By Brazil Stock Guide – The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has finalized the $27 million sale of its Taquari-Vassouras potash mine in Rosário do Catete, Sergipe, to Brazil’s VL Mineração Ltda., part of the agribusiness group VL Holding. The transaction includes $12 million paid at closing, $10 million due in one year, and up to $5 million in contingent payments over six years. VL Mineração will also assume about $22 million in environmental and decommissioning liabilities associated with the site.
“This transaction advances our strategy of focusing on core operations and redeploying capital where we have a competitive advantage,” said Bruce Bodine, Mosaic’s President and CEO. The company said the deal allows it to concentrate resources in North America, while exiting a small-scale operation that had been idled since 2021 due to high extraction costs and limited reserves.
VL Holding CEO Daniel Moreira said the company intends to revitalize the mine and expand domestic potash output, betting on Brazil’s growing fertilizer demand. “We are confident the mine has exceptional production potential,” he said. The move comes amid Brazil’s ongoing dependence on imported fertilizers, with roughly 85% of the country’s potash needs still met by foreign suppliers — a strategic vulnerability highlighted during the global supply disruptions of 2022.
The Taquari-Vassouras mine was Brazil’s only domestic source of potash before its shutdown. Its revival under Brazilian ownership could modestly support the country’s National Fertilizer Plan, aimed at reducing import dependence and fostering domestic production capacity.
In October, Mosaic also completed the $111 million sale of its idled phosphate mine in Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, to Fosfatados Centro SPE Ltda., a company linked to agribusiness entrepreneur Rodolfo Galvani Júnior. The deal, which included $51 million upfront and installments over four years, marked the company’s full exit from mining in Brazil. Mosaic expects a book gain of $80–90 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 from that transaction.
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