Fertilizer International 514 May-Jun 2023
31 May 2023
Fertilizer Industry News
Fertilizer Industry News
WORLD
IFA study confirms abundant global phosphate reserves
The first global review of phosphate rock resources since 2010 has reported that technically recoverable reserves should last for more than 300 years.
This was the headline finding of a new study by commodity experts Argus commissioned by the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). The study, published in April, provides an assessment of the world’s phosphate rock resources and reserves. This was compiled from publicly available information and data from company surveys.
The study finds that – despite reports to the contrary – there is no global shortage of phosphate rock. Instead, its findings confirm there are around 189 gigatonnes (Gt) of mineable and processable phosphate reserves globally. These reserves are sufficient for about 350 years, at projected phosphate rock consumption rates and using currently available extraction and processing methods.
This figure could well be an underestimate, as it assumes no improvements beyond today’s mining and beneficiation technology. Potentially, the life of phosphate reserves could be extended to more than 1,000 years, the study suggests, if emerging production technologies (e.g., Prayon’s EcoPhos process and the improved hard process (IHP) from Novaphos) were combined with sustainable farming practices and the use of enhanced efficiency fertilizers.
Argus reports the following resource and reserve estimates:
- In-situ global phosphate rock resources of 342 Gt (270-420 Gt) containing 65 Gt P2 O5 (45-88 Gt P2 O5 ).
- A global reserve base of 189 Gt (148211 Gt) containing 36 Gt P2 O5 (26-48 Gt P2 O5 ). These are in-situ ore volumes that are technically recoverable using current technology.
- The use of emerging technologies could increase the reserve base to 219 Gt (171-232 Gt) containing 39 Gt P2 O5 (27-48 Gt P2 O5 ).
- Economic reserves are estimated at 83 Gt (52-92 Gt) run-of-mine containing 21 Gt P2 O5 (12-24 Gt P2 O5 ). These are reserves which are both technically and economically viable.
Argus also provides a regional breakdown of the 189 Gt global reserve base, as follows:
- Africa: 95,700 million tonnes
- North America: 33,300 million tonnes
- West Asia: 17,700 million tonnes
- East Asia: 15,900 million tonnes
- Eastern Europe & Central Asia: 11,900 million tonnes
- West & Central Europe: 8,700 million tonnes
- Latin America: 4,500 million tonnes
- Oceania: 1,600 million tonnes
- South Asia: 110 million tonnes.
This confirms that half of global reserves are concentrated in Africa.
IFA says that the new evidence on the abundance of phosphate rock supplies should not deter companies from improving the sustainable use of this non-renewable resource. That includes improving nutrient use efficiency, recycling nutrients from waste streams, and maximizing the efficiency of the phosphate mining, mineral processing and fertilizer production processes. More efficient phosphorus use offers economic and environmental benefits, according to IFA, as it improves crop yields and farm economics, reduces aquatic pollution via runoff, as well increasing the lifespan of currently known reserves.
Evidence from the new study suggests that decarbonisation of the phosphate industry was a more worthwhile priority than a perceived global phosphate rock shortage, commented IFA.
“This study provides a balanced and insightful contribution to the debate about the future availability of phosphate rock as a source of fertilizer,” said Adrian Binks, the chairman and CEO of Argus Media.
Alzbeta Klein, IFA’s CEO and director general, said: “While the findings of this study are very reassuring from the perspective of the availability of global phosphate reserves, the industry recognises the need to focus on greater sustainability in the production and use of phosphates as a priority. Innovation across the supply chain is needed to ensure we extract and use the available reserves appropriately, now and into the future.
“IFA and its members are committed to both the sustainable use of phosphate reserves and to exploring opportunities to recycle by-products where possible.”
Global phosphate rock production in 2021 stood at 204 million tonnes (63 Mt P2 O5 ) of marketable concentrate.
AUSTRALIA
Construction starts on Karratha urea project
Perdaman Industries has started to construct the AUD 6 billion Karratha urea project. The company broke ground on the project, located on the Burrup Peninsula, 20 kilometres northwest of Karratha on the Western Australia coast, after making a final investment decision on 26th April.
The start of construction follows the award of the project’s $2.7 billion engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a 50:50 joint venture between Saipem SpA and Clough Group in May last year. This contract covers project engineering, the supply of equipment and materials, and the construction and commissioning of the 2.14 million t/a urea production plant. The building of a water treatment plant, a 100 MW power plant are also included in the contract, as are urea storage, loading and unloading facilities.
Saipem will provide Snamprogetti™ technology for the urea plant, while Haldor Topsoe will license its SynCOR™ technology to build the world’s largest single-train ammonia unit. Natural gas feedstock for the plant will be supplied by Woodside’s Scarborough project.
The urea project is expected to create 2,500 construction-phase and 200 operational jobs. Australia currently imports around 2.4-million tonnes of urea annually.
“My government is proud to support… the Perdaman urea project that will deliver decades of economic benefits for Western Australia, creating local jobs and diversifying the Pilbara economy,” said Western Australia’s Premier Mark McGowan. “It is estimated the project will create thousands of jobs within the state and generate a total revenue of AUD 77 billion over its life.”
Export Finance Australia (EFA) has provided an AUD 269 million loan to the project, alongside the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and 12 other commercial lenders.
Government lenders have also provided AUD 300 million in funding for supporting regional infrastructure. This includes two loans worth AUD 255 million granted by the NAIF to the Pilbara Ports Authority and Water Corporation.
The AUD 159 million loan to the Pilbara Ports Authority is for a new wharf and facilities at the Port of Dampier. The other AUD 96 million loan will fund the Water Corporation’s expansion of the Burrup seawater supply and brine disposal scheme. This will connect to the Karratha urea project once it is built. Additionally, the state government has committed more than AUD 50 million to support early design works and upgrades to public infrastructure.
UNITED KINGDOM
CRU and Argus launch low-emissions ammonia price services
CRU launched a new low-emissions ammonia (LEA) price assessment in February as part of its Fertilizer Week price reporting service. This calculates a premium on the Northwest European ammonia price based on the value of mitigated emissions.
The new assessment combines proprietary emissions data with weekly European carbon prices to attach a value to emissions mitigation. The LEA price assessment uses information compiled by CRU’s Emissions Analysis Tool – a comprehensive asset-by-asset emissions dataset for the nitrogen industry.
CRU says that calculating premiums in this way allows customers to assess how the switch to LEA can deliver value to their businesses while also contributing to company decarbonisation strategies.
Argus also launched a new suite of cost indicators for low-carbon ammonia production in February. This covers ammonia made with renewable fuels, or with fossil fuels using either carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) or carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Argus now publishes 312 costs of production for decarbonised ammonia at key locations around the world. These indices are published in the Argus Hydrogen and Future Fuels service – complementing the 470 decarbonised hydrogen costs this service already provides. This service supplements the company’s long standing and comprehensive price coverage for the ‘grey’ ammonia market. This assesses market prices for ammonia made with fossil fuels where the carbon is not mitigated.
CHINA
Stamicarbon licenses its largest low energy urea plant
Stamicarbon has signed a contract for a new Ultra-Low Energy urea plant in Jiangxi province, China. This will be the seventh plant based on this innovative design and, with a capacity of 3,850 t/d, is Stamicarbon’s largest low energy urea plant to date.
The contract is for a urea melt and prilling plant. It covers the process design package, licensing, equipment supply – including proprietary Safurex® high-pressure equipment – and associated services. It will also apply Stamicarbon’s Ultra-Low Energy design to the urea plant’s pool condenser for the first time. The customer has not been named.
Stamicarbon’s Ultra-Low Energy design allows heat supplied as high-pressure steam to be used three times instead of the usual two. This reduces steam consumption by about 35 percent and cooling water consumption by about 16 percent, versus traditional processes, as has been demonstrated at two plants currently in operation.
“This award is significant, being Stamicarbon’s largest Ultra-Low Energy urea plant to date and the first plant where this breakthrough technology is applied to a pool condenser. It shows Stamicarbon’s commitment to innovation and technology development to improve the sustainability of the fertilizer industry,” said Pejman Djavdan, Stamicarbon’s CEO.
UNITED STATES
Incitec Pivot sells Waggaman plant to CF Industries
Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) has sold its Waggaman ammonia plant in Louisiana to CF Industries for $1.675 billion.
The plant was completed in 2016 at a cost of $850 million and has a nameplate capacity of 880,000 t/a.
The plant will continue to supply at least 200,000 t/a of ammonia – about 20 percent of its output – to IPL’s Dyno Nobel Americas (DNA) explosives business under a 25-year offtake agreement. The ammonia supply deal with IPL is valued at $425 million, leaving CF needing to fund the remaining $1.25 billion of the purchase price from its cash reserves.
CF Industries will also sell ammonia produced at Waggaman to two other US customers. About 75 percent of the plant’s output is destined for industrial applications, according to CF.
“We are pleased to reach this agreement with Incitec Pivot Limited,” said Tony Will, the president and CEO of CF Industries. “We believe the Waggaman facility will fit seamlessly into our network, as well as our strategic focus on ammonia as a clean energy source, given its proximity and pipeline connection to our Donaldsonville, Louisiana, Complex, its distribution and logistics flexibility, and its favorable characteristics for the addition of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies to enable low-carbon ammonia production.”
“With the decision to sell this world-class asset, we will reduce our excess exposure to commodity and operating risks while maintaining Waggaman’s strategic value,” said Jeanne Johns, IPL’s managing director and CEO.
IPL is planning to demerge its Pivot Fertilisers and Dyno Nobel explosives businesses to create two separate listed entities. IPL will use the cash from the sell-off to pay down debt and help with the demerger.
Waggaman’s sale remains subject to US anti-trust regulatory clearance and the completion of other customary closing conditions.
Yara and Enbridge plan large-scale Texan blue ammonia plant
Norway’s Yara International and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge are planning to collaborate on a $2.9 billion blue ammonia project near Corpus Christi in Texas.
The proposed plant would be Yara’s biggest, supplying 1.2-1.4 million t/a of low-carbon ammonia by capturing, transporting and permanently storing about 95 percent of the CO2 generated. The project will be located at Enbridge’s Corpus Christi oil storage and export facility.
Yara plans to use the plant’s ammonia output as a feedstock for its global production assets, including those in Europe, as well as selling this into emerging clean ammonia markets such as shipping fuel. Low-carbon ammonia production could potentially begin within 4-5 years, although a final investment decision has yet to be made.
The project was originally planned before the introduction of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by the US government. The IRA’s higher carbon storage tax credit ($85/t) now makes the proposed blue ammonia plant a much more attractive investment, according to Yara.
Atlas Ag to use KBR’s green ammonia technology
KBR is to license its K-GreeN® ammonia technology to the renewable fertilizer project developer Atlas Agro AG.
Under the terms of a recently signed memorandum of understanding between the two companies, KBR will provide technology licensing, basic engineering design, proprietary equipment and catalysts for a series of planned investments by Atlas in zero-carbon nitrate fertilizer plants. The engineering design for the first of these plants, located in the US, began in March this year.
“We are excited to support Atlas Agro’s vision of zero-carbon fertilizer production through our market leading green ammonia technology, K-GreeN,” said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology. “We are also confident that we can drive schedule synergies across the series of plants to accelerate availability of clean ammonia globally.”
“We are proud to partner with KBR and use its K-GreeN process for our green fertilizer facilities construction,” said Petter Ostbo, Atlas Agro’s CEO. “Each of our green ammonia plants will produce fertilizer that will help feed nearly 16 million people and avoid global carbon emissions of more than one million tons per year.”
BANGLADESH
Green fertilizer plant 90 percent complete
The Ghorashal-Polash Urea Fertilizer Project (GPUFP) is now 90 percent complete, according to Chinese state media. The project is said to be running two months ahead of schedule, with completion now expected this December.
More than 850 employees from the China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corporation, in collaboration with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have been working round the clock to complete the large-scale project. The fertilizer plant is being developed as part of China’s strategic ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.
The GPUFP is located in Narsingdi district, 51 kilometres northeast of the capital Dhaka. It has a production capacity of 1,600 t/d for ammonia and 2,800 t/d for urea. It will become the biggest fertilizer plant in Bangladesh and one of the largest in South Asia when it enters operation.
The project will supply around 40 percent (1.0 million t/a) of current fertilizer demand in Bangladesh (2.5 million t/a). The blue ammonia unit also incorporates carbon capture, making GPUFP the first-ever green fertilizer plant in Bangladesh.
Wu Xiangong, senior vice president of China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation, said: “On the basis of this project, we will work together to build Bangladesh’s chemical industry system, so as to let the Bangladeshi people feel the deep friendship between China and Bangladesh as well as enjoy the fruitful results of cooperation.”
QATAR
Bedeschi to supply sulphur-handling equipment
Bedeschi is to supply new sulphur-handling equipment to the NXFP sulphur project.
This follows QatarEnergy’s award of a $600 million construction contract for the project to joint venture partners Spain’s Técnicas Reunidas (70%) and China’s Wison Engineering (30%) in April last year.
This project will process and export sulphur from liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities at Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) complex. The project’s new sulphur plant has the capacity to process around 5,000 t/d of molten sulphur.
As part of a large-scale and comprehensive supply and engineering contract with Técnicas Reunidas and Wison Engineering, Bedeschi will supply:
- Six conveyor belts with a total length of 1,400 metres with a capacity of 550 t/h, including galleries and transfer towers
- Four conveyor belts with a total length of 480 metres with a capacity of 2,000 t/h, including galleries and transfer towers
- One conveyor belt with a total length of 120 metres with a capacity of 3,700 t/h, with a gallery and transfer tower
- Two trippers with a capacity of 550 t/h
- A double arm portal reclaimer with a capacity of 2,000 t/h
- A travelling slewing shiploader with a capacity of 2,000 t/h
- A radial shiploader with a capacity of 3,700 tonnes per hour.
BRAZIL
Unigel and thyssenkrupp to expand green hydrogen capacity
thyssenkrupp nucera and Unigel have agreed to quadruple the capacity of an under-construction green hydrogen plant in Bahia, Brazil.
Unigel, Brazil’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producer, is on schedule to complete the country’s first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant by the end of this year. The 10,000 t/a of green hydrogen generated by the 60 MW capacity thyssenkrupp nucera electrolyser unit will be used to produce 60,000 t/a of green ammonia.
Unigel will use green ammonia as a feedstock in fertilizer and acrylic production. The company will also offer green hydrogen and green ammonia to industrial customers – including steel makers, oil refiners and ammonia producers – to help them decarbonise their production chains.
Unigel and thyssenkrupp nucera have now announced plans to expand the Bahia project’s water electrolysis capacity from 60 MW to 240 MW, as part of a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreed in mid-March. The MoU signing ceremony, held in Belo Horizonte, was attended by Dr Robert Habeck, Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and climate action, during his recent visit to Brazil.
“Unigel’s green hydrogen plant will be the first on an industrial scale in Brazil,” said Roberto Noronha Santos, Unigel’s CEO. “We continue to negotiate strategic partnerships to enable the new phases of the project.”
“Brazil is one of the nations predestined to take on a key role in the green transformation by consistently exploiting the potential in renewable energies,” said Dr Werner Ponikwar, the CEO and chairman of thyssenkrupp nucera. “With our technologies for the development of a hydrogen economy, we are making our contribution to paving the way for this green transformation.”
ITALY
Tessenderlo buys marketing and sales rights from Esseco
Tessenderlo Group has entered into an agreement to acquire the marketing and sales activities for ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) fertilizers produced by Esseco Srl (part of Esseco Group) in Trecate, Italy.
These ATS fertilizers will be sold and marketed by the Tessenderlo Kerley International business unit in future. Tessenderlo is also buying the Secofit® TS and Agrifix® agricultural trademarks for this product range. The agreement was due to become operational in March.
“This agreement confirms Tessenderlo Kerley International’s commitment to the ammonium thiosulfate fertilizer market. Thanks to the production capacity of Esseco Srl, we will have additional volumes of ammonium thiosulfate fertilizers available,” said Geert Gyselinck, the EVP of Tessenderlo Kerley International. “In addition to cooperating with a company which shares the same mindset towards continuous improvement in terms of both product and process, this agreement will also improve the service we offer to our customers.”
Tessenderlo Group has also reported “great progress” on a new Thio-Sul® production unit at its Geleen site in The Netherlands. Construction of the new plant has been running at full speed since the final permits were granted in mid-January, according to the company.
The new plant at Geleen is expected to become fully operational by mid-2024. Construction work is being supervised by Le Gaz Intégral, the same contractor who built Tessenderlo’s Thio-Sul® plant in Rouen, France, in 2017.
Tessenderlo has also announced the successful introduction of Thio-Sul® , its liquid ammonium thiosulfate fertilizer, into the Ukrainian agriculture market Growers are continuing to farm in Ukraine, despite the highly challenging situation.
Thio-Sul® provides prolonged sulphur nutrition and increases the efficiency of nitrogen nutrition for key broad-acre crops, such as rapeseed, potato, corn, and wheat. Working jointly with strategic partner Eridon, Tessenderlo is integrating Thio-Sul® into crop nutrition programmes across Ukraine.
