Winnipeg | Reuters — North America’s regulations for handling ammonium nitrate, a potentially explosive product used in fertilizer and in the mining industry, are the strictest in the world, the CEO of Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien said Tuesday. An ammonium nitrate stockpile exploded last week in Beirut killing at least 171 people, injuring 6,000 and […] Read more
North American ammonium nitrate laws best in world, Nutrien CEO says
Who owned the chemicals that blew up Beirut? No one will say
The fertilizer's Georgian producer has since been dissolved; the ship that brought it to Lebanon sank in 2018
Moscow/Dubai/London | Reuters — In the murky story of how a cache of highly explosive ammonium nitrate ended up on the Beirut waterfront, one thing is clear — no one has ever publicly come forward to claim it. There are many unanswered questions surrounding last week’s huge, deadly blast in the Lebanese capital, but ownership […] Read more
Nutrien cuts profit forecast on weak ammonia prices
Reuters — Canadian fertilizer maker Nutrien on Monday cut its annual adjusted profit forecast as weaker-than-normal industrial demand held back prices for ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate. The company cut the top end of its 2020 adjusted earnings per share forecast to $1.90 from $2.10 earlier, while retaining the lower end at $1.50. Even as […] Read more
Missing Beirut silo worker’s family clings to hope
Beirut | Reuters — Before he went missing on Aug. 4, Ghassan Hasrouty, an employee of Beirut’s giant grain silos for 38 years, thought he was working in the safest place in the city. The reinforced concrete walls and underground rooms were his shelter for many days during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. He used to […] Read more
Wheat in Beirut’s port granaries not usable
Lebanon will import wheat, economy minister says
Cairo | Reuters — Lebanon’s economy minister, Raoul Nehme, told local media on Tuesday that the wheat in Beirut’s port granaries cannot be used and that the ministry lost track of seven employees in the granaries. The minister also told local media that Lebanon will import wheat and added that the country currently has enough […] Read more
Turkey bans ammonium nitrate sales after bomb attacks
Istanbul | Reuters — Turkey has banned the sale of fertilizers containing ammonium nitrate, which can be used in explosives, after at least half a dozen car bomb attacks this year, the agriculture minister said on Thursday. The move comes after 11 people including six police officers were killed on Tuesday in a car bomb […] Read more
Texas fertilizer plant blast deemed criminal act
Reuters — A blast that killed 15 people three years ago triggered by a fire at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas was a criminal act, a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigator said Wednesday. ATF Special Agent in Charge Rob Elder said a reward of up to US$50,000 was being offered […] Read more
Local planning faulted in Texas fertilizer site explosion
Reuters — An explosion at a Texas fertilizer storage facility in 2013 that killed 15 people likely happened because the owner of the site kept combustible material near a 30-ton pile of ammonium nitrate, according to a report released by the federal Chemical Safety Board on Monday. The April 17, 2013 blast was especially deadly […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
