Brazil Potash plans IPO to finance $2.5bn Autazes project

Brazil Potash, the company behind Potássio do Brasil, plans to launch an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange to fund its $2.5 billion Autazes potash project in Brazil’s Amazonas state.

The company has filed a preliminary prospectus for the offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co, Banco Bradesco BBI, Freedom Capital Markets, Roth Capital Partners, and Clarksons Securities have been appointed to coordinate the IPO.

Details such as the number of shares to be offered, the amount to be raised, and the timing of the IPO have not been disclosed.

“The company’s choice to do an IPO on the US stock exchange is because this will give the company greater visibility to attract global investors to its operations, much more than if it opted to list its shares on the Brazilian stock market,” mining consultant Pedro Galdi told BNamericas.

“Furthermore, the scenarios for equity markets in the US and Brazil are pointing in opposite directions. In the US, there is an expectation of a reduction in interest rates in the coming months, which favors investment in shares, while in Brazil, where interest rates remain high, there is an expectation of new increases in interest rates in the coming months, in light of future inflationary pressures,” he said. 

The Autazes project

The funds will cover additional engineering and essential test work for critical items like shaft sinking and power transmission lines, as well as engineering for necessary permits and applications for its ts Autazes project.

Brazil Potash began construction in May on the Silvinita mine in Autazes after it received six more licences from the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute, the agency responsible for environmental licensing in the state of Amazonas.

The project is pegged to be the largest fertilizer mine in Latin America within the Amazon rainforest.

Production is expected to start in 2026 with an initial output sufficient to cover about 20% of Brazil’s potash needs. The project capacity will be 2.2 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year, the company estimates.

The project, which could reduce Brazilian agriculture’s 90% dependence on imported potash, has been held up for years due to opposition from indigenous Mura people, who say they have not been consulted about the use of their ancestral lands.