilitates debt raising to close potential financing gaps
 Valuation upside opportunity supported by near-term de-risking of Itafos-Arraias and longer-term development pipeline

https://itafos.com/site/assets/files/1649/2017-04-ifos-cp.pdf

Cubatao asssests of Vale Fertilizantes is being sold

Vale confirmed recently that it’s looking to divest the Cubatao assets, which were left out of Vale’s $2.5 billion sale of fertilizer operations to Mosaic Co. announced in December. 
The company declined to comment on energy assets, vessels or the amount it’s seeking to raise.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-21/vale-said-eyeing-1-5-billion-in-disposals-with-iron-deals-nixed