Agrium Announces Record Production at Profertil Urea Plant.Business Editors CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2001 Agrium Inc. (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :AGU AGU Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan AGU American Geophysical Union AGU Arabian Gulf University (Bahrain) AGU All Grown Up (TV show) AGU Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico .) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AGU) ("Agrium") announced today that the Profertil urea plant has commenced production effective January 12, 2001. Profertil S.A. is 50% owned by Agrium Inc. and 50% owned by Repsol YPF Repsol YPF, S.A., (IBEX-35:REP) is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries, the bulk of its assets are located in Spain and Argentina. The product of a 1999 takeover of Argentine energy firm YPF by the Spanish conglomerate Repsol S.A. , S.A. The ammonia and urea plants are running up to name plate design capacity and within regulatory requirements. On January 16, 2001 the urea plant produced a world record 3,250 tonnes for a single train urea plant. To address the concerns from the nearby community, a 24 inch flare stack to reduce ammonia emissions from the urea plant was installed prior to the urea start-up. The start-up of the urea plant was completed without event. During the first quarter of 2001, it is anticipated that the contractor will complete the performance tests for the complex and Profertil will assume operational control. Revenues and expenses from the ammonia and urea plant of Profertil will be recorded in the income statement of Agrium effective January 1, 2001. The Argentine facility has a long-term natural gas supply contract at prices significantly below current NYMEX See New York Mercantile Exchange. NYMEX See New York Mercantile Exchange (NYM). prices, ensuring strong margins at current price levels. The facility is located on tidewater giving Agrium access to the high growth nitrogen markets in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. . This nitrogen capacity has come on-stream at an optimal time to take advantage of the upturn in the nitrogen business cycle. Agrium Inc. is a leading global producer and marketer of fertilizer and a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in both North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Argentina. The Corporation produces and markets four primary groups of fertilizers: nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur. The Corporation's strategy is to grow through incremental expansion of its existing operations and acquisitions as well as the development, commercialization and marketing of new products and international opportunities. |
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