Agrium Inc. is a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North and South America, a leading global wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and the premier supplier of specialty fertilizers in North America through its Advanced Technologies business unit.

Agrium was founded as Cominco Fertilizers, Ltd. in 1931 and changed its name to Agrium, Inc. in 1995. Agrium is headquartered in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Agrium U.S. Inc., a subsidiary company, is based in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 and is the location of Agrium's retail head office. The company is a part-owner of Canpotex

Canpotex

Canpotex, short for Canadian Potash Exporters , is a Canadian potash exporting and marketing firm, incorporated in 1970 and operating since 1972. Based in Saskatchewan, Canpotex manages the entire Saskatchewan potash exporting industry , including transportation and delivery...

, which manages all potash exporting from Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

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Retail

Agrium operates close to 500 retail agricultural centres in the U.S. and South America under the brand names Western Farm Service, Crop Production Services, and Agroservicios Pampeanos S.A.

On December 3, 2010 Agrium announced the completion of the acquisition of the Australian Wheat Board for a total acquisition price of $1.236-billion Australian dollars. This acquisition additions to the retail division of Agrium. Roughly 40% of the AWB holdings were sold to Cargill

Cargill

Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...

 including the Commodity Management Business.

Wholesale

The Wholesale segment provides nitrogen-based fertilizers, sulphur, and phosphate-based fertilizers. This segment also engages in the ownership and operation of potash

Potash

Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...

 mine and production facility at Vanscoy No. 345, Saskatchewan

Vanscoy No. 345, Saskatchewan

The Rural Municipality of Vanscoy No. 345, Saskatchewan is located southwest of the city of Saskatoon, Canada. It was established December 13, 1909. Before 1935 it was known as the Rural Municipality Number 345 of Richland and then was absorbed into Loganton on October 16, 1909 and into Vanscoy on...

, Canada, and phosphate mines in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, and in Conda, Idaho, US.

The Wholesale segment engages in the ownership of nitrogen-based fertilizer plant in Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...

, Argentina. Expansion of a production facility in Damietta, Egypt, is projected to be completed in 2012.

Agrium Advanced Technologies

The Agrium Advanced Technologies segment focuses on environmentally friendly, controlled release fertilizer technologies. It produces micronutrients as well as specialty products for consumer, professional turf, horticulture and agricultural markets. Agrium is an international supplier of specialty products for the agricultural market. This segment markets its products through a network of distributors in Canada and the US.

Environmental and social impacts

In 2006 the U.S. EPA fined Agrium US$750,000 for violations of the Clean Air Act. Unpermitted modifications to the Ohio nitrogen products plant resulted in excessive releases of NOx. The US EPA report states that these nitrogen oxides "cause severe respiratory problems, contribute to childhood asthma, acid rain, climate change, smog and haze, and impairs visibility in national parks. Emissions from nitric acid plants can be carried significant distances downwind, causing air quality problems..." The plant in question was acquired in October 2006 during the takeover of Royster Clark.

In 2003 Agrium was issued an administrative compliance order for excessive emissions at a Kennewick plant. Agrium discovered the violations at the Kennewick facility through a comprehensive Clean Air Act audit of the facility in late 2000. Agrium promptly reported the audit findings to EPA under EPA’s policy on Incentives for Self-Policing, also referred to as the “Self-Disclosure Policy”. In 2005 Agrium was fined for failure to disclose release of toxic gases at this same plant.

An Agrium ammonia/urea plant is listed by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation as a contaminated site due to spillage of ammonia, arsenic, and other contaminants.

Awards

In October 2009, Agrium was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers

Canada's Top 100 Employers

Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...

 by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by Maclean's

Maclean's

Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...

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In October 2008, Agrium was named one of Alberta's Top Employers

Alberta's Top Employers

Alberta's Top Employers is a competition that recognizes the best workplaces in Alberta. Published annually since October 2005, the designation recognizes the Alberta employers that lead their peers in providing exemplary employee benefits and forward-thinking human resource programs...

 by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald

The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...

and the Edmonton Journal

Edmonton Journal

The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.-History:The Journal was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as a rival to Alberta's first newspaper, the 23-year-old...

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