Open Markets Institute was listed among the groups that have signed onto a letter opposing Koch Industries’ purchase of OCI Global’s Iowa Fertilizer Company for $3.6 billion, which would further consolidate the industry and damage competition and prices

Agriculture and environmental groups have asked the federal government to investigate Koch Industries' planned $3.6 billion acquisition of OCI Global's Iowa Fertilizer Company, expressing concern the transaction would further concentrate the fertilizer industry.

Koch announced the planned acquisition in December, saying in a news release it would have 100% ownership of the facility located along the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa in the town of Wever.

The plant opened in 2017 and has the capacity to produce 3.5 million metric tons of nitrogen fertilizers and diesel exhaust fluid annually.

Though fertilizer prices have come down in the past year, agriculture groups have called for expanded domestic production to help alleviate supply issues.

"IFCO was built with substantial local, state and federal investment, with its proponents citing the opportunity to challenge Koch Industries' dominance in fertilizer markets," the ag and environmental groups said in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.

"Should the acquisition be allowed to proceed, taxpayers will have effectively subsidized the expansion of Koch's control over a critical and heavily concentrated sector of our agricultural economy. The IFCO plant currently employs more than 250 workers and produces approximately 2 million tons of fertilizer annually."

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