Major global fertilizer producer EuroChem has boosted its distribution network in the US with the acquisition of Trammo’s dry and liquid fertilizer transport and storage assets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The purchase enables the Swiss-based group to strengthen its presence in western Canada and on the US east coast. EuroChem now operates 25 warehouses in the US with a storage capacity of about 500,000 t.

“The agreement with Trammo will substantially increase our storage capacity, while also broadening our geographic reach,” said Charlie Bendana, managing director of EuroChem North America. “It will support the ongoing expansion of our US business, allowing us to fulfil growing demand from local farmers for high-quality fertilizers.”

The US market accounted for about 11% of EuroChem group sales in 2017. The company expanded in the US in October 2015 with the acquisition of fertilizer distribution business BenTrei. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, BenTrei distributes a variety of dry fertilizer and feed products across the key agricultural regions in the US, notably from Texas and the Louisiana delta in the south, across the Corn Belt in the Midwest and west to California.

In separate news, EuroChem has officially opened a new fertilizer production plant at its Lifosa subsidiary in Lithuania.

The plant, which cost $16 million to build, produces 25,000 t/y of crystalline urea phosphate, adding to existing production of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and water-soluble crystal monoammonium phosphate (MAP).

Test runs began in September and the plant will ramp up to full production by the end of this year.