About Yara International ASA

Yara International ASA, a chemical company, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of nitrogen chemicals worldwide. The company converts energy, natural minerals and nitrogen from the air into essential products for farmers and industrial customers. It supplies mineral fertilizers and agronomic solutions. It produces ammonia, nitrates, NPK, specialty fertilizers and nitrogen applications. Segments The company operates in three segments: Downstream; Upstream; and Industrial. Downstream The Downstream Segment consists of the company’s worldwide marketing organization and global distribution network for fertilizer products and agronomic solutions. With a global network of sales offices, terminals and warehouses, Downstream is present in approximately 50 countries and sells to approximately 120 countries. The segment also includes smaller production facilities upgrading intermediate products to finished fertilizers, which are primarily marketed in the regions where production takes place. The segment offers differentiated fertilizer products and services, covering both commodity and high-value crop segments. The segment offers standard nitrogen products to crop nutrition solutions. Industrial The Industrial Segment develops and sells chemical products and industrial gases to non-fertilizer market segments. Industrial offers nitrogen chemicals, including ammonia derived products, as well as industrial explosives and environmental applications. Sales of nitrogen chemicals to the European process industry and the global industrial explosives industry constitute the segments main markets, while sales of chemicals for environmental applications is the main growth segment. The segment offers nitrogen products to the chemical and civil explosives industries; and industrial gases and CO2 for the food and beverage industries. Upstream The Upstream Segment comprises ammonia and urea production in different parts of the world, phosphate mining, the global trade and shipping of ammonia, as well as nitrate and NPK fertilizer production co-located with ammonia production and is serving both the domestic and international markets. It also produces phosphoric acid and feed phosphates. The Upstream segment includes its major equity accounted investees (Qatar Fertiliser Company, Tringen, GrowHow UK Limited, Burrup Holdings Pty Ltd. and Rossosh). Investments The company has 25 % ownership stake in Qatar Fertiliser Company (S.A.Q.), (Qafco), which owns and operates a fertilizer complex. Qafco operates 4 ammonia plants and 4 urea plants. QAFCO has ownership interests in Gulf Formaldehyde Company (70 percent), which produces and sells Urea Formaldehyde Concentrate, mainly used in the urea production process, and in Qatar Melamine Company (60 percent) having under construction at the Qafco site a melamine plant with a capacity of 60,000 tonnes per year. The company has a 49 % ownership stake in Tringen, which owns and operates an Ammonia complex. Tringen operates two separate plants for production of Ammonia. The company has a 50 % ownership in Carbonor S.p.A, which manages two ships on time charter contracts with Yara in 2008. The company has a 50/50 joint venture agreement with NutriSi and formed NU3, which owns and operates two specialty fertilizers production facilities, one in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. Synagri LP provides product and services to the retail agricultural sector. The company has a 50 % ownership in Synagri. The joint venture sells in the Canadian provinces of Eastern Ontario and Quebec. The company owns 30 percent of OAO Minudobrenyia (Yaibera), a Russian nitrogen fertilizer producer based in Rossosh in the Voronesh region. The company owns 50 percent of Geneva-based Balderton Fertilizers SA (Balderton). Balderton is a fertilizer and ammonia trading company in Europe. The company has a 50 percent interest in GrowHow UK Limited a joint venture company with Terra Industries Inc., which manufactures ammonium nitrate and compound fertilisers, and supplies for process chemicals and utilities. The company has a 50 percent interest in Yara Praxair Holding AS a joint venture company with Praxair, Inc. Yara Praxair is an industrial gases company in Scandinavia. The company supplies atmospheric, process and speciality gases to various industries: Food and beverages, healthcare, fish farming, chemicals, refining, primary metals and metal fabrication as well as other areas of general industry. The joint venture comprises the company’s previous industrial gases business located in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. In May 2008, the company purchased 25 percent of Agrico Canada Ltd, a supplier of fertilizer products and services in Canada and the U.S.A. Agrico Canada owns 5 storage terminals, including one deep-water facility, and leases a further 5 terminals for a total storage capacity of 235,000 tons. Acquisitions In October 2008, the company acquired the Canadian nitrogen producer Saskferco. Dispositions In April, the company sold the Koping supply activities to Brenntag Nordic AB and the Tertre supply activities to Brenntag NV. It also sold 50% share in China BlueChemical Ltd; and its indirect holding in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, S.A.