Historically, foundries have used a number of materials to cover the uprights and prevent heat loss in the feeders: sands, rice husks, insulating powders and exothermic expansive powders. These, however, are not sufficiently efficient since their dosage depends on the operator and they can produce defects in the feed due to inadequate application.

Apart from moving the operator away from the liquid metal pouring area, the use of manpower is reduced by eliminating the weighing operation of exothermic powder in different dosages depending on the diameter of the upright and avoids the operational presence of at least 1 operator in the aggregate at the time of casting, which translates into significant labor savings.

The use of exothermic pellets guarantees the production of a production with lower possibilities of losses due to shrinkage, since the difference in aggregate time is minimized and an even coverage of the upright is ensured.

All of the above translates into a lower cost operation and increased productivity.

When we talk about climate change, the first things that come to mind are record heat temperatures, natural phenomena that did not occur in certain areas before, melting glaciers and forest fires. In Chile, we have seen all of the above. However, one of the most obvious effects of global warming in the country, and in the world, is water scarcity.

It is estimated that about 72% of the national surface suffers from drought and that Chile is one of the 18 countries with the highest risk of suffering water stress. The water deficit has been an urgent problem for at least a decade and, in fact, there is talk that we are in the greatest period of drought in the last 60 years.

According to the United Nations, the water footprint of global production is 70% related to food production. The World Bank estimates that more than 330 million hectares in the world have irrigation facilities. And since agriculture is one of the country's essential economic activities, both farmers and decision makers must promote a more sustainable use of water to mitigate the effects of the water crisis.

Quipasur, in its quest to be a partner for its customers, is constantly developing new products and technology that are innovative and take into account the environmental problem. That is why the company created a partnership to be the distributor of O2, a water evaporation mitigator for dams and ponds, specially formulated so that agricultural, mining, sanitary, energy and industrial companies can reduce their water losses and use this resource in a more efficient and sustainable way.

O2: good for the company, good for the environment

Five years ago, Carlos Korner began developing a product that did not exist, a liquid monolayer that prevents water evaporation by up to 80%, a problem that, with rising temperatures and the lack of rainfall, has become indispensable.

"Evaporative water losses are gigantic. A third of the volume of water is lost per year. An agricultural dam in Chile loses between one and two vertical centimeters per day. If you look at the water surface in one hectare, it is 6,000 cubic meters per month. That's enough to irrigate an entire olive plantation in its entire season," says Korner, CEO of O2.

Quipasur, seeing the potential of the product being developed, decided to be part of the process and become an investment partner and distributor of O2, adding to its product portfolio an innovative, "made in Chile" and environmentally friendly mitigator.

"The efficiency curve of the O2 monolayer is one month, preventing water evaporation by up to 80%. In other words, if a dam of one hectare evaporates 6,000 cubic meters, with O2 it could recover 5,000 or 4,800 cubic meters, allowing companies to make better use of their water resources," says Korner, who points out that his product is also harmless, as it does not affect the fauna.

In fact, in its five years of life, O2 has already received a series of recognitions that endorse its contribution to sustainability. In 2020 they won the First Place for Environmental Innovation from the Chilean-British Chamber and were chosen among the Top 5 sustainable projects in Latin America in an initiative of CNN and the European Union called "Re-Acciona por el Clima" (Re-Acciona for the Climate).

In this sense, together with O2, Quipasur takes another step forward in innovation towards the creation and distribution of products that help its customers to overcome the water crisis, with a vision of the future and concern for the environment.

O2 Company product covering a body of water

The health, social and economic effects of the coronavirus did not take long to be felt as soon as it appeared at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. However, there are still some traces of this pandemic that have not yet been felt and that will reach Chile in the coming months. We are talking about the global logistics and energy crisis, which threatens to increase fertilizer and food prices. In this scenario, Quipasur, which is supplied with local raw material, is positioned as the best alternative to acquire superior quality fertilizers at stable prices.

On the one hand, the "container crisis" began along with the pandemic and the quarantines. As a precaution against a decrease in demand and cross-border restrictions due to the coronavirus, shipping lines decided to anticipate and remove vessels from some of their less profitable routes.

Some time later, when China recovered its production level and the United States - along with much of the world - did the same with its demand for products, thanks to e-commerce, the prices of goods transportation skyrocketed. The result? A 500% increase in logistics prices, infrequent routes to less attractive markets and container shortages, delays in shipments due to congestion at major ports and, therefore, a crisis affecting companies that import their products or raw materials, such as fertilizer developers.

As if that were not enough, the "container crisis" is being compounded by the "fertilizer crisis" in Europe as a result of rising gas, electricity and oil prices. Unable to meet the costs of these tariffs, two major European fertilizer manufacturers have already announced production cuts and others are expected to follow.

Both crises, which raise the costs of products and raw materials imported into Chile to unprecedented levels, are passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices. However, there are alternatives. Quipasur is one of them.

Federico Walker, Supply Chain Planning Manager, explains that the main products imported to Chile in the area of fertilizers are UAN 32 and urea. Quipasur, a company that is committed to innovation and efficiency, manufactures NPK blends, its main component being Ammonium Nitrate as a source of nitrogen, which besides being a more modern and technologically advanced alternative than those previously mentioned, will not have such a high cost due to the crises.

Walker explains that this is because Quipasur buys the main NPK element, nitrogen, locally as Ammonium Nitrate, and in anticipation of the global situation, it stocked up with a large inventory, so the price of its custom-made solutions will not vary as much as the imported ones, especially now that the season is starting. Therefore, Quipasur's customers will have a better quality, tailor-made product (unlike the UAN 32) and at a more competitive price than the alternatives.

"Now is the time for farmers to try new, world-leading fertilizers to take the next step in their business development," Walker said.

This year 2020 brought a series of milestones for Quipasur. On the one hand, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the company, celebrating four decades that, thanks to the effort and an offer of the highest quality, have led them to be one of the benchmarks of the chemical industry in the country.

On the other hand, one of its most important business areas, agronutrition, saw significant progress during 2020 thanks to the alliance between Quipasur and Fertiglobal, the business unit dedicated to agriculture of the Larderello Group, an Italian company with more than 200 years in the chemical industry.

Quipasur's future agricultural division:

Ten years ago, Quipasur began its foray into the plant nutrition business by developing specialized products for an agricultural distributor in the V Region. According to Juan Enrique Galarce, Quipasur's Chemicals Area Sales Manager, in recent years there has been a tendency to prefer domestic production. "Until some time ago it was highly valued that products came from abroad, but now there are many own brands of Chilean companies. Many of the raw materials are found in South America, so we have to take advantage of this", he commented.

Based on this development for third parties, Quipasur started to produce a line of liquid fertilizers based on nitrogen and NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium). A plant was built for its production and the market reacted favorably: the company went from selling 400 thousand liters in 2010 to 8 million liters in 2019. And so it was time to create its own brand.

Fertiglobal arrives in Chile with Quipasur:

Quipasur was already an expert in the production of liquid fertilizers. But they wanted to expand their offer, so they started looking for commercial partners that could increase their product range. That is how they came to Fertiglobal.

Created in 2003, Fertiglobal was created as the agricultural arm of the Italian giant Larderello Group, a company that has been in the chemical industry for more than 200 years and has a presence in Europe, China, India, Malaysia, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Peru. Quipasur became the official distributor of its products in Chile in August.

Fertiglobal has a long history in the market and excellent quality. This is due to innovative technologies that provide a differentiation of value over the rest of the competition.

Diego Longobucco, Fertiglobal's Area Manager for Latin America, valued the alliance and pointed out that "we were able to put together a very solid working team with Quipasur and we are taking very good first steps". According to him, they chose the Chilean company because they know fertilizer production well and develop quality products, although he affirms that "the fundamental part is human". The excellent attitude and work ethic of Quipasur's executives convinced them to move forward together to develop this market.

Longobucco said that the company's medium-term plan considers producing some of its fertilizers in Chile, through production agreements with Quipasur, to take advantage of its installed capacity. "We see great potential for both companies," he said.