Rossosh to boost fertilizer capacity after $1 billion investment

OAO Minudobreniya, the Russian fertilizer producer acquired by Arkady Rotenberg for $1 billion, plans to increase capacity as demand for crop nutrients grows.

The company, known as Rossosh, will add 500,000 metric tons of urea production capacity and may boost ammonia output by 50 percent to 1.5 million tons, Rotenberg’s press office said today in an e-mailed statement, without giving a timeframe.

Rotenberg, part-owner of Russian builder OAO Mostotrest and a judo partner of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, bought Rossosh in July as rising global food prices spurred crop-plantings and drove up fertilizer demand. Rotenberg also controls OOO Stroygazmontazh, a supplier of pipes to gas company OAO Gazprom.

Ammonia production at Rossosh may double in the “longer term” and urea volumes expand to 3 million tons, the press office said, citing comments from Rotenberg last week. Ammonia compounds are used to produce nitrogen fertilizers.

Rossosh, based in the central Russian city of the same name, sold 1.12 million tons of complex fertilizers last year. It sold 590,000 tons of ammonia and 538,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, and reported revenue of 18.9 billion rubles ($581 million), according to the company’s website.