Agrium

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Agrium Inc.
Company type Public
TSX: AGU
NYSE: AGU
(until December 2017)
IndustryChemicals, Agriculture
Founded1931;93 years ago (1931)
DefunctDecember 2017 (2017-12)
FateMerged with PotashCorp
Successor Nutrien
Headquarters Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Victor J. Zaleschuk (director and chairman of the board)
Chuck Magro (CEO)
Products Agriculture
RevenueIncrease2.svgUS$16.0 billion(2014) [1]
Increase2.svgUS$3.6 billion(2014) [1]
Increase2.svgUS$720 million(2014) [1]
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$17.1 billion(2014) [1]
Total equity Increase2.svgUS$6.7 billion(2014) [1]
Number of employees
15,500 (2014) [1]
Divisions Agrium Retail
Agrium Wholesale
Subsidiaries Agrium U.S.
Website agrium.com

Agrium Inc. was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in North America.

Contents

In 2018, Agrium merged with PotashCorp to form Nutrien. [2]

History

Agrium was founded as Cominco Fertilizers (short for Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company [3] ) in 1931 and changed its name to Agrium in 1995. Agrium was headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Crop Production Services, Inc., a subsidiary company, was based in Loveland, Colorado and was the location of Agrium's Retail Business Unit head office. The company was a part-owner of Canpotex, which manages all potash exporting from Saskatchewan. [4]

On September 12, 2016, Agrium announced that it had agreed to merge with PotashCorp, which will make the combined company, Nutrien, the largest producer of potash and second-largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer worldwide. [5] [6] [7] Agrium divested certain U.S. assets. [8] The merger closed on January 1, 2018. [2]

Business units

Agrium operated in two business segments: [9]

Retail

Agrium operated close to 1,500 retail agricultural centres in the U.S., Canada, South America and Australia under the brand names Crop Production Services (CPS), Crop Production Services Canada (CPSC), Agroservicios Pampeanos S.A. and Landmark. [10] Crop Production Services was acquired in 1994.

On December 3, 2010, Agrium announced the completion of the acquisition of the Australian Wheat Board for a total acquisition price of $1.236-billion Australian dollars. [11] This acquisition added to the retail division of Agrium. Roughly 40% of the AWB holdings were sold to Cargill, including the Commodity Management Business. [12]

In October 2013, Agrium announced the acquisition of Viterra's Canadian retail assets, [13] after previously acquiring Viterra's retail locations in Australia. [14]

Wholesale

Industrial pier at a currently out-of-service Agrium fertilizer plant in Nikiski, Alaska. Under the pier, Nikiski.jpg
Industrial pier at a currently out-of-service Agrium fertilizer plant in Nikiski, Alaska.

The Wholesale segment produced nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and sulphur-based fertilizers. This segment also owned and operated a potash mine and production facility in the Rural Municipality of Vanscoy No. 345 in Saskatchewan, Canada, and a phosphate mine in Conda, Idaho, U.S.[ citation needed ]

The Wholesale segment engaged in the ownership of nitrogen-based fertilizer plants in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, and in Damietta, Egypt.[ citation needed ]

Environmental and social impacts

In 2003, Agrium was issued an administrative compliance order for excessive emissions at a Kennewick, Washington plant. [15] Agrium discovered the violations at the Kennewick facility through a comprehensive Clean Air Act audit of the facility in late 2000. Agrium promptly reported the audit findings to EPA under EPA's policy on Incentives for Self-Policing, also referred to as the "Self-Disclosure Policy".[ citation needed ] In 2005, Agrium was fined for failure to disclose release of toxic gases at this same plant. [16]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potash</span> Salt mixture

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Charles Victor "Chuck" Magro is a Canadian business executive who is the current CEO of Corteva Agriscience. Magro is the former CEO and President of Nutrien. He was the president of Agrium from January 2014 until it completed its merger with PotashCorp to form Nutrien. Prior to his appointment he served as COO from 2012 to 2013, Chief Risk Officer from February 2012 to October 2012, and as Vice President of Manufacturing 2009–2012. Prior to his time at Agrium he was an executive at Nova Chemicals. He holds a degree from University of Waterloo, and holds an MBA from University of Windsor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nutrien</span> Canadian fertilizer company

Nutrien is a Canadian fertilizer company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is the largest producer of potash, third largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer in the world and generally the 2nd largest in fertilizers worldwide. It has over 2,000 retail locations across North America, South America, and Australia with more than 23,500 employees. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of $34 billion as of January 2018. It was formed through the merger of PotashCorp and Agrium, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Annual Report 2014". Archived from the original on March 27, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Merger of PotashCorp and Agrium finalized as shares in Nutrien start trading". CBC News. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  3. "Vanishing B.C. "Blaylock Estate"".
  4. "Canpotex Limited - Complete Profile". Industry Canada. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  5. MacPherson, Alex (June 21, 2017). "'Something forward-thinking, with the promise of innovation': PotashCorp, Agrium to merge as Nutrien". The StarPhoenix . Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  6. "Agrium-PotashCorp merger could signal 'next great frontier,' Calgary chamber president says". CBC News. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  7. "Potash Corp., Agrium agree to merger that would create $36B agriculture giant". CBC News . September 12, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  8. "Agrium sells U.S. plants to ease Potash Corp merger concerns". BNN. November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  9. "Agrium - My Pick In The Fertilizer Sector". SeekingAlpha. November 4, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  10. "Agrium Annual Report 2014". Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  11. "Agrium completes acquisition of AWB" . Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  12. "Agrium Sells AWB Commodity Management Business to Cargill" . Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  13. "AGCanada". May 22, 2023.
  14. "Glencore sale of Viterra farm outlets to Agrium wins Canadian regulatory nod". Reuters . September 5, 2013.
  15. Agrium U.S. faces Clean Air Act violations in Kennewick | Newsroom | US EPA
  16. Kennewick Fertilizer Plant Issued $24,575 Penalty for Late Reporting of Hazardous Gas Release | Newsroom | US EPA

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