RE:Reuters Article Allana Seeks Parter For Premium Potash (Sop)I find this very interesting... and wonder what ICL thinks of this as well?? It looks like Allana has many options that will be decided in a few weeks with the assistance of a consultant.
Yara would be a logical partner since it is pursuing its own SOP project in Ethiopia and owns land that adjoins Allana's. Both projects would depend on the same road, port and power infrastructure to be built.
The company would sell its SOP to China, where SOP sells for more than double the MOP price, Abasov said.
Canada's Allana Potash Corp said on Tuesday it will talk with Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International and three other companies about sharing costs and output in its plan to produce premium fertilizer in Ethiopia.
Consolidating the basin????
the company
will decide within weeks whether to structure its 1-million-tonne, $787-million SOP project
as a joint venture, subsidiary, or spinoff. It will then
talk to Yara about combining projects, but is also
speaking to two other fertilizer producers and an
industrial company.
The next few weeks will get very interesting IMO...
jubatus1 wrote:
Allana seeks partner to produce premium potash in Ethiopia
By Rod Nickel
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Allana Potash Corp said on Tuesday it will talk with Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International and three other companies about sharing costs and output in its plan to produce premium fertilizer in Ethiopia.
A partnership would involve Allana's plan to produce sulfate of potash (SOP), a niche, premium product that is in short supply, unlike the commodity muriate of potash (MOP).
Yara would be a logical partner since it is pursuing its own SOP project in Ethiopia and owns land that adjoins Allana's. Both projects would depend on the same road, port and power infrastructure to be built.
Allana released a positive pre-feasibility study on Monday for SOP production at its Danakhil site, where it also plans to build a $642-million mine to produce 1 million tonnes of MOP annually.
Chief Executive Farhad Abasov said the company will decide within weeks whether to structure its 1-million-tonne, $787-million SOP project as a joint venture, subsidiary, or spinoff. It will then talk to Yara about combining projects, but is also speaking to two other fertilizer producers and an industrial company.
"There are a lot of synergies as you can imagine" with Yara, Abasov told Reuters at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. "It probably makes sense to combine it and produce, say, 1 million tonnes for both companies."
Yara released a study last month confirming potential for 600,000 tonnes of SOP annually at its site. It could not immediately be reached.
SOP is a chloride-free fertilizer useful for sensitive crops like fruits and nuts.
The company would sell its SOP to China, where SOP sells for more than double the MOP price, Abasov said.
"We want to move pretty fast on this because we think there's a huge latent potential there."
Allana aims to secure financing for MOP construction by mid-2015, and start building a mine by next year. MOP production could start by 2018, with SOP output following a year later.
Allana signed a partnership for the MOP mine last year with Israel Chemicals Ltd.
Allana's MOP mine would face competition from new capacity built by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Germany's K+S AG and others. Concerns about too much global MOP capacity make SOP a useful option, Abasov said.