2000: Acquiring Adubos Trevo in Brazil

At the end of the 1990s, Hydro Agri started to improve its position in the Brazilian fertilizer market, buying two new blending plants in addition to two plants already acquired.

The most important breakthrough came in 2000, with the acquisition of the Porto Alegre based fertilizer company Adubos Trevo.

Hydro acquired a 58 percent shareholding in Adubos Trevo..While Hydro stands for solidity and long-term policy, Trevo has got a strong position in the domestic market, and was favorably positioned when it comes to logistics.

Trevo is one of the biggest fertilizer companies in Brazil, with an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tons and a market share of around 9 percent of domestic marketing (11 percent when trade is included). At the time of the acquisition, Hydro Agri had more than 20 years of experience in the Brazilian fertilizer market and a growth record that is superior to its main competitors.   

In 2001, fertilizer consumption in Brazil was 16.6 million metric tons, compared to 14.6 million tons two years before, making it the world's fourth-largest fertilizer consumer. Around 50 percent is imported.

The optimism of fertilizer traders and producers in Brazil   was based on official facts and figures. Brazil has the world's third-largest cultivated area and the largest potential for growth.

A year after the acquisition, Thorleif Enger, the CEO of Hydro Agri, could state expectations had been met. And positive developments continued in the years that followed.