Яра Интернэшнл: Норвежская химическая компанияның тарихы мен қызметі

Norwegian chemical company

Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash based mineral fertilizers, as well as complex and specialty mineral fertilizer products. The company was established in 1905 as Norsk Hydro — the world's first producer of mineral nitrogen fertilizers — and de merged as Yara International ASA on March 25, 2004. Yara is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has its headquarters in Oslo. The company has more than 17,000 employees, production sites on six continents, operations in more than 60 countries and sales to about 150 countries. The Norwegian government owns more than a third of Yara and is its largest shareholder.

The history of Yara dates back to the establishment of Norsk hydroelektiske kvelstoffaktieselskab, or Norsk Hydro, as it later became known, in December 1905 after nitrogen fertilizer was successfully produced at Notodden. Norsk Hydro was founded by Sam Eyde, Kristian Birkeland, and Marcus Wallenberg Sr In 1903, Birkeland and Eyde had developed direct nitrogen fixation, called the Birkeland–Eyde process, based on a method used by Henry Cavendish in 1784. The company used Norway's large hydroelectric energy resources to produce its first product. Between 1906 and 1919 Norsk Hydro built two hydroelectric power plants in Notodden and Rjukan. The company sent its first shipment to China in 1913.

Following the successful production of mineral fertilizer, the company expanded into other businesses such as oil and metals. In 1969, Norsk Hydro entered into its first joint venture, with authorities in Qatar. With access to a competitive source of gas and a strategic location in the Middle East, the joint venture opened up a global market for the company. Norsk Hydro was led by Johan Berthin Holte as CEO from 1967 until 1977. By the 1970s, the company was established in Asia, the Middle East and North America. The late 1970s to the mid 1980s was a period of rapid growth, through the acquisition of major fertilizer companies in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. At the end of the 1990s, the company was also established in Brazil and South Africa.

In Zambia, Yara acquired Greenbelt Fertilizers, a company with a strong footprint in Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. In September 2015, Svein Tore Holsether joined Yara as the company's new President and CEO. In 2015, the last Yara Prize was awarded before it was turned into the Africa Food Prize. The prize was launched in 2005. From 2016 and onwards, the Yara Prize has been turned into the Africa Food Prize, in collaboration with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). In February 2016 the two urea and two ammonia plants Yara has in Brega were operating at less than 50% of their capacity. In 2017, Yara ordered the , which will be the world's first autonomous ship. Entering service in 2018, it will be fully autonomous by 2020. In connection with the protests in Belarus in 2020, the opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called Yara International to stop working with Belarusian state owned company Belaruskali or to ensure that they respect workers' rights. The state owned company Belaruskali had previously fired employees who had taken part in strikes or demonstrations. In the course of this, Yara published a statement in which they called on the Belarusian state company to stop punishing workers. In the same year, Yara International partnered with the energy company EnergyNest AS to integrate a 4MWh thermal energy storage unit in their facility in Porsgrunn, Norway.

30% of the Russian fertilizer producer OAO Minudobreniya ("Rossosh"), bought in February 2005. In April 2006, an ammonia plant opened in Burrup, Australia. Yara presently holds a 35% stake and is involved in litigation with the other share holder, Pankaj Oswal. In July 2006, Yara bought a controlling interest in the Brazilian fertilizer distribution and marketing company Fertibras. In September 2006, Yara bought 50% of the Geneva based trading company Balderton Fertilisers SA. In May 2007, Yara bought 30.05% of Finnish fertilizer company Kemira GrowHow and successfully tendered an offer to buy the rest. In August 2007, Yara entered into a joint venture with Wilhelmsen Maritime Services that owned 50% of the Norwegian registered company Yarwil, which provides emission reduction systems for NOx emissions from ship engines. In July 2008, Yara entered into an agreement to acquire Canadian nitrogen producer SaskFerco, completing the deal in October 2008. Afterwards the fertilizer plant located in Belle Plaine began to operate as Yara Belle Plaine Inc.
50% of a fertiliser factory in Brega, owned by Yara as a result of its 50% stake in Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company (LIFECO). The co owners of LIFECO are the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) — each with 25%. In September 2009, Yara began construction of a new Urea7 factory at Sluiskil, in the Netherlands. In October 2009, Qafco, in which Yara has 25% equity interest, signed a letter of intent to build the Qafco 6 expansion project. The project included construction of a urea plant with a total daily production capacity of 3,850 tons. In January 2010, Yara acquired the remaining 50% of Balderton Fertilisers. In December 2012, Yara acquired Bunge Limited´s fertilizer blending facilities, brands, and warehouses in Brazil. Brazilian antitrust authorities, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense or Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica in Portuguese (CADE), approved the acquisition in May 2013. Yara and Bunge completed the transaction in August 2013. In October 2013, Yara acquired the remaining 50% of Yarwil, previously owned by Wilhelmsen Maritime Services through a joint venture with Yara. In November 2013, Yara acquired OFD Holding from Omimex Resources Inc. for fertilizer production facilities in Colombia and distribution companies in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Bolivia. This transaction further strengthened Yara's downstream footprint and growth platform in Latin America and was highly complementary to its recent acquisition of Bunge's fertilizer business in Brazil. Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company B. V., registered in the Netherlands, is co owned by Yara and "Libyan partners with close ties to Muammar Gaddafi and his clan" according to Dagens Næringsliv. Authorities have frozen the joint venture's bank accounts in the Netherlands. In 2018, Yara opened a logistics focused European Business Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2018, Yara opened its Myanmar office, hiring agronomists and commercial employees for its local operations. In December 2023, Yara acquired Agribios Italiana, an organic fertilizer business for an undisclosed amount.