CHS, the nation's largest agricultural cooperative, is partnering with a major phosphate fertilizer producer to build a fertilizer production facility in Louisiana by the end of the decade.

CHS CEO Jay Debertin told Brownfield that the joint venture is with Moroccan-based OCP.

"A company that focuses primarily in the production of phosphate fertilizer and all aspects associated with it. Morocco is home to really a large portion of the world's supply of phosphate so it makes for a great partner," Debertin said.

Morocco, along with China, holds the world's largest known phosphate rock reserves, and OCP is one of the world's leading phosphate fertilizer exporters. Domestic U.S. phosphate production is concentrated in Florida and Idaho, and the U.S. has relied on imports, including from Morocco, to help meet fertilizer demand in recent years.

He said the proposed plant in Waggaman, near the Port of New Orleans, would produce more than 1 million metric tons of phosphate-based fertilizer annually.

"And from that facility then we will ship (fertilizer) up the Mississippi River and get it out into the fields of America," Debertin said. Phosphate is one of the three primary crop nutrients, alongside nitrogen and potash, and is applied widely to corn, soybean, and other crops across the Midwest and Plains states.

According to Debertin, the project is currently in its permitting stage, with construction potentially starting in the first or second quarter of 2027 and plant operations beginning toward the end of 2028. The timeline and final go-ahead will depend on the permitting process, which remains underway.

Source: Brownfield Ag News