Agrochemicals

Recent developments

Nitrogen capacity shifts

Brazil restored domestic nitrogen supply as Fafen‑BA and the Sergipe Nitrogenous Fertilizer Plant (Fafen‑SE) returned to service. OCI agreed to sell 50% of OCI Nitrogen to AGROFERT. At plant level, thyssenkrupp Uhde lifted İGSAŞ output, while pipelines include a urea‑to‑DEF plant in Hopewell and feasibility for Anglo American’s Woodsmith mining project.

Policy and market support

Policy support intensified as the European Commission adopted a Fertiliser Action Plan to secure supply, promote circular and low‑carbon fertilisers, and improve transparency. In parallel, multilateral development banks pledged coordinated support to address conflict‑related disruptions. The EU advanced carbon removals and carbon farming methodologies, opening certification and buyer aggregation.

Decarbonisation and circularity

Circularity advanced with LKAB’s permit for Luleå critical‑minerals industrial park to recover phosphorus and rare earths. QEMETICA launched a Resource Recovery business unit and tendered Poland’s largest waste‑to‑energy facility; EEW updated its Green Financing Framework to fund efficiency, recovery and CCUS. AGC’s agrochemical CDMO operations earned the Syngenta Supplier Award for Waste Reduction.

Biologicals and seeds

Crop inputs diversified: BASF commissioned the BioHub fermentation plant in Ludwigshafen to scale biological actives, introduced InVigor Gold L322 canola for arid U.S. acres, and partnered with Arva to supply verified low‑CI grain for 45Z credits. Early‑stage pipelines were backed by an EIB €300M loan with Limagrain and EIF’s anchor in Yield Lab Europe Fund 2.

Strategy and logistics

BASF outlined Winning Ways to simplify its core and restructure Ludwigshafen. Starck International is developing an agricultural terminal at North Sea Port to concentrate feed and residual flows. MAIRE reported ~€1.3bn in new awards, including urea licensing, while thyssenkrupp Polysius created thyssenkrupp Calvion to accelerate industrial CO2‑reduction technologies.