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Release Archives: 06/18/2009
Itronics
Describes Strong Outlook for Its GOLD'n GRO Liquid Fertilizers
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Growth Potential Driven by Environmentally Green Clean Technology
RENO, NV, Jun 18, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX)
-- Itronics Inc. (PINKSHEETS: ITRO) (FRANKFURT: ITG) (BERLIN: ITG)
said today that total Company sales for the first half of 2009 are
expected to increase about 20 percent.
"The demand for the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers continues to increase,
but limitations on funds available to purchase ingredients for manufacturing
our fertilizers is restricting first half GOLD'n GRO sales growth
to about 15 percent," said Dr. John Whitney, Itronics President.
He said that while the national economy is struggling, Itronics
Metallurgical, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, is benefiting
from strong demand for silver and increased silver prices.
Dr. Whitney, in answering recent investment
inquiries, said:
"The majority of fertilizer sales are
being made through the Company's distributor to specialty crop growers
in California. In the second quarter 2008 the parent company of
our distributor acquired a major competitor, integrating the acquired
company and its retail outlets into its existing retail distribution
system and increasing the number of its nationwide retail outlets
from more than 500 to about 800. Itronics' distributor is now one
of the largest U.S. agriculture retail companies.
As a result of the merger, our distributor
added 21 retail branches in Arizona, California and Hawaii for a
total of 56 retail outlets in these states, a 55 percent increase
from 2008. The merger and the resulting increase in distributor
sales force and geographic coverage created an opportunity for strong
growth in GOLD'n GRO orders this spring.
For the past 3 to 4 years several of the California
based distributor retail branches have been working with their large
California based corporate growers to introduce one or more of the
GOLD'n GRO fertilizers. This year several of those corporate growers
placed one or more truck load orders for the first time. Included
in these are two of the largest farming companies in California.
Order placement with our distributor is a vote of confidence for
the cost effective benefits of using the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers.
Ongoing expanding use by these large operations is expected to significantly
increase the demand for our fertilizers in California in future
years.
Most of the fertilizer sales are for specialty
crop production in California which is strongly seasonal with a
spring season that usually starts in the second half of March and
ends in the first half of July. Peak months are April and May. Typically
there is also a fall season which starts in late September and continues
through mid December. In a normal year, about 70 percent of GOLD'n
GRO sales are generated in the first half of the year. The Company
is working to diversify sales to reduce the seasonal concentration.
A very sharp seasonal spike in fertilizer
orders in the spring creates an equally sharp increase in the need
for cash to buy fertilizer ingredients to make the fertilizers.
This year, because of the collapse in the U.S. financial markets,
the Company was unable to obtain financing needed to fill the seasonal
surge in orders. As a result, almost all of the Company's cash receipts
are being focused on purchasing fertilizer ingredients to fill the
orders. This created a new operating concept, "financing capacity,"
for Itronics Metallurgical, versus normal operating limitations
of "manufacturing capacity." By agreement with our distributor,
supply is being managed to provide available fertilizers to retail
outlets that already have a GOLD'n GRO customer base. New sales
development is currently on hold. By closely coordinating with our
distributor we have been able to keep most of the retail outlets
supplied with critically needed fertilizers. Financing capacity
is limiting the Company's output to about two-thirds of single shift
manufacturing capacity.
Itronics Metallurgical has become an important
western U.S. manufacturer of "Chelated Nutrient Metal"
micro-nutrient fertilizers. It now offers 7 micro-nutrient fertilizers,
but sales are currently dominated by four of these which are listed
in descending order of importance: (1) GOLD'n GRO 9-0-1+7% Zn, (2)
GOLD'n GRO 9-0-2+3% Zn multi-micro mix, (3) GOLD'n GRO 10-0-0+4%
Fe, and (4) GOLD'n GRO 10-0-1+3% Mn. This year, manufacturing has
been limited mainly to production of these four fertilizers. The
orders are being filled and the order back log is being reduced.
Most of the manufacturing is still focused on filling orders for
the GOLD'n GRO 9-0-1+7% Zn which is the most popular GOLD'n GRO
micro-nutrient fertilizer.
Large scale applications of GOLD'n GRO 8-8-8+4%
S fertilizer in drip systems (fertigation) on crops in coastal and
central valley areas in California in 2008 demonstrated that this
fertilizer can be used safely in fertigation applications in locations
that have hard water. This is not normally possible using conventional
phosphate-bearing fertilizers. The GOLD'n GRO 8-8-8+4% S is manufactured
in bulk under license by our distributor at a location in central
California, which improves availability and reduces shipping cost
for bulk deliveries to the central valley and coastal retail branches.
The Company, working with its distributor,
has completed development of a new chelated micronutrient fertilizer,
"GOLD'n GRO 9-0-0 Iron Man Z." This fertilizer, which
was developed in response to customer requests, fills a nutrient
gap, and is targeted for use in the turf and ornamental market,
and for use on vegetables, trees and vines. Registration has been
applied for in California, but has not yet been received. With the
addition of this chelated micronutrient, the Company now offers
seven chelated micronutrient fertilizers, and six chelated multinutrient
blends, for a total of 13 GOLD'n GRO specialty fertilizers. The
GOLD'n GRO Guardian Deer Repellent is a biopesticide and so the
Company is now also offering one biopesticide for a total of 14
products. National recognition of the GOLD'n GRO Brand is now also
being achieved.
Introduction of the GOLD'n GRO Guardian Deer
Repellent fertilizer is expected to produce summer and fall sales
which would partially mitigate the seasonality issue. Sales development
for this product has been on hold due to financing capacity limits,
but plans are being implemented to start sales as soon as the peak
fertilizer season is over. The GOLD'n GRO Guardian is now registered
in eleven states, including New York, and registration was recently
applied for in Virginia.
The Company has also been implementing a sales
program for the chemical injectors (Chemilizers) that are used for
injecting fertilizer (fertigating) into drip and sprinkler irrigation
systems in green house nursery operations and for up-scale homes.
Locations that install the chemical injectors are set up to use
one or two of the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers. GOLD'n GRO 8-8-8+4% S
is typically used by the green house nursery operations. GOLD'n
GRO 15-1-8+4% S and GOLD'n GRO 20-1-7+3% S are being used for fertigation
of lawn and shrubs by sprinkler systems, and GOLD'n GRO 6-3-9+4%
S is being used for drip irrigation of flower beds, roses, and garden
vegetables.
The Company is working with the largest fertilizer
distributor in Utah and now has more than a dozen green house nursery
and lawn fertigation installations in Utah. In 2008 the Company
began working with a landscape maintenance company in northern Nevada
which now has almost a dozen installations. This project to sell
fertilizer injectors in the nursery and landscape maintenance markets,
while still small, has been under development for several years
and is now starting to make a contribution to sales growth. These
market segments are also expected to mitigate the seasonality by
spreading fertilizer demand over longer growing seasons.
Demand growth for the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers
is now being driven by excellent field results obtained with their
use. In 2008 the Company's agronomy staff finished a peer reviewed
research summary of how GOLD'n GRO fertilizers should be able to
increase the availability of phosphorous and nutrient metals applied
as fertilizers to the soil for growing crops. The research summary
suggests that the unique chemistry of the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers
is beneficial when applied to the soil by improving the availability
of phosphate and the nutrient metals including iron, zinc, manganese,
calcium, and magnesium. A related benefit is that fertilizer residuals,
to the extent they occur, are used as a nutrient source by soil
microbes providing virtually complete use of the fertilizers. This
is the other "Green" aspect of the GOLD'n GRO fertilizer
technology.
One of the emerging national fertilizer needs
is to be able to apply manganese fertilizer in glyphosate (Round
Up, a weed spray) spray mixes on "Round Up Ready" corn
and soybeans (these plants have been genetically altered so that
they are not damaged by the weed spray). Initial tests with GOLD'n
GRO 10-0-1+3% Mn in the fall of 2007 produced very satisfactory
results on "Round Up Ready" corn. In 2008 Itronics Metallurgical
worked with one of its fertilizer ingredient suppliers who put out
trials on "Round Up Ready" soybeans in several states.
The GOLD'n GRO 10-0-1+3% Mn was found to be compatible with the
glyphosate spray mixes and crop response was acceptable. The supplier
has an extensive nationwide liquid fertilizer distribution system
and is fully capable of introducing the GOLD'n GRO fertilizer in
relevent markets in the midwest and southern United States where
both corn and soybeans are major crops. This market is large, but
would be strongly seasonal, so when Itronics Metallurgical is able
to support the expansion with adequate funding and manufacturing
capacity, market development can be initiated.
The GOLD'n GRO nutrient technology is providing
economic and environmental benefits that are driving expanding demand.
Use in fertigation reduces application costs and quantities required.
Improved availability to the plant roots in the soil of phosphorous
and nutrient metals after several years of use is now reducing the
amount of fertilizer needed to provide satisfactory plant nutrition.
This produces both economic and environmental benefits and increases
customer loyalty.
Itronics, through its subsidiary Itronics
Metallurgical, is the inventor and operator of award winning recycling
technology that converts spent photographic liquids into pure silver
and GOLD'n GRO fertilizers. Commercialization of this technology
has created a 'Green Consumer Option' for photo and x-ray processors
and 'Green fertilizers' for horticulture and agriculture. The fertilizers
incorporate the ESSENCE OF GREEN because of how they are sourced
and because of their excellent performance in the field."
About Itronics
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc.
is a "Creative Clean Technology" company that produces
GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers and pure silver bullion. Itronics,
through its subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc. is the only
company with a fully permitted "Beneficial Use Photochemical,
Silver, and Water Recycling" plant in the United States that
converts spent photoliquids into pure silver and GOLD'n GRO liquid
fertilizers. The Company is developing environmentally compatible
mining technology, provides project planning and technical services
to the gold mining industry, and operates the popular InsideMetals.com
web site, http://www.insidemetals.com, which provides a value-added
WORLD VIEW of Gold Producer Stocks, Mineral Producer Stocks, Junior
Gold Stocks, and Junior Mineral Stocks.
Itronics has received numerous domestic and
international awards that recognize its ability to successfully
create and implement new environmentally clean recycling and fertilizer
technologies.
The Company's environmentally friendly GOLD'n
GRO liquid fertilizers, which are extensively used in agriculture,
can be used for lawns and houseplants, and are available, along
with liquid fertilizer injectors, at the Company's "e-store"
catalog at http://goldngro.com. The popular Silver Nevada Miner
bars are available at the Company's "e-store" catalog
at http://www.itromet.com.
VISIT OUR WEB SITE: http://www.itronics.com
("Safe Harbor" Statement under the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release
contains or may contain forward-looking statements such as statements
regarding the Company's growth and profitability, growth strategy,
liquidity and access to public markets, operating expense reduction,
and trends in the industry in which the Company operates. The forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are also subject to other
risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in
the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking
statements to reflect actual results, changes in risks, uncertainties
or assumptions underlying or affecting such statements, or for prospective
events that may have a retroactive effect.)
Contact:
Paul Knopick
888-795-6336
SOURCE: Itronics Inc.
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