Itafos provided today an update on Itafos Conda’s previously announced reduced scope plant turnaround and announced a disruption in sulfuric acid supply to Itafos Conda from Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine.
The Company previously announced its decision to conduct a reduced scope plant turnaround at Itafos Conda during July 2020 as part of its risk mitigation measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduced scope plant turnaround focused on inspection, testing and preventative maintenance of critical equipment. Itafos Conda completed the reduced scope plant turnaround with no environmental releases or reportable injuries.
The Company further announced today that Itafos Conda has been experiencing a significant disruption in sulfuric acid supply from Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine. Itafos Conda fulfills approximately 40% of its sulfuric acid requirements from volumes produced internally and approximately 60% from a combination of volumes received from Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine under a long-term supply agreement and volumes procured from other third party producers. On August 18, 2020, Rio Tinto announced that its Kennecott mine in Utah has experienced delays to the restart of the smelter. According to the announcement, such delays to the restart of the smelter are due to unexpected issues that appeared following planned maintenance. Rio Tinto further announced that they are working closely with their customers to limit any disruptions and expect to have the smelter fully operational in two months.
The Company has been and will continue working to mitigate potential adverse effects of the disruption in sulfuric acid supply to Itafos Conda from Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine. In addition, the Company is evaluating the overall expected impact of such sulfuric acid supply disruption and expects to provide an update on its guidance for 2020 in parallel with reporting its Q2 2020 financial results and operational highlights.
About Itafos
The Company is a pure play phosphate and specialty fertilizer platform with an attractive portfolio of strategic businesses and projects located in key fertilizer markets, including North America, South America and Africa.
The Company’s businesses and projects are as follows:
For more information, or to join the Company’s mailing list to receive notification of future news releases, please visit the Company’s website at www.itafos.com.
For further information, please contact:
Itafos Investor Relations
investor@itafos.com
www.itafos.com