Good afternoon and welcome to the Brazil Potash conference call to discuss the recently announced Memorandum of Understanding with Fictor Energia. This call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ashish Gupta, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call to discuss our transformational Memorandum of Understanding with Fictor Energia for the construction and financing of our power transmission infrastructure. With me today is Matt Simpson, our Chief Executive Officer, who will provide an overview of this significant milestone and its strategic implications for Brazil Potash. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. We refer you to our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Matt.
Thank you, Ashish, and good afternoon to everyone joining us today. I'm pleased to share details about what we believe represents a watershed moment in Brazil Potash's development journey. The Memorandum of Understanding we signed with Fictor Energia on July 14th is far more than a typical infrastructure partnership. It's a comprehensive validation of our project's value and a critical de-risking milestone that fundamentally transforms our path to production. I'm going to structure my remarks today around five key areas. Number one, the strategic context and why this infrastructure partnership is transformational for our project economics. Second, the nature of the Fictor Energia partnership and its immediate impact on our capital structure. Third, how this agreement positions us within the broader project development timeline. Fourth, the current market dynamics that make this announcement particularly timely. Finally, our clear pathway forward in upcoming catalysts.
Following my remarks, we'll open the line for your questions. Let me start by providing context on why this announcement is so significant. As many of you know, Brazil Potash is developing the Autazes Potash Project, which aims to address Brazil's critical vulnerability in food security. Brazil imports more than 95% of its potash, making it the world's largest importer of this essential fertilizer, 48% of which is produced in countries sanctioned or at war, including Russia, Belarus, and Israel. Our project is positioned to supply approximately 17% of Brazil's current demand once operational, producing up to 2.4 million short tons annually. Tariffs imposed by U.S. President Trump have caused massive trade flow rebalances that have largely benefited Brazil as one of the world's largest agricultural exporters. Brazil, as the largest agricultural exporter to China, has particularly benefited given U.S.-China tariffs.
However, the potential 100% tariff in 50 days on importers of Russian products will have negative global ramifications on food supply and cost, as Russia supplies approximately 19% of seaborne potash, including approximately 28% of Brazil's current imports, further reinforcing the importance of domestic potash production in Brazil. What truly differentiates Brazil Potash is our sustainable cost advantage. While other suppliers must ship potash 9,000 mi- 12,000 mi to reach Brazilian farmers, our project sits just 5 mi from a major inland river system. This proximity allows us to deliver potash to Brazilian farmers at a cost estimated to be approximately 71% lower than imported alternatives. The only major offsite infrastructure requirement for our project is a power transmission line. At approximately 102 mi in length, connecting our site to Brazil's electricity grid, this infrastructure represents a critical component of our development plan.
This partnership with Fictor Energia addresses this infrastructure requirement, effectively removing this $200 million capital requirement from our project costs while securing renewable energy for decades to come. The partnership with Fictor Energia is both comprehensive and strategic. Fictor Energia, part of the infrastructure division of Fictor Group, is one of Brazil's leading private equity firms. It brings not only capital but also deep expertise in Brazilian infrastructure development and operations. Under the terms of the MOU, Fictor Energia will undertake complete development, permitting, construction, and operation of the power transmission infrastructure through a build-own-operate-transfer model. This structure provides several key advantages. First, Fictor assumes full responsibility for the approximately $200 million in power transmission capital expenditure. This represents roughly 8% of our total project construction cost, a significant reduction in our funding requirements.
Second, the partnership ensures delivery of 300 MW per year of electricity, with approximately 80% sourced from Brazil's renewable grid. This aligns perfectly with our commitment to developing a sustainable, low-carbon operation that supports both environmental goals and long-term cost competitiveness. Third, after 25 years of operation, ownership of the electrical power line and associated substation will transfer to Brazil Potash, providing us with a valuable long-term asset at no additional cost. Beyond the infrastructure partnership, Fictor Energia has committed to a $20 million strategic equity investment in Brazil Potash, structured in two tranches. The first tranche of $2 million will be invested upon signing of the definitive partnership agreement expected later this year, with the remaining $18 million to follow upon receipt of the power transmission line installation license. Notably, we believe Fictor Energia's partnership and strategic equity investment represent a powerful third-party validation of our project's intrinsic value.
The impact of this partnership on our capital structure cannot be overstated. By removing $200 million from our construction budget, we've effectively reduced our project financing needs by approximately 8%. This makes our conversations with potential lenders, export credit agencies, and strategic partners significantly more attractive. Furthermore, Brazil Potash continues to explore similar carve-out opportunities for other project components. We're in active discussions with the groups interested in financing discrete portions of our construction program, including potentially the steam plant, trucking from the plant to the port, and the port facility itself. Each successive carve-out further de-risked the project and reduces our overall financing burden. I want to emphasize that this announcement comes at a time when we're making excellent progress across multiple fronts. Since our April business update call, we've continued to advance site preparation activities, including fauna rescue and vegetation suppression work.
We continue to strengthen our commercial position through active discussions with multiple offtake partners. Our existing agreement with the Amaggi Group for 550,000 tons per year represents a solid foundation. Furthermore, our MOU with Keytrade for up to 1 million tons per year demonstrates strong market interest and brings our total potential contract volume to approximately 1.5 million tons out of our planned 2.4 million tons of annual production. We are close to finalizing bonding contracts with Keytrade and expect to announce this in the coming months. Additionally, we are in advanced negotiations with other parties and expect to announce further bonding offtake commitments of roughly 2 million- 2.2 million tons well prior to the end of this year. The level of interest from potential customers remains strong, reflecting the strategic value of having a reliable in-country potash supply source.
Our relationship with government stakeholders at the federal, state, and local levels continues to deepen. The recent site visit by federal and state officials where they toured our project area and witnessed firsthand the strong local support underscores the critical importance of our project for both Brazilian food security and regional economic development. It's worth noting that this announcement from Fictor comes at a time when potash market fundamentals are strengthening. Prices have revisited after a period of volatility, currently trading at $365 a ton, with forward contracts of $370 a ton. Market dynamics, including ongoing geopolitical constraints and depleted stockpiles, should provide additional near-term price support. More importantly, the long-term fundamentals for potash remain exceptionally strong, particularly for in-country production like ours that can serve the world's largest import market with a significant logistics advantage.
Looking ahead, Fictor Energia will immediately begin preliminary engineering and regulatory processes for the power line construction. We expect to execute the definitive agreements in due time, subject to customary conditions and due diligence. Our focus over the next 12 months remains on several core objectives. First, advancing site preparation for shaft sinking and the start of front-end engineering design. Second, negotiating potential additional carve-out agreements potentially for the steam plant, port, and trucking. Third, securing at least two additional binding offtake agreements. Fourth, continuing dialogue with anchor equity investors and financial institutions for construction financing. Before I close, I want to again highlight that both our Chairman, Mayo Schmidt, and I have purchased shares in the open market, as disclosed in our regulatory filings. We believe the current stock price represents a significant disconnect from the project's intrinsic value, and we're putting our own capital behind that conviction.
In summary, I want to leave you with three key takeaways from this announcement. First, we've removed $200 million of capital requirements from our balance sheet while securing sustainable renewable energy for the life of our project. Second, the $20 million equity investment from a sophisticated Brazilian infrastructure investor provides powerful third-party validation at a critical time for our valuation. Third, this partnership creates a reputable template for additional infrastructure carve-outs that can further optimize our capital structure. We're building a project that addresses a critical need in global food security while creating substantial value for all stakeholders. With Fictor Energia as our power provider, we've taken a giant step towards making that vision a reality.
I'd like to thank our team for their tireless efforts in reaching this milestone, our partners for their confidence in our vision, and our shareholders for their continued support through what has been a challenging period in the public markets. With that, I'll turn the call back to the Operator to open the line for questions.
Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press *2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the * keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is from Joseph Reagor with Roth Capital Partners.
Hey, thanks, Matt and team, for the update and congrats on the deal. I had a couple of questions. I guess first, on it being an MOU versus a definitive agreement, is there a certain catalyst that will trigger it becoming a n MOU , or is it more a matter of like there's a couple of things that need to get done before you guys want to finalize it?
Hi, Joe. Great to have you on the line. With the MOU, I think it's important to emphasize that this is a very thorough document. All of the commercial terms, in terms of the investment, the construct of the line, the permitting, the engineering work, are all fleshed out in this MOU. In order to convert it to a binding document, we really just need to add some of the legal context around it. All of the commercial terms are finalized. There's nothing to be negotiated in that regard. I expect that's something that we can turn in a relatively short timeframe.
Okay. That's helpful. How do you see this impacting your operating cost assumptions with you guys having, you know, moving that off the CapEx side?
We don't see any impact on the operating costs. The contract for the energy is at market rate. Just to explain this a little bit further for the listeners, there's two components to this contract. One is the engineering, permitting, and construction of the power line, which will cost roughly around $200 million, and that'll be fully borne by Fictor Energia. What happens is over a 25-year period of time, we basically pay down their initial cost, plus give them a return on their investment. In addition to that, we'll then also pay for the electricity that's actually consumed at market rates. From a financing standpoint, this is really attractive because it's like taking $200 million out of our $2.5 billion and having it fully financed by a third party. From a leverage standpoint, it's something like 100% leverage on that power line.
Okay. That's helpful. One final thing, if I could, you know, assuming all comes to fruition, you get the $20 million total investment from them as well, do you guys feel comfortable that that's enough to get you through the end of like a FEED study and an FID?
There will be additional capital that will be required during this period beyond just that $20 million. I think that will contribute quite meaningfully, especially to things that are a critical path, like the shaft sinking mill.
Okay. Congrats again. I'll turn it over.
Our next question is from Mike Shlisky with D.A. Davidson.
Yes. Hi. Hey, Matt. Great to hear your voice again. I want to follow up on one of the other questions there about what's in it for them. It sounds like they're going to have some equity, and of course, they're going to own the power line. I guess I was curious, are you obligated to buy a certain amount of electricity from that power infrastructure? Is there a minimum? Is there a take or pay? Is there an official schedule that you have to start buying by? I just want to make sure that you've lined up the project completion and launch of the production with electricity offtake and make sure that's all been lined up.
Yeah. No, good question, Mike. When you think about it on a take or pay basis or with electricity, you can have what's called a demand charge and an energy charge. In our case, we will be paying regardless of how much energy is used once the project starts operation for the depreciation or, I guess, amortization of the actual $200 million of power line construction cost itself. Every month, we'll have to pay to Fictor a certain amount for that $200 million, again, spread over a 25-year period with a modest return for them. In addition to that, we will pay for the actual energy consumed, and there is no minimum on that energy that's actually consumed. The line is being built for 300 megawatts, which is our annualized demand, and you multiply that by the actual consumption to run the plant.
Okay. That makes sense. Secondly, I want to ask, I know it's only been a short time since you announced this arrangement or it's been in the works, but have any customers who were unsure about how the whole thing would play out, have they come forward saying, "Matt, you've gotten this certainty, this electrical structure figured out with a trusted partner"? They are ready. They are perhaps more ready to stand on the dotted line with Brazil Potash for a supply agreement.
Sorry, Mike, I just had a little bit of trouble on that one. Can you just re-emphasize that again, please?
Yeah. I was just asking, in the short time since you announced this arrangement and it's been in the works, have any customers come forward saying, "This is what we were hoping for," and they've inched closer or have announced their intention to eventually sign with Brazil Potash? I'm just trying to figure out whether this announcement of the electricity certainty creates any additional demand for offtake from the project.
I got you now. In terms of the offtake, in addition to the binding contract that we have in place right now with the Amaggi Group for 550,000 tons a year at market price, plus inland freight to our benefit, times a single-digit price discount, we also recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Keytrade for up to 1 million tons. We do expect to convert that MOU with Keytrade to a binding contract in the next couple of months. That contract is very well advanced. There are just a few points outstanding for us to finalize. In addition to Keytrade, there is a third party that we haven't disclosed yet that we're also in very advanced discussions with, and we expect to announce directly a binding contract with that third party also.
By the end of this year, we should be in a situation where we have about 2 million -2.2 million tons of our entire 2.4 million tons under a long-term contract. I'm only leaving a very small buffer, about 8% - 10% of our annual production, just to allow for any sort of hiccups that we might have from time to time in running the plant. Those will be done at spot sale.
Okay, I got it. I appreciate the help. I'll pass it along.
As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press *1 on your telephone keypad. Our next question is from Richard Garchitorena with Wells Fargo.
All right. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering, you know, with the signing of the MOU with Fictor, does this expedite the development timeline for the project in your mind? If so, by how much? I know in the past you've talked about a four-year mine build-out. Is that related to this, or are they totally separate?
This is very much a key component of the start of the construction for the project. We do need to raise $2.5 billion in order to build this project out. By carving out $200 million for the power line, it takes off a good chunk, roughly 8% of our total construction costs. The plan is to look to other opportunities to follow a similar model here, things such as possibly the port, the trucks that would move the potash ore from the processing plant that 5 mi to our river barge port, and possibly even the river barge port itself. By chipping away at all these pieces of the cost, it gets us that much closer to full-blown construction, which will still take just over four years, though.
Okay. Just related to that, you mentioned a couple of different bits and pieces that you could potentially, are those potentially able to be carved out to other partners? Are you looking at other sort of port infrastructure type areas of the project that could be offloaded to other partners in that sense to continue moving the funding forward?
Yeah. No, that's exactly the plan is that there's a number of groups like Fictor that have a specialty in a particular area. In Fictor's case, although it's a pretty broad area that they invest in, the power generation is one of their areas of expertise. In addition to that, there's infrastructure funds, as I'm sure you're aware, that are also quite interested in funding things like the power line itself. We landed on Fictor because they gave us the best proposal with not only a 25-year period to repay that amount, which is great. You know, that's well beyond what you'd normally ever see from a commercial bank, let alone even an export credit agency. Similarly, we're talking to groups that specialize in ports and groups that specialize in steam generation. These are companies that have deep expertise and knowledge in that area and interest to fund.
Great. Last question, just in terms of the project, have you seen more strategic interest from local Brazilian players, given the improvement in the potash price and market and also the outlook for the Brazilian ag market overall?
There's very, very strong interest within the agricultural sector and governments of Brazil for this project to be realized. Mayo Schmidt, our Chairman, was actually in Brazil about six weeks ago and met with a number of mega farmers, including the Amaggi Group. He met with the governor of Mato Grosso. There was a very, very big turnout at a dinner that we hosted where some of these mega farmers' cooperatives all expressed how important it is for Brazil, given its import dependence, you know, 98% import dependent on its potash, the largest import market in the world, to have domestic production when it's viable. That part has only improved in strength. I was actually there only about three weeks ago and had similar conversations with the governor of the Amazonas state and some local construction companies.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. This does conclude our Q&A session. I will now pass it back to Matt Simpson for any closing remarks.
I'd like to thank everyone for joining us today. We believe this partnership with Fictor Energia marks an inflection point in Brazil Potash's development journey. We look forward to providing further updates as we execute definitive agreements and continue advancing towards construction. I'll be participating at the UBS Global Metals and Mining Conference and also several other conferences, including [H.C. Wainwright] , in the coming months and look forward to meeting many of you at these events. Thank you for your continued support.
This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.