AdvanSix Furthers Commitment to Sulfur Nutrition
AdvanSix (NYSE: ASIX) reinforces its leadership in ammonium sulfate with recent investments in soybean research and operational enhancements. The company has acquired assets from Commonwealth Industrial Services, boosting its ammonium sulfate packaging and logistics capabilities in North America. The production of granular ammonium sulfate has increased, targeting 65% of output in this higher-value form. With soybean prices at a seven-year high, AdvanSix emphasizes ammonium sulfate's critical role in crop yield enhancement, offering educational resources to growers.
- Acquisition of Commonwealth Industrial Services enhances packaging and logistics capabilities.
- Production target increased to 65% for higher-value granular ammonium sulfate.
- Soybean prices are at a seven-year high, providing a favorable market opportunity.
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AdvanSix (NYSE: ASIX) said today it continues to build on the company’s longstanding leadership and expertise in ammonium sulfate and sulfur nutrition while creating further opportunities for growth and efficiencies across the value chain. The company shared details of recent activities, including investment in soybean application research, marketing and grower education, operational improvements and the acquisition of certain assets of Commonwealth Industrial Services, Inc. (CIS), an ammonium sulfate packaging, warehousing and logistics services business based in Hopewell, Va.
“AdvanSix is a leader in plant nutrients, producing top-quality ammonium sulfate at our Hopewell facility – which is the largest single-site producer in the world – for nearly 70 years,” said Erin Kane, president and CEO of AdvanSix. “We continue to see increased demand for sulfur nutrition, and ammonium sulfate is proven to deliver pound-for-pound the most readily available sulfur and nitrogen to a wide variety of crops, including wheat, cotton, corn and soybeans. We remain committed to our growth in this area and to advancing grower education and research that validates the return on investment and effectiveness of ammonium sulfate to support the success of our customers.”
Value of Ammonium Sulfate on Soybeans
Today’s modern soybean varieties require better management of essential nutrients, like nitrogen and sulfur, throughout the planting season to maximize and enhance their yield potential.
Ammonium sulfate is an efficient, versatile and proven source of critical nutrients that substantially improve crop production, according to lab and field trials conducted by prominent university researchers. The company is now working to educate growers and retailers about these results, especially the benefits of ammonium sulfate, which adds sulfur and supplemental nitrogen to their soybean crop management plans. With soybean prices currently at a seven-year high and season ending stocks projected to be down over
Research has shown yield increases as much as 10 or more bushels per acre. These findings also demonstrate the importance of sulfur in improving plant health throughout the growing season, especially as clean air regulations have led to less sulfur in the air that is available to crops.
For more information on the value of Ammonium Sulfate for soybeans, visit soybeans.advansix.com.
Increase in Granular Grade Ammonium Sulfate
Operational excellence continues to be a key focus and priority for AdvanSix with initiatives underway targeting improvements in rate, cost, quality and yield. As a result of these efforts and recent enhancements in crystallizer technology and operations, the company is now producing more high-quality granular grade ammonium sulfate to meet the growing demand of our customers.
The company is now targeting conversion of approximately
Packaged Ammonium Sulfate
The recent acquisition of certain assets of CIS enables AdvanSix to expand its offering to directly supply packaged ammonium sulfate to customers, primarily in North and South America. It diversifies and optimizes our offerings to include spray-grade adjuvant to support crop protection, as well as other specialty fertilizers and products for industrial use. The company also expects the addition of packaging and warehousing capabilities to bolster logistics and operational efficiency in the Richmond, Va.-area plants.
“AdvanSix has been both a supplier to and customer of CIS for many years, and we understand the business well. This acquisition extends our industry-leading value chain for ammonium sulfate and creates further opportunities for us to quickly diversify and optimize our offerings to serve existing and new customers,” said Mike Hamilton, vice president, Plant Nutrients at AdvanSix.
About AdvanSix
AdvanSix is a leading manufacturer of Nylon 6, a polymer resin which is a synthetic material used by our customers to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics and films that, in turn, are used in such end-products as carpets, automotive and electronic components, sports apparel, food packaging and other industrial applications. As a result of our backward integration and the configuration of our manufacturing facilities, we also sell caprolactam, ammonium sulfate fertilizer, acetone and other intermediate chemicals, all of which are produced within unit operations across our integrated manufacturing value chain. More information on AdvanSix can be found at http://www.advansix.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," “outlook,” "project," "strategy," "intend," "plan," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "should" and "believe" and other variations or similar terminology and expressions. Although we believe forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict, which may cause the actual results or performance of the Company to be materially different from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: general economic and financial conditions in the U.S. and globally, including the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and any resurgences; the scope and duration of the pandemic and pace of recovery; the timing of the development and distribution of an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19; governmental, business and individuals’ actions in response to the pandemic, including our business continuity and cash optimization plans that have been, and may in the future be, implemented; the impact of social and economic restrictions and other containment measures taken to combat virus transmission; the effect on our customers’ demand for our products and our suppliers’ ability to manufacture and deliver our raw materials, including implications of reduced refinery utilization in the U.S.; our ability to sell and provide our goods and services, including as a result of travel and other COVID-19-related restrictions; the ability of our customers to pay for our products; and any closures of our and our customers’ offices and facilities; risks associated with increased phishing, compromised business emails and other cybersecurity attacks and disruptions to our technology infrastructure; risks associated with employees working remotely or operating with a reduced workforce; risks associated with our indebtedness including compliance with financial and restrictive covenants, and our ability to access capital on reasonable terms, at a reasonable cost or at all due to economic conditions resulting from COVID-19 or otherwise; the impact of scheduled turnarounds and significant unplanned downtime and interruptions of production or logistics operations as a result of mechanical issues or other unanticipated events such as fires, severe weather conditions, natural disasters and pandemics including the COVID-19 pandemic; price fluctuations, cost increases and supply of raw materials; our operations and growth projects requiring substantial capital; growth rates and cyclicality of the industries we serve including global changes in supply and demand; failure to develop and commercialize new products or technologies; loss of significant customer relationships; adverse trade and tax policies; extensive environmental, health and safety laws that apply to our operations; hazards associated with chemical manufacturing, storage and transportation; litigation associated with chemical manufacturing and our business operations generally; inability to acquire and integrate businesses, assets, products or technologies; protection of our intellectual property and proprietary information; prolonged work stoppages as a result of labor difficulties or otherwise; cybersecurity, data privacy incidents and disruptions to our technology infrastructure; failure to maintain effective internal controls; disruptions in transportation and logistics; our inability to achieve some or all of the anticipated benefits of our spin-off including uncertainty regarding qualification for expected tax treatment; fluctuations in our stock price; and changes in laws or regulations applicable to our business. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements. We identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our performance in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the risk factors in Part 1, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as updated in subsequent reports filed with the SEC.
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