Mosaic aims to restore fertilizer output in '25

Market: Fertilizers
03/03/25

North American fertilizer producer Mosaic aims to complete maintenance at its assets in early 2025 and restore potash and phosphate production in line with historical levels following several disruptions to output in 2024.

The producer forecasts its potash production to rise to a range of 8.7-9.1mn metric tonnes (t) in 2025, up from 8.7mn t in 2024. The company forecast phosphate production to rise to 7.4-7.6mn t in 2025 from 6.4mn t in 2024.

The increased potash production will partly stem from the company's 400,000t Hydrofloat expansion at the Esterhazy mine in Canada's Saskatchewan province that Mosaic anticipates completing later this year.

Mosaic also hopes to increase production following some maintenance work at its facilities, which will bring the company's capital expenditures for 2025 in line with 2024 levels at about $1.25bn.

The producer has an ongoing turnaround at its sulfuric acid unit at its Bartow, Florida, phosphate processing plant that Mosaic expects to complete later this week. All sulfuric acid plants across Florida and Louisiana are back to doing turnarounds every three years, after the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted its maintenance schedule, the company said. The New Wales, Florida, plant brought forward some work at its phosphoric acid unit to address lingering reliability issues there that reduced output in 2024. The work at New Wales should increase Mosaic's production in the back half of the year, Mosaic said.

Mosaic lost 700,000t of phosphate production and 250,000t of potash production in 2024 from operational and weather-related issues at its facilities, the company said. Back-to-back hurricanes impacting Florida in October contributed to the reduction in phosphate output. Electrical issues at the Esterhazy and Colonsay mines in Saskatchewan disrupted potash production in the third quarter. The company said it has recently operated both facilities at full capacity.

Separately, Mosaic plans to finish the development of its 1mn t/yr blending plant in Palmeirante, Brazil, in 2025 as well.

By Calder Jett

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