Sulphur 399 Mar-Apr 2022
31 March 2022
Sulphuric Acid News
Sulphuric acid slurry treatment launched in UK
German slurry handling specialist Vogelsang has just launched a new acidification technology which it claims will reduce ammonia emissions from agriculture, reducing up to 70% of ammonia to nutrient rich ammonium. Its new SyreN technology is an onboard sulphuric acid dosing system for tractors that treats slurry or digestate as it is applied to the land. It uses a front-linkage mounted unit to carry the acid, which also improves tractor weight distribution. The acid is dosed when the organic fertiliser is fed to the applicator, with a pH regulator automatically controlling and adjusting the flow. Nitrogen uptake of organic fertilizer is also increased by up to 1/3 as the ammonium is more easily metabolised by the soil. Results from a study in Germany showed that the acidifying slurry increased crop yield by up to 20%. The sulphur contained in the acid also becomes available to the plants as sulphate after spreading, eliminating the need for an additional pass over the field to administer a supplementary sulphur fertiliser, such as ammonium sulphate nitrate. At approximately 30 kg/ha, the amount of sulphur introduced into the crop with the SyreN system corresponds to the average amount of sulphur that is already applied to crops in the course of a growing season.
Commenting on the introduction of the technology to the UK and Ireland, Vogelsang’s SyreN specialist, Sion Williams, said: “The UK and the EU have set out plans to reduce agricultural emissions by 2030. Treating slurry with acid delivers this and has the added benefits of increasing yield, reducing input costs and reducing the prevalence of odours that occur during application.”
Electric vehicle demand leading to nickel shortage
Demand for electric vehicles is leading to a boom in demand for nickel, cobalt and lithium, with prices at multi-year highs. Reuters reports that more than 6.36 million electric vehicles were sold last year globally compared with 3.10 million in 2020, with China accounting for half of this total. Shortages of nickel have led to stocks in London Metal Exchange approved warehouses falling by 65% since April 2021. Stocks of bagged briquette, easily crushed into small particles and dissolved in sulphuric acid to make nickel sulphate for batteries, are down 67% since last April. Most of this has been shipped to China. Total nickel demand rose to 2.8 million t/a last year, with batteries now accounting for 11% of the market. This share is expected to rise to 13% this year. Nickel prices have reached $24,800/tonne, their highest level since 2011.
SWITZERLAND
EuroChem posts record 2021 earnings
EuroChem Group has reported earnings of $3.9 billion for the full year 2021, against sales of $10.2 billion. The profit figure is more than double that for 2020, which the company attributed to higher fertilizer prices, as well as a 6% increase in total sales volumes and higher operating efficiencies. Curtailments and countervailing duties impacted global trade flows, which made for a very competitive environment, but the company argued that this also rewarded more flexible and diversified operators. Overall, total sales volumes were up 6% to 27 million tonnes in 2021, with phosphates seeing a 17% rise. Sales of MAP/DAP climbed 10% to 2.6 million t/a, with third-party product sales accounting for roughly 40%. That together with the Group’s own production of phosphates fertilizers at Lifosa helped to increase sales volumes in the US by 38% year on year. The company is also in the process of completing the acquisition of the Salitre do Serra phosphate project in Brazil from Yara International for $410 million. When it comes on stream in 2023 it will add 1 million t/a of phosphate capacity in MAP, SSP, TSP and nitrophosphates. Parallel to this, EuroChem has agreed to take a majority stake in Brazilian fertilizer distributor Fertilizantes Heringer.
“These encouraging results will allow EuroChem to build upon its position as a leading global fertilizer player,” said CEO Vladimir Rashevskiy. “The supportive environment enables us to set even higher goals for ourselves and invest in ambitious new projects to stay on our growth trajectory.”
UNITED STATES
Mosaic reports strong results
The Mosaic Company has reported net income of $1.6 billion for full year 2021, including fourth quarter net income of $665 million. Full year revenues were up 42% year on year to $12.4 billion, as stronger pricing more than offset lower volumes. Adjusted EBITDA in 2021 totalled $3.6 billion, a record figure, up 129% from 2020. Cash from operating activities was up 38% percent from the prior year. The company’s phosphate division earned $1.2 billion in 2021 on total sales of $4.9 billion, compared to an operating loss of $147 million in 2020, with record sales figures for the company’s MicroEssentials micronutrient enhanced fertilizer range. Phosphate sales volumes decreased from 8.5 million t/a in 2020 to 7.7 million t/a, reflecting the impact of Hurricane Ida in the second half of the year, but this was more than offset by the rise in average selling prices to $618 per tonne, up from $360/t in 2020. In its results presentation, the company said that it expects upward phosphate pricing momentum to continue. Global demand for grain and oilseeds remain high while stock-to-use ratios are at the lowest point in more than a decade. Food security concerns, rising biofuel consumption, and textiles are driving demand for corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, coffee, palm oil, cotton and other agricultural commodities. As a result, strong global fertilizer demand in 2022 is expected as growers seek to maximise yields. China’s domestic phosphate industry is also undergoing significant change as production is diverted from export markets toward domestic industrial and agricultural demand, a secular trend that could outlast the current short-term export ban.
“Mosaic delivered record EBITDA in 2021, and we expect strong performance to continue in 2022,” said Joc O’Rourke, President and CEO. “As a result of successful investments like our new Esterhazy K3 potash mine, Mosaic Fertilizantes in Brazil, and our cost-structure transformation, we are generating tremendous value in the current environment. This has provided us with the opportunity to return significant capital to shareholders, while still investing efficiently in the business and strengthening the balance sheet.”
Elessent announces acid catalyst price hike
Elessent Clean Technologies, the new owner of the former DuPont Clean Technologies division, has announced an additional global price increase of $0.30/litre for its MECS® sulphuric acid catalyst products, effective immediately. The company says that additional surcharges may apply for freight, near term delivery and specialty product grades.
BRAZIL
Itafos re-starts acid production at Arraias
Itafos says that it has resumed sulphuric acid production and sales at Arraias. The recommissioning of the previously idled sulphuric acid plant was completed on schedule, within budget and with no reportable environmental releases or recordable incidents.
“We are pleased to have safely and successfully completed the recommissioning of the sulphuric acid plant at Arraias. While we continue to evaluate strategic alternatives for Arraias, we are opportunistically restarting the sulphuric acid plant to supply market demand and deliver positive margins,” said G. David Delaney, CEO of Itafos.
Arraias’ sulphuric acid plant has a capacity of 220,000 t/a. The company says that it expects to operate the sulphuric acid plant at Arraias with a base load capacity of approximately 10,500 tonnes per month (126,000 t/a). Arraias has secured short-term sulphuric acid offtake agreements for this capacity with pricing linked to sulphur benchmarks. Based on market demand, Itafos expects to opportunistically produce additional volumes of sulphuric acid to be sold on the spot market. The remainder of the infrastructure associated with Arraias’ vertically integrated phosphate fertilizer business, including its mine, beneficiation plant, acidulation plant and granulation plant remain idled. The Arraias site, at Tocantins, includes idled capacity of approximately 500,000 t/a of single superphosphate (SSP).
CANADA
Chemtrade reports loss for 2021
Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund says that it made a net loss of C$180.5 million for 4Q 2021, C$155 million higher than for 4Q 2020. This was primarily due to the sale of its potassium cholide and vaccine adjuvants businesses, on which the company took a non-cash impairment of C$130 million. Overall revenue for 4Q 2021 was C$353.8 million, up C34.4 million on the previous year due to higher prices, especially for merchant and regenerated sulphuric acid.
Revenue for the full year 2021 was C$1.4 billion, the same as for 2020, with EBITDA C$280.4 million, adjusted cash flows from operating activities of C$159.4 million and a net loss of C$235.2 million.
Scott Rook, Chemtrade’s president and CEO said, “2021 ended on a much stronger note than it started. We were able to significantly strengthen our balance sheet during the year. The fundamentals for several key products in our portfolio are very strong as we enter 2022. We are pursuing exciting organic growth opportunities in ultra-pure sulphuric acid and by-product green hydrogen. Finally, further to our objective of being an industry leader in corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, we have now established ESG targets that we will strive to achieve in the short and the long term.”
INDONESIA
Ground broken on copper smelter expansion
Indonesia-based PT Smelting, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Materials and Freeport Indonesia, has started construction on a $231 million copper smelting facility expansion project. The expansion will boost copper cathode capacity at the Gresik smelter on East Java from the existing 300,000 t/a to 342,000 t/a. This project is also expected to boost the processing capacity of the smelter from the current 1.0 million t/a to 1.3 million t/a of copper concentrate. The expansion project includes a new sulphuric acid plant, to be designed and built by Metso Outotec, which is also designing and supplying key process equipment and process control systems for the main areas of the smelter complex, the copper electrolytic refinery, gas cleaning, the slag concentrator and the effluent treatment plant.
Shipments begin from PT Huayue
PT Huayue, a joint venture between Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Tsingshan Holding Group and China Molybdenum Co, says that it has shipped its first 9,500 tonne batch of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) from its new HPAL-based nickel plant via the port of Morowali to Ningbo in China. The $1.28 billion joint venture began trial production at the end of November 2021, and at capacity will produce 60,000 t/a of nickel and 7,800 t/a of cobalt.
RUSSIA
Major equipment items arriving for Nornickel Sulphur Programme.
Major equipment items are now arriving at Norilsk for the construction of facilities as part of the the Nornickel Sulphur Programme, according to the company. The programme is aimed to address the site’s persistent problem with sulphur dioxide emissions, and includes the intermediate production of sulphuric acid with a high degree of sulphur dioxide utilisation (99% or more of the gas from the units where it is installed). The acid will then be neutralised with calcium carbonate.
As of the start of December, more than 700 tonnes of various units have already been installed out of the total 7,000 tonnes. Ball mills are being assembled at the limestone milk production site, which will produce powder for preparing this neutralising solution. The Velesstroy contractor has installed the largest part of one of the ball mills – a drum that weighs 28 tonnes. In the near future, the largest equipment, the heat exchangers for sulphuric acid production site will arrive at the port of Dudinka. Each of these exchangers weighs over 200 tonnes.
Nornickel aims to close the heating circuit of the sections for the production of limestone milk and the production of sulphuric acid “soon”. Within three months, it also intends to erect building frames and a heating circuit for three other crucial facilities. Construction of storage for gypsum is reportedly 80% completed. By summer 2022, individual tests and commissioning are planned to begin.
INDIA
Rama Phosphates acquires land for SSP project
Rama Phosphates Ltd has acquired 21 hectares (52 acres) of land in the Nardana Industrial Area from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for the construction of a new phosphate fertilizer plant. The company has also received consent from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to manufacture 216,000 t/a of single super phosphate (SSP), including lines fortified with zinc and boron. Approval has also been granted for the construction of a 90,000 t/a sulphuric acid plant as part of the complex. The company says that it is in the process of finalising supply of plant and machinery, and hopes to begin production at the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
Talks on fertilizer import deal with Russia
In early February an India engaged in its first intergovernmental negotiations with over for the long-term supply of fertilizer. India is reportedly seeking guaranteed supply of 1 million t/a each of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potash; and about 800,000 t/a of NPK fertilizers, via deals with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd, National Fertilizers Ltd, Madras Fertilizers Ltd, Fertilizers And Chemicals Travancore and India Potash Ltd with Russian companies including Phosagro and Uralkali. Indian companies already have an import deal for 400,000 tonnes of DAP with Phosagro. However, the progress of negotiations following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions regime is not known.
Closure of smelter did not affect air quality
A recently published study on air quality in Thoothukudi has shown no change following the shutdown of the Sterlite Vedanta copper smelter. Sulphur dioxide levels were assessed at just 1 microgramme per cubic meter higher while the plant was operating, according to the study which was prepared by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and National Institute of Technology in Jamshedpur. The smelter was shut down in 2018 following local riots which left 13 dead when the plant was blamed for health problems in the area. The study says that SO2 emissions from the operation of Sterlite Copper were less than 10% of total SO2 emissions in Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin). Concentration levels of particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide in Thoothukudi between 2015 and 2020 were comparable to those observed in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, which were coastal cities like Thoothukudi, as well as with those at Manali, Cuddalore, and Coimbatore. Lower levels of PM10 were found following the closure of the smelter, which was attributed to less movement of traffic, including heavy duty trucks in and around the plant.
The Sterlite copper smelter, with a capacity of 400,000 t/a, supplied more than one third of India’s demand for refined copper and 1.2 million t/a of associated sulphuric acid production and 220,000 t/a of phosphoric acid production.
Expansion in phosphate capacity
State-owned FertiliZers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) is expanding its NPK fertilizer capacity at Kochi. Indian project management Nuberg EPC has been selected for the construction of the brownfield 1,650 t/d NPK plant on an EPC lump sum turnkey basis, bringing total production capacity to 3,650 t/d of complex fertilizer on completion in mid-2023.
Nuberg EPC will execute the project based on a pre-neutraliser with pipe reactor technology licensed from INCRO SA. It is primarily designed to produce NPK 20:20:0:13 with a rated capacity of 75 t/h in a single stream using pre-neutraliser technology and diammonium phosphate using pre-neutraliser and pipe reactor technology, using ammonia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, urea etc as required.
Additionally, Nuberg will be carrying out the design and detailed engineering of a plant for the future production of different grades of NPKs using ammonia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, muriate of potash, urea etc.
A. K. Tyagi, managing director, Nuberg Engineering Ltd., commented: “We are thankful to the Government of India and Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd entrusting another turnkey project to our engineering capabilities and EPC services and solutions.”
CANADA
Record results for DPM
Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) has announced record financial results for 4Q21 and full year 2021. Adjusted net earnings for 4Q 2021 were $51.4 million compared to $44.0 million in 4Q 2020, and for full year 2021 adjusted net earnings were $202.0 million, compared to $188.4 million in 2020 due primarily to higher realised gold and copper prices, partially offset by the planned maintenance shutdown at the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia in the first quarter of 2021, as well as unplanned maintenance downtime due to water leaks in the off-gas system during the second half of 2021. Complex concentrate smelted at Tsumeb during 4Q 2021 was 51,932 tonnes, comparable to the corresponding period in 2020. Complex concentrate smelted at Tsumeb in 2021 of 189,705 tonnes was 18% lower than 2020 due primarily to the planned first quarter Ausmelt furnace maintenance shutdown, as well as unplanned maintenance downtime due to water leaks in the off-gas system during the second half of 2021. The next smelter maintenance shutdown is expected in 2Q 2022, with complex concentrate smelted expected to be between 210-240,000 t/a in each of 2022 and 2023, and 220-250,000 t/a in 2024.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Upgrade for Kamoa project
China’s Zijin Mining says that the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in DRC will undergo a $50 million debottlenecking expansion to boost capacity and output. Kamoa-Kakula is a joint venture largely held by Zijin and Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines, each of which have a 39.6% stake, with the DRC government holding most of the remainder. The debottlenecking will increase capacity of the concentrator plants, which process ore brought from the mine, to 9.2 million t/a of ore from the existing 7.6 million t/a. Copper output will increase from 400,000 t/a to 450,000 t/a. The timescale for the project is around 12 months, with a third, “significantly larger” concentrator also planned and expected to be commissioned in 4Q 2024. A $770 million copper smelter is also under development at the site, with commissioning expected in 2025, to reduce the project’s reliance on third-party smelters for ore processing.
CHINA
Chinese copper smelter output down in January
Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM) says that Chinese domestic copper cathode output was 818,100 tonnes in January 2021, down 6% on December, though 2.5% up on January 2020, due to shutdowns at Fangyuan and Lanxi Zili. Copper concentrate stocks in smelters were relatively abundant. The output of smelters affected by blister copper will gradually return to normal as global supply chain problems ease. Domestic smelters are likely to continue to be profitable in spite of lower sulphuric acid prices compared with the second half of 2021. SMM expects that Chinese smelters will maintain high output in 2022. According SMM, China’s output of nickel sulphate stood at 26,100 tonnes metal content in January 2022, or 118,600 tonnes product, down 6.25% from the previous month but up 62.9% year on year.
AUSTRALIA
Increase in scope for HPAL project
Ardea Resources, which is developing the Goongarrie nickel-cobalt project at Kalgoorlie, east of Perth in Western Australia, says that it has expanded the scope of the Goongarrie project to processing 3.5 million t/a of nickel bearing rock; a 50% increase. The company is in the process of preparing a definitive feasibility study in conjunction with Wood Engineers. Goongarrie is a huge nickel and cobalt laterite deposit, one of the largest in the world, and will be based on high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) to generate mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) for lithium ion batteries, now slated to process 3 million t/a of 1% nickel bearing rock in two HPAL trains. The new addition will be 0.5 million t/a atmospheric leach circuit to process serpentine deposits. Ardea says that this will make the process more efficient and lower the carbon intensity of nickel formation. It will also increase sulphuric acid consumption of the project and require a larger sulphur burning acid plant to feed the HPAL and atmospheric leach processes, with a consequent increase in steam generation which facilitates the project’s off-grid, carbon free, site energy balance.
MOROCCO
OCP Group to partner with Koch
Morocco’s OCP Group has signed an agreement with US-based Koch Ag & Energy Solutions to allow Koch to acquire a 50% stake from OCP Group in the Jorf Fertilizers Company III (JFC III). Once closed, the transaction will create a joint venture equally owned by OCP and Koch. JFC III comprises an integrated phosphate fertilizer production unit at OCP’s huge Jorf Lasfar site, with an annual production capacity of over 1.1 million t/a of phosphate-based fertilizer.
Soufiyane El Kassi, chief growth officer at OCP Group: “JFC III production will be [jointly] marketed by OCP and Koch Fertilizer, LLC. In addition, the companies plan to collaborate to supply ammonia and sulphur to OCP Group, and will rely on their logistical capacities for the export of fertilizers from Morocco. Our collaboration with Koch will take a new step after more than ten years of commercial relations.”
Executive vice president of Koch Fertilizer Scott McGinn said that the agreement testifies to a long-standing relation with OCP, noting that both companies share the same ambition of expanding phosphate offerings worldwide. “We are excited to grow Koch Fertilizer from being primarily a producer and marketer of nitrogen,” McGinn added, emphasizing that Koch looks forward to partnering with OCP.
