Modeling with New Disclosures Linking Price & Drivers to Financial Results
Phosphates sulfur
The company uses sulfur to create sulfuric acid. The process is exothermic, and cogenerates electricity for the company's chemical plants and phosphate mines.
The sulfuric acid is used to create phosphoric acid from the phosphate rock.
At the plant, it takes approximately 1 tonne of sulfur and 3.6 tonnes phosphate rock to create 1 tonne of phosphoric acid.
The company uses two sources of sulfur, molten and prilled.
The company can take molten sulfur directly from gulf refineries and transportit cross gulf in special barges, then to the chemical plants in specially designed trucks.
The molten sulfur must be heated to be kept in the liquid state.
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It takes ~.46 tonnes of phosphoric acid to create a tonne of DAP, ~.52 tonnes to create a tonne of MAP, and averages ~.38 tonnes to create a tonne of
Micro Essentials.
Prilled sulfur is delivered in the solid form, then melted for use. Because of the energy used to transform it to molten sulfur, the costs are about $50/tonne higher
than molten by the time it is used in production, but may vary depending on the cost differential between prilled and molten.
The company uses 10 - 20 percent prilled sulfur, depending upon availability of molten sulfur.
The company has storage capacity for ~35 days of production for molten sulfur at the port and chemical plants, and ~15 days of prilled, however the company only used
10 to 20 percent prilled in production. In 2021, the company does not expect to use full storage capacity for sulfur due to the impact of Covid-19 on oil refining.
If there is no need for use of prilled, the realization of prilled sulfur cost may be even further delayed, as the company can easily store solid sulfur.
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The market price benchmark for sulfur reflects the molten, delivered Tampa price. By the time it is realized in COGS, there is an additional $25 - $30/tonne cost of
logistics.
Sulfur
Pricing to Receipt
(~50 days)
Raw material
inventory (~30 days)
Finished Goods
Inventory (~42 days)
Total days
Pricing ->
Realized
(122 days)
Mosaic
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