Sulphuric Acid News

Sulphuric Acid News

UNITED STATES

Veolia sells its acid regeneration business

Veolia says that its subsidiary Veolia North America has signed an agreement for the divestment of Veolia North America Regeneration Services, which includes its sulphuric acid and hydrofluoric acid regeneration activities for refineries, to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $620 million. These activities represented revenues of around $350 million in 2023. The financial closure of the transaction is expected soon. Veolia’s Sulphuric Acid Regeneration Business includes its sulphuric acid and potassium hydroxide regeneration, as well as sulphur gas recovery, and sulphur-based products production businesses.

“This disposal is in line with our policy of continuously reshaping our portfolio of assets in line with the strategic priorities of our GreenUp plan whilst maintaining a strict balance sheet discipline,” said Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer. “The sulphuric acid regeneration business in the United States is not one of our key priorities and does not offer synergies with our core activities. Their disposal will enable us to create value and concentrate our investments on the ‘boosters’ of the GreenUp strategic plan .”

AIP has renamed the acquired unit Nexpera. Alex Schukin, Partner at AIP, said, “Nexpera’s business units align with strong market drivers related to clean fuel production, emission reduction, and reshoring of industrial activities in the US. We look forward to partnering with the Nexpera team as they enable their customers to meet the world’s growing demand for clean-burning fuel components with sustainable, efficient and environmentally conscious regeneration services. As an industry leader, the company serves a vital role in our nation’s energy infrastructure while also addressing diverse, growing, and high-value applications across the industrial economy.”

Electronic grade phosphoric acid plant for Texas

South Korea-based Soulbrain is planning to build a new $175 million electronic grade phosphoric acid plant in Taylor, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of state capital Austin. The plant, which is due to begin construction in January 2025, will supply electronic giant Samsung’s new $17 billion semiconductor facility which is being built in the town. Electronic grade phosphoric acid is used as an etching agent in semiconductor manufacturing. The first phase of the plant will be built at the RCR Taylor Rail Logistics Park according to Soulbrain, which is also considering investing $400 million in a second construction phase.

“Adding Soulbrain to our community adds yet another diverse, international company that will expand our tax base and create new jobs for our citizens,” said Betty Day, chairperson of the Taylor Economic Development Corp. “Ever since Taylor landed Samsung, we have been working hard to recruit their top suppliers.”

EGYPT

US investor considering new phosphoric acid plant

US-based Lionsbridge, a subsidiary of the construction services firm Wesson Group, is planning to set up a phosphoric acid production factory at Egypt’s Abu Tartour port in Safaga, with investments of up to $3 billion, according to a press statement. The project aims to meet the demand of the local market and export abroad. The company says that the project will be implemented in several phases, with the first phase targeting a production capacity of 350,000 t/a of phosphoric acid, with $395 million worth of investments. The project’s production capacity would be doubled in the second phase, in addition to producing 500,000 t/a of sulphuric acid annually. Other potential expansions include mono-and di-ammonium phosphate, and plans to use green electricity to produce hydrogen for ammonia production to increase the project’s environmental sustainability.

Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport met with Lionsbridge in July to discuss the project proposal, as well as a system of Free Zones in the Abu Tartour region, in coordination with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones.

RUSSIA

Agreement on new phosphate plant

An agreement was signed in July to build a new phosphorus production and processing plant in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the republic of Tatarstan. Rikoflot plans to build yellow phosphorus production facilities with 25,000 t/a year, with a subsequent expansion of phosphoric acid production of 100,000 t/a according to the company. It is the first plant for production of phosphorus and complex fertilizers in the region. Tatarstan has an existing ammonia plant. Raw materials will most likely have to be sourced from the Kirov or Murmansk regions, since there are no phosphorus deposits in the Republic of Tatarstan. The project is in the initial stages of development and is initially designed for the domestic market, with no talk of exports yet.

MOROCCO

OCP selects Chemetics sulphuric acid technology

OCP says that it will award Worley Chemetics the contract for three new sulphuric acid plants at the company’s Mzinda Phosphate Hub (MPH) in Morocco. The notice of award is conditional on the subsequent signing of a contract. Under the contract, Worley Chemetics will agree to supply proprietary sulphuric acid technology and equipment alongside detailed engineering, procurement and advisory services. The company will deliver the contract from Canada through its offices in Vancouver and specialised fabrication plant near Toronto.

Worley says that its Chemetics’ sulphuric acid technology offers increased electrical power which is CO2 emission-free and results in lower stack emissions. Air cooling is also used to conserve and reduce the plant water usage. Additionally, the company’s proprietary CES-ALPHA™ System recovers low-grade heat as steam for maximum heat recovery.

“We are pleased to continue to support OCP with our proprietary sulphuric acid technology, consistent with our purpose of delivering a more sustainable world,” said Chris Ashton, Worley’s CEO.

The MPH project is a part of the OCP’s Green Investment program. This is aiming to increase the company’s annual fertilizer production capacity from 12 million tonnes currently to 20 million tonnes by 2027 using clean energy and non-conventional water sources.

AUSTRALIA

Nickel shutdown poses risk to rare earths plant

Lynas Rare Earths says that it is working on contingencies with BHP to ensure a continued supply of sulphuric acid to its Kalgoorlie facility after BHP made the decision to suspend its nickel operations at Nickel West in Western Australia from October. BHP has said the Nickel West operations and West Musgrave project will be suspended from October 2024, with the decision to be reviewed by February 2027. The shutdown, which BHP says has been necessitated by a global oversupply in nickel, removes supply of sulphuric acid from BHP’s Kalgoorlie nickel smelter which is crucial for Lynas’ rare earths processing operations. BHP is contracted to supply nickel to Lynas until June 2027 under the current contract.

In a message to shareholders, Lynas said that BHP had affirmed its commitment to “using reasonable efforts” to supply imported acid to Lynas in line with the terms of the supply contract, via purchasing acid on global markets.

Lynas’ Kalgoorlie plant processes rare earth concentrate extracted from its Mount Weld mine. This concentrate undergoes a high-temperature process in a 110 m rotating kiln to convert rare earth phosphate minerals into rare earth sulphate. Following this, a leaching process with added water removes impurities such as iron phosphate, ultimately yielding a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC). The MREC produced in Kalgoorlie is subsequently refined further at Lynas’ advanced materials plants, such as the facility in Gebeng, Malaysia, or potentially at its upcoming rare earths separation facility in the US. Lynas has also said that it is considering producing its own acid to supply the rare earths plant, and is looking to Federal government assistance.

NEW ZEALAND

Ravensdown to stop making superphosphate

Ravensdown is proposing to stop manufacturing superphosphate fertiliser at its Ravensbourne plant, in Dunedin. The company has three manufacturing sites, at Napier, Christchurch, and Dunedin, with a combined capacity of 700-800,000 t/a, but in recent years has only been operating 400,000 t/a of that. Factors affecting the decision are that Christchurch is closer to the market for the product, and Ravensbourne would need capital spending to keep operating and a renewal of operating permits was also coming up. The shutdown is likely to be decided at the end of September, with closure coming in December or January 2025, according to the company. Ravensdown includes a vintage 240 t/d sulphuric acid plant built by Lurgi Chemie which dates back to 1967.

INDIA

Coromandel to restart sulphuric and phosphoric acid plants

Coromandel International Ltd says that that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has approved the partial resumption of operations at its Ennore facility, nearly eight months after the plant was closed down following an ammonia leak from its pipeline. The unit has received approval from the TNPCB to resume operations of the phosphoric acid plant and the sulphuric acid plant, but not the ammonia storage facility, whose restart remains subject to conditions recommended by a technical committee, include replacing the existing offshore pipeline with a new pipeline and providing an adequate number of ammonia sensors all around the plant.

Mangalore and Paradeep to merge

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed merger of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL) with Paradeep Phosphates Ltd and the proposed acquisition of equity shares of MCFL by Zuari Maroc Phosphates Private Ltd. Paradeep Phosphates Limited (PPL) is part of the Adventz group of companies, with its majority shareholding held by Zuari Maroc Phosphates, itself a 50:50 joint venture between Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd and Moroccon phosphate giant OCP. MCFL is also part of the Adventz group, with Zuari holding a 54% majority stake.

INDONESIA

Freeport officially opens new copper smelter

Indonesia’s Minister of the Economy Airlangga Hartarto and Investment Coordination Agency BKPM head Bahlil Lahadalia were present at an opening ceremony for PT Freeport Indonesia’s new $3.7 billion copper smelter, along with Freeport Indonesia’s president director Tony Wenas, at the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gresik, East Java.

Minister Hararto noted that construction had been completed in only 30 months, on-time in spite of the covid pandemic, with production beginning in August 2024 and full capacity due to be achieved in December 2024. He said Freeport’s smelter development is part of an agreement reached with the company over the special mining operation permit awarded to the company.

PTFI president director Tony Wenas said development of this new smelter was a consequence of PT Freeport Indonesia’s commitment to support the copper mineral downstream development policy launched by the government. He said going ahead, copper will be in high demand globally to supply the energy transition. PTFI’s new smelter can refine copper concentrate at a capacity of 1.7 million t/a to produce around 600-700,000 t/a of copper cathode. The smelter will also produce anode slime that will subsequently undergo refining in the precious metals refinery to produce gold and silver bullion, as well as platinum group metals (PGMs). Sulphuric acid capacity at the site is 750,000 t/a.

Harita reports rising HPAL output

PT Trimegah Bangun Persada Tbk (NCKL), also known as Harita Nickel, recorded a 25% increase in sales of 25% in its results for the first half of 2024. The company made sales of 12.8 trillion rupiah over the period ($823 million), up from 10.2 trillion rupiah for 1H 2023. The company says that this growth has been driven by increased production output and higher sales volume across its mining and processing operations. Production capacity continues to grow in line with the rising capacity of the RKEF smelter and HPAL purification facilities. Sales of nickel ore in the first half of 2024 reached 8.37 million wet tonnes, an increase of 29%, with mixed hydroxide precipitate output from the HPAL plant rising by 28%, reaching 38,334 tonnes.

WORLD

Report warns of gap in copper supply chain

Diversification away from China and its supply of critical minerals such as copper would put the global energy transition goals in jeopardy, according to a recent report by Wood-Mackenzie. The firm puts the potential gap in the world’s copper supply chain at $85 billion. Copper is a crucial component of electrification, with demand set to rise by as much as 75% to 56 million tonnes by 2050. Existing mines and projects under construction are expected to meet only 80% of copper needs by 2030, the International Energy Agency has said. Downstream processing (smelting and refining) and semi-manufacturing/fabricating are also major parts of the copper supply chain. Since 2000, China has accounted for 75% of global smelter capacity growth and currently controls nearly all of global smelting and refining capacity (97%), contributing over 3 million t/a of production and nearly $25 billion in investment. The country has also added nearly 11 million t/a of copper and alloy capacity since 2019, representing around 80% of global additions. Approximately two-thirds of these facilities produce wire rods, giving China half of the world’s fabrication capacity, with further expansion underway.

The report estimates that there will be around 8.6 million t/a of additional copper demand ex-China over the next decade, driven by growth in transport, power and electrical networks. This equates to 70% of smelter capability and 55% of fabricator capacity in the rest of the world, in spite of capacity outside China barely changing over the last 20 years, raising the question of whether such a shift is achievable.

MOROCCO

US raises duty on Moroccan phosphates

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has announced an increase on import duties for fertilizers from Morocco. The move relates to a request from US fertilizer producer Mosaic received in May 2023. In June last year the DoC published a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco, and it has twice extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this review, which was finally completed in April 2024. The determination is backdated to imports from January-December 2022, and increases import duties on Moroccan fertilizers from 2.12% to 14.21%, while lowering duties on Russian phosphate fertilizers to 18.83% from 28.5%.

FINLAND

Metso technology for quenching of off-gas

Metso is reintroducing the OtoVentTM off-gas treatment technology for the quenching of various types of off-gases in non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgical processes and in oil, gas and chemical plants. OtoVent technology is used, for example, at the most modern copper smelters. It incorporates high quenching and pre-dedusting capability, and the design ensures lower maintenance effort. Metso says that its compact size also makes it suitable for both greenfield and brownfield installations and it is an exceptional replacement for existing quenchers

BRAZIL

Metso order for Galvani fertilizer plant

Galvani Fertilizante has awarded Metso an order to deliver a lime calcination kiln and cooler package for its fertilizer plant in Irecê, Brazil. Metso says that he total value of the order is over euro 10 million. The Irecê project is a significant step for Galvani in introducing sustainable technological innovations at its industrial plants.

The new unit is expected to annually produce 350,000 t/a of phosphate concentrate and 600,000 t/a of agricultural limestone. Metso will supply a rotary kiln, a rotary cooler and ancillary equipment for the project. The kiln and the cooler system are a critical part in the process to remove limestone from the phosphate concentrate. The kiln will be the largest lime calciner Metso has ever delivered, measuring almost six meters in diameter and over 140 meters in length. Metso has installed over 200 lime calcining systems globally.

“The partnership with Metso will bring strategic benefits to Galvani, allowing gains in mineral processing at our new unit in the municipality of Irecê, in Bahia. The laying of the foundation stone for this unit, which took place in May of this year, reinforces the importance of this project for the development of the economy of the state of Bahia, in Brazil, and for the generation of jobs and income. This milestone represents our commitment to innovation and development, boosting our ability to meet the demands of the fertilizer market,” says Galvani’s CEO, Marcelo Silvestre.

“We are proud to partner with Galvani in this project. With Metso’s vast experience in lime calcining and rotary kiln technology and Galvani’s rich history and expertise in phosphate fertilizers, we’re certain the project will be a landmark success for both parties,” says Chris Urban, Vice President, Heat Transfer at Metso.

SAUDI ARABIA

Acid imports down 50% in Q1

Saudi Arabia imported 96,141 tonnes of sulphuric acid during January-March 2024, down 50% from the equivalent period in 2023, according to Global Trade Tracker (GTT). Imports from Japan climbed from nothing to 40,400 tonnes, while the volume from South Korea was down 38% at 25,846 tonnes. The volume from China was down 84% at 19,394 tonnes, while acid received from Taiwan, China was roughly stable at 10,501 tonnes.

Saudi phosphates producer Ma’aden first purchased spot acid in November 2020, buying a cargo from Chinese sulphur burner Two Lions via a trader. The buyer then made a range of acid purchases through 2021 and 2022. Saudi imports for January-December 2023 were up 14% year on year at 565,488 tonnes, according to GTT, while annual imports for 2022 were up 53% at 493,954 tonnes. The company typically bases its production off its own acid output, produced using Saudi sulphur from Aramco. Ma’aden enquired about acid purchases several times throughout 2020, but no deal was concluded until the November purchase.

CHILE

Copper output down at Codelco

Copper production at Chilean miner Codelco was reportedly 484,500 tonnes in the first five months of the year, 6.1% under the company’s target. May’s output of 103,100 tonnes was 8.6% below the goal, according to Reuters, while April production of 95,100 tonnes was the first time a month’s output was below 100,000 tonnes in at least 18 years. The state-owned company lost production when it suspended activity at Radomiro Tomic to enable an inspection following a fatal accident in March. A workers’ strike at the mine added to the company’s woes. As lower ore grades across all operations is the underlying reason for reduced output, Codelco has embarked on a multi-billion dollar investment programme to return production to the historic level of around 1.7 million t/a..