The new facility will reduce Brazil’s dependence on imported fertilizers. Photo: EuroChem press service
On March 13, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where the great soccer player is from, a Russian company inaugurated a large complex for the production of phosphate fertilizers.
EuroChem quickly completed the Salitry project, which had previously been abandoned by Norway’s Yara International. But the phosphate deposit opened up broad prospects: 350 million tons of proven reserves would be enough for a quarter of a century of uninterrupted operation of a large enterprise! A tasty bite! Especially considering that Brazil depends 90% on imported fertilizers.
This was apparently the calculation of one of the world’s largest producers of mineral fertilizers, Yara International, when it began the project in 2014. But at first the geology of the site presented surprises and organizational difficulties arose typical of any large construction project. Then the Covid pandemic happened. And at that time, the company had so many other projects in the implementation stage that, apparently, that’s why its management also made a decision based on simple worldly wisdom: if you continue to resist, you may overexert yourself.
The Norwegians only managed to put the phosphate rock extraction into operation and the general state of the unfinished facilities was approximately 50%.
EuroChem, after acquiring the project from Yara, unfreezes construction in February 2022. It attracted more than 3.5 thousand workers and quickly established work. For two years, structures were assembled, facilities were completed, and the dam was raised. The most difficult thing was to organize the simultaneous construction of such different production facilities as the production of sulfuric and phosphoric acids and the granulation of fertilizers. But the company successfully completed construction exactly on time, without incidents, injuries or downtime. Production workshops, warehouses, warehouses and administrative buildings grew up around the small agricultural town. The company’s investment in the project amounted to about $1 billion.
– Thanks to EuroChem’s own design institute, with solid engineering knowledge and successful experience in the construction of new production facilities in Russia, it was able to implement in the shortest possible time a project to create and launch a company in Brazil, which is important for food security. of this Latin American country. Thus, EuroChem confirmed the high level of competition of Russian companies in the world market and their extensive ability to implement complex engineering projects outside our state,” commented industrial expert and candidate of economic sciences Leonid Khazanov.
Senior officials from Brazil and EuroChem were present at the inauguration of the complex. Photo: EuroChem press service
In fact, Salitry was largely influenced by the experience of implementing other large-scale EuroChem projects. For example, its engineering skills in building chemical plants from scratch were clearly demonstrated in the city of Kingisepp, Leningrad Region, where a plant was built in three years that in 2019 began producing 1 million tons of ammonia per year. .
In terms of scale, factories like those at Serra do Salitre in Brazil can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand. The new company makes EuroChem the largest producer of mineral fertilizers in South America, operating from mine to farm. The complex will produce 1.2 million tons of phosphate concentrate, 1 million tons of sulfuric acid, 250 thousand tons of phosphoric acid and 1 million tons of phosphate fertilizers, 15% of the total production volume in Brazil. This means that EuroChem will help reduce its dependence on imported fertilizers.
Thus, the opening of the company became a historic event for the entire country. It is not surprising that on March 13, more than 200 people attended the ceremony, among whom were numerous high-ranking officials: the vice president of the country, ministers, the governor, department officials, politicians and businessmen. The delegation was led by the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
– EuroChem is doing the right thing by investing in the Salitry complex. The company believes that Brazil is quickly becoming the breadbasket of the world. We grow soybeans, corn and sugar cane, and we try to use renewable energy sources. Today, Brazil has achieved self-sufficiency in many areas and the next step is to improve soil quality. And for that we need fertilizers,” said Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the inauguration ceremony.
There are already 21 EuroChem subsidiaries operating in the country that sell nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. More than 4 thousand employees work there. And EuroChem plans to supply the new company’s products to large agribusiness complexes and farms throughout Brazil. Negotiations on this issue are already underway with a wide range of Brazilian farmers, as EuroChem fertilizers are very attractive to them in terms of price and quality.
– We have operated in the Brazilian market since 2016 and are the fastest growing fertilizer company in South America. With the launch of the Salitry complex, our high-tech, high-performance fertilizers, adapted to Brazilian soils, will help Brazilian farmers increase their yields at lower costs. Thanks to Salitri production, Brazil will also be able to reduce its dependence on imported fertilizers, said Oleg Shiryaev, CEO of EuroChem, during the inauguration of the complex.
