Diversified miner Anglo American has signed a new polyhalite fertiliser agreement with Cefetra Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of BayWa, further reinforcing the companies’ European partnership.

Cefetra Group is a European integrated agribusiness with access to a network of customers across the agricultural supply chain and a logistics platform across Europe with direct access to the farmgate.

The new agreement builds on the over 300 commercial demonstrations and promotional events jointly conducted in Europe over the last five years that delivered positive results and generated strong interest in Anglo’s POLY4 product, the miner notes.

POLY4 is the commercial name for Anglo’s granular multi-nutrient, low-carbon polyhalite fertiliser product.

Anglo is developing its next generation of FutureSmart mine at Woodsmith – a low environmental-impact underground mine in the north-east of England to access the world’s largest known deposit of the natural polyhalite product.

The agreement with Cefetra will provide Anglo with greater control of its commercial strategy for POLY4 in Europe, with Cefetra supplying marketing, distribution and supply chain management services expertise, thereby allowing Anglo to maximise the value and pricing potential from European POLY4 sales when its Woodsmith project comes online.

“Cefetra, and more broadly BayWa, have been involved in the Woodsmith project since 2019 and I’m delighted to strengthen this valuable strategic partnership.

“Cefetra has long-term and trusted relationships with farmers, cooperatives, food value chain companies and retailers, as well as the extensive sales platforms and logistics capabilities that are important for success in Europe, which we expect to be one of the largest and most valuable regions for our organic, low carbon POLY4 fertiliser,” says Anglo Crop Nutrients CEO Tom McCulley.

“This agreement reflects our improved understanding of the demand opportunity for polyhalite and is a great vote of confidence in POLY4’s potential from one of Europe’s largest and most recognised agribusinesses.

“This is the latest in a series of improvements we have made to our commercial arrangements to meet expected demand and achieve favourable returns for investors as swiftly as possible when production begins,” he adds.

Anglo says the European fertiliser sector is advanced, with strong demand for large volumes of high-performance products.

Also, increasing environmental pressures, expectations and targets from within the agricultural supply chain present significant opportunities to attract premiums for products that can deliver environmental value, the company avers.

Anglo expects POLY4 to benefit from this trend owing to its low carbon footprint and suitability for lower-emission, nature-positive farming practices.

“This new agreement demonstrates our shared commitment to delivering more sustainable solutions for farmers across Europe. By using our extensive supply chain network and marketing POLY4 effectively, we believe we can help Anglo to optimise its entry into Europe and drive incremental value for our respective businesses,” says Cefetra CEO Daan Vriens.

“POLY4 is a new and differentiated fertiliser which fits with our vision of how we expect farming practices and products to change in the coming decades, in the face of productivity and environmental challenges.

“Together with Anglo, we have engaged with several major companies and other stakeholders in the food supply chain to better understand the solutions required. We are delighted to renew our commitment to a product which will further support our business in Europe, a region that rightly demands products which deliver strong yield and environmental performance at scale,” he adds.