FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	AT

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1998                                                                                    (202) 616-2771

                                                                                                                                                   TDD (202) 514-1888




JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH NEW YORK AND


MISSOURI COMPANIES TO PREVENT COLLUSIVE PRACTICES





	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice reached a
settlement today with Norsk Hydro USA Inc. and Farmland
Industries Inc. that will prevent the companies from again using
collusive practices to restrain competitive bidding for ammonia
facilities.

	In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, the
Department's Antitrust Division alleges that the New York-based
Norsk Hydro USA Inc. entered into a secret agreement with
Seminole Fertilizer Corp., which had the effect of eliminating
Seminole as a viable bidder on an ammonia storage facility in
Tampa.  Missouri-based Farmland Industries, Inc. participated in
the efforts to reach the agreement and would have benefitted from
Hydro's purchase of the facility.

	The Department alleged that under the agreement Seminole 
effectively withdrew as a viable competing bidder for the
facility, thereby restraining trade.  Had the agreement not been
discovered prior to the closing of the sale, the seller would
have received an artificially low price.

	"This settlement will foster competition by ensuring that
Hydro and Farmland do not again restrain competition by entering
into private bidding agreements that eliminate any competing
producer from the field of potential bidders," said Joel I.
Klein, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's
Antitrust Division.

	Under the settlement, Hydro and Farmland agreed not to
submit certain joint bids for certain ammonia assets or violate
any terms or conditions imposed by either the seller of the asset
or the person administering the sale of the asset without first
notifying those persons.

	The Department alleged in its complaint that representatives
of Hydro and Farmland met with the rival bidder Seminole
Fertilizer Corp. in March 1992, at a hotel in New York to discuss
sharing pipeline capacity and the cost of bidding on the Tampa
facility.

	Two hours before the March 12, 1992, auction took place,
Seminole and Hydro agreed that Hydro would receive bid support of
up to $2.5 million from Seminole, if necessary, to defeat a
competing bid.  The agreement eliminated any incentive for
Seminole to bid, because it would have been bidding up the price
against itself.  In exchange, Hydro agreed to give Seminole
increased pipeline capacity if Hydro was the successful bidder. 
Farmland benefitted from the arrangement because of its
partnership with Hydro, which intended the Tampa facility to be
an asset of Farmland Hydro Limited Partnership--a joint venture
formed by the two companies in November 1991.  Seminole withdrew
from the auction, leaving Hydro as the only bidder.  

	If approved by the court, the proposed settlement, which
would alleviate the Department's competitive concerns, would
settle the lawsuit.

	Ammonia is a primary raw material used for the production of
diammonium phosphate fertilizer.

	As required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act,
the proposed consent decree, along with the Department's
competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal
Register.  Any person may submit comments on the proposed decree
within 60 days to Nezida S. Davis, Acting Chief, Atlanta Field
Office, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice, Richard B.
Russell Building, 75 Spring Street, S.W., Suite 1176, Atlanta,
Georgia 30303.  At the conclusion of the comment period, the
court may enter the consent decree upon finding that it serves
the public interest.

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