Honeywell's Effective Fertilizer

Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Analyst Report) entered into an agreement with the world's largest privately held food and agribusiness company, J.R. Simplot Company, to construct a facility for the production of Honeywell's Sulf-N 26, a very efficient fertilizer.

All the agronomic benefits of traditional nitrate-based fertilizers are present in Sulf-N 26, but it has very low explosive potential. Honeywell holds the patent for producing this new, dry granular ammonium sulfate nitrate (ASN) fertilizer. In this patented technique, ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate are chemically combined to produce a new and extremely stable molecule, a 26-0-0 14S fertilizer.

The fertilizer, which has been found to be safe and effective for agricultural use compared with traditional nitrate-based fertilizers and also compatible with other fertilizers, has received SAFETY Act (Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies) Designation from the U.S.

As per the agreement, a modular manufacturing facility at Simplot's Lathrop, Calif. production plant will be engineered, constructed and owned by Honeywell. The facility will be operated by Simplot, who will have the exclusive rights to market and sell the fertilizer in the Western U.S., Western Canada and Northern Mexico. The plant is expected to be completed by early 2013.

Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell International Inc. is a Fortune 100 company, providing technical and manufacturing support to customers worldwide. It also provides aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Major competitors of Honeywell are BorgWarner Inc. (BWA - Analyst Report), United Technologies Corp. (UTX - Analyst Report) and Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI - Analyst Report).

We currently maintain our Neutral rating on Honeywell, with a Zacks #2 Rank (Buy recommendation) over the next one-to-three months.

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