Friday July 20, 11:15 am Eastern Time
IMC resumes phosphate production at Louisiana plant
biz.yahoo.com
NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - IMC Global Inc. (NYSE:IGL - news) on Friday said it would resume production of Louisiana phosphate, used in making fertilizer, in order to meet domestic customer requirements.
The plant operated at reduced rates in 1999 and 2000 and has been idle since the start of 2001 due to low prices and high inventories of the commodity.
The production resumption includes the Uncle Sam, La., phosphoric acid (P205) plant and about two-thirds of the Faustina, La., diammonium phosphate (DAP) and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) granulation plant.
The Faustina ammonia plant, with annual capacity of 560,000 short tons, also is restarting.
Not included in the start-up is IMC's phosphoric acid plant at Faustina, with annual capacity of 570,000 short tons of P205, and the Taft, La., granulation facility. Including the remaining one-third of its granulation capacity at Faustina, about 25 percent of IMC's total DAP/MAP capacity remains shut down.
Production of Florida phosphate, which is exported primarily to China, is unaffected. |
