Fertilizer International 523 Nov-Dec 2024
30 November 2024
Fertilizer Industry News
Fertilizer Industry News
QATAR
Mega project to double urea production
QatarEnergy has announced the construction of a new world-scale ammonia-urea production complex at Mesaieed Industrial City in Qatar.
The new complex – which will more than double Qatar’s urea production – is expected to enter production before 2030. It will incorporate three new ammonia lines supplying four new world-scale urea production plants.
By adding 6.4 million t/a of extra urea capacity, the new complex will increase Qatar’s annual urea production from about 6 million t/a currently to 12.4 million t/a. The project’s first urea train is expected to enter production before the end of this decade.
The new mega project was announced by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, on 1st September during a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Doha.
“We have been producing ammonia and urea in Qatar for over 50 years. Today, we are expanding our experience and further solidifying our position by this unprecedented mega-project that will make the State of Qatar the world’s largest urea producer, playing a crucial role in ensuring food security for hundreds of millions of people around the globe, day after day,” Al-Kaabi said.
“Developing this project in Mesaieed Industrial City will ensure the optimum utilisation of the excellent existing infrastructure for the petrochemical and fertilizer industries, including the city’s export port, which is one of the largest fertilizer and petrochemical export facilities in the MENA region. It will also establish Mesaieed as the urea production capital of the world,” he added.
Affiliate company QAFCO (Qatar Fertiliser Company) currently owns and operates six world-class ammonia-urea plants in Mesaieed Industrial City. The company is the world’s largest single-site exporter of urea (5.6 million t/a) with a 14 percent share of world supply approximately.
GERMANY
Yara opens new ammonia import terminal
Yara International has officially opened its new ammonia import terminal at Brunsbüttel, Germany, located on the North Sea and Kiel Canal.
The addition of the new terminal now provides Yara with the necessary infrastructure to import up to three million t/a of low-emission ammonia into Europe. Brunsbüttel makes an ideal hub for Germany’s emerging hydrogen economy, according to Yara.
“As the world’s largest shipper and distributer of ammonia, Yara Clean Ammonia is in a pole position to secure low-emission ammonia supply to Germany, at competitive prices,” said Hans Olav Raen, CEO Yara Clean Ammonia. “With its leading global ammonia position, Yara can help kick-start the German hydrogen economy, laying the ground for a net zero future.”
Demand for low-emission ammonia in Germany is expected to grow significantly in future. The country’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection estimates that up to 70% of national ammonia requirements will be imported by 2030 – with potentially higher import volumes after this date.
Permit for phosphorus recovery plant
EasyMining and its water industry partner Gelsenwasser have received a permit from Germany’s State Administrative Office to establish a phosphorus recovery plant in Schkopau, Germany.
The two companies welcomed this green light for their Phosphorgewinnung Schkopau GmbH (PGS) joint venture, calling this “a big and important step closer” for the first phosphorus recovery plant based on EasyMining’s Ash2Phos technology (Fertilizer International 509, p60).
The Schkopau plant – which will extract phosphorus from sewage sludge ash – is scheduled to start production in 2027.
“The State Administrative Office positive statement presents a golden chance for us to establish a circular solution for the vital nutrient phosphorus. We eagerly look forward to initiating the phosphorus recovery process, which will not only secure a stable supply of high-quality phosphorus within Europe but also contribute to a more sustainable food supply,” said Christian Kabbe, CEO of EasyMining Germany.
The project, as well as improving security of supply for phosphorus, should offer environmental protection and waste management improvements.
“The positive permit from the State Administrative Office gives us the opportunity to finally start processing waste from municipal wastewater treatment and to strengthen water and soil protection in Germany. Phosphorus recovery is key to making urban water management waste-free and reintegrating these valuable materials back into the economic cycle,” said Martin Braunersreuther, Gelsenwasser’s head of sales.
The Ash2Phos technology developed by EasyMining, part of the Ragn-Sells Group, extract more than 90 percent of phosphorus present in ash generated by sewage sludge incineration. The objective is to partly replace phosphorus from primary sources, especially mines in Russia and Morocco, with recycled phosphorus produced domestically.
EUROPEAN UNION
Fertiglobe to supply renewable ammonia
Fertiglobe has been selected to supply renewable ammonia to the European Union (EU) from 2027.
The Abu Dhabi-based company was announced as the winning bidder of a pilot auction by H2Global, an initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
Fertiglobe will now commit to supplying renewable ammonia to the EU at a delivered contract price of e1,000/t, starting with a volume of 19,500 t/a in 2027 – subject to supply availability – with volumes potentially scaling up to 397,000 t/a by 2033.
“This award marks a significant milestone for Fertiglobe in advancing sustainable ammonia production and a further critical step towards a final investment decision for Egypt Green Hydrogen, expected in H1 2025. Our selection as the winning bidder in H2Global’s pilot auction underscores our leadership in supplying low-carbon products and our commitment to shaping a more sustainable future, and I appreciate the work of our incredible team to make this award possible. We are leveraging this vital program which makes our investment in sustainable ammonia economically viable, supporting critical decarbonisation technology, while maintaining our disciplined growth strategy,” said Ahmed El-Hoshy, Fertiglobe’s CEO.
The German government has provided funding of e4.43 billion to H2Global to rapidly expand the supply of renewable hydrogen and its low-carbon derivatives such as ammonia.
H2Global’s ‘double-auction’ mechanism for buyers and sellers is designed to bridge the gap between the high prices at which hydrogen is currently being traded on the global market, and the lower economically viable prices at which it can be sold and used at EU regional level. H2Global says the auction demonstrates that renewable ammonia can be imported into the EU at attractive prices, alongside targeted support to the most competitive international projects.
Timo Bollerhey, the CEO of Hintco and co-creator of H2Global said: “This auction result is a strong indication of the market potential of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. The energy transition requires value for money, workable solutions – and this first pilot auction has demonstrated that financial and procurement innovations like H2Global’s mechanism not only work but are needed to create thriving markets that motivate and mobilise private finance.”
EGYPT
Stamicarbon to revamp Talkha urea plant
El Delta Company for Fertilizer and Chemical Industries has awarded Stamicarbon a contract to upgrade and expand the Talkha urea plant at El Mansoura, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt.
A licensing and process design package (PDP) from Stamicarbon will increase the urea plant’s production capacity from 1,725 t/d to 2,250 t/d. The implementation of Stamicarbon’s Ultra Low Energy design will also reduce the plant’s steam consumption by 35% and its cooling water usage by 16%. This proprietary technology delivers energy savings by using high-pressure steam three times instead of twice.
Stamicarbon’s contract with El Delta also includes the licensing and design of a new 2,250 t/d capacity urea granulation unit based on the company’s latest fluid-bed technology.
“We are honoured to be entrusted with this significant project, which further solidifies Stamicarbon’s role as a leader in urea melt and finishing technologies in Egypt,” said Pejman Djavdan, CEO of Stamicarbon. “This expansion will significantly improve El Delta’s production from both a capacity and sustainability perspective.”
The Egyptian government is investing around $400 million to develop and expand El Delta’s fertilizer plants. In February, thyssenkrupp Uhde’s Egyptian subsidiary signed a contract to revamp the existing ammonia production unit at Talkha.
WORLD
IFA launches fertilizer efficiency project
The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) has launched a project to boost the adoption of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) in partnership with Proba, a decarbonisation start-up company.
Greater use of EEFs will be incentivised by developing new quantification and verification standards – with a particular focus on nitrification and urease inhibitors. These are incorporated in fertilizers to reduce nitrogen losses, including the strong greenhouse gas (GHG) nitrous oxide, by targeting and inhibiting specific biological processes.
The project is designed to share costs and de-risk the adoption of these inhibitors across the fertilizer supply chain by working with the voluntary carbon market (VCM).
Fertilizers are essential for enhancing soil fertility and boosting crop yield, says IFA, and are therefore key to feeding the global population and supporting human health and nutrition. Yet the production and application of nitrogen fertilizers alone, as IFA acknowledges, also contribute about 1.1 billion tonnes of CO2 -equivalent GHG emissions, with approximately 60% of these occurring as agricultural nitrous oxide emissions.
Project lead Achim Dobermann, IFA’s chief scientist, said: “We are excited to begin the first stage of this important project, focused on the downstream supply chain of nitrogen-based fertilizers. We believe that a well-coordinated, science-based, and technology-focused approach led by IFA and its members is more effective and sustainable than a multitude of individual, product-specific protocols.”
IFA hopes that, by concentrating on inhibitors initially, the initiative will develop into a broader sectoral decarbonisation project that captures carbon finance.
Sijbrand Tieleman, Proba’s CEO, said: “There are too many emissions in the agri-food supply chain, with fertilizers contributing around 7% of the total. These emissions are hard to eliminate, but proven technology exists today to reduce them significantly. Inhibitors, for example, can cut GHG emissions by up to 50%, depending on regional, crop, and soil conditions.
“The challenge now is incentivising the supply chain to adopt this technology at scale. By using an insetting approach – where emissions reductions are accounted for within the supply chain itself – and leveraging carbon finance, we can support farmers in this transition. Downstream participants in the value chain, such as food companies, can report reduced Scope 3 emissions and market greener products without fear of greenwashing.”
Farmers embrace innovative products, sustainability and agtech
Globally, farmers are looking to apply new yield-increasing products, sustainable practices and innovative technology to boost profits in the face of wider business and operational pressures.
That’s according to the 2024 Global Farmers Survey released by McKinsey & Company on 16th October – an annual survey of agricultural attitudes now in its fifth year.
The latest survey took place between January-March 2024 and questioned around 4,400 farmers across nine countries. Its findings were previewed at IFA’s Global Markets Conference in London in July (Fertilizer International 522, p4).
Farmers continue to cite input prices (48%) as the main risk to future profits, despite a general decrease in the cost of fertilizer and crop protection products over the last year.
Regionally, this year’s survey also revealed that North American and European farmers are expecting an overall 64% and 54% fall in profits, respectively, driven by high input prices, extreme weather and volatile commodity prices. In both regions, less than 15% of farmers expect their profits to instead rise. Farmers in Latin America and India, meanwhile, are much more optimistic, anticipating higher profits of 65% and 45%, respectively, this year.
Farmers are continuing to invest in sustainable practices, McKinsey reports, albeit for different motives. In India, North America and Latin America, farmers are adopting sustainable practices to increase crop yields, while European farmers are interested in the additional revenue streams these can generate.
The leading sustainable practices are crop rotations (68%), reduced or no tillage (56%), and variable rate spraying or fertilization (40%). Generally, India and Mexico lag behind on adoption, compared with Argentina, Brazil, Europe, and North America.
The adoption of biofertilizers and biostimulants is another sustainability practice on the rise. Some 31% of the farmers are now using these globally – mainly to boost yields and improve soil quality and health.
Many farmers are also integrating new technology into their operations to bolster future profits. Adoption is, however, largely dependent upon farm size – with large farms (more than 2,500 acres)
45% more likely to adopt agricultural technology (agtech) compared to small farms (less than 100 acres).This is largely because farming at scale is necessary to generate a positive return on investment (ROI) from agtech.
USA
Phosphate assets miss Hurricane Milton’s might
Mosaic’s phosphate production and port infrastructure around Tampa in central Florida has escaped the worst of Hurricane Milton and the accompanying storm surge which struck the state’s Gulf coast.
Instead, the hurricane made landfall on 10th October at Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida, as a Category-3 storm.
Milton is the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico. The storm peaked as a Category-5 hurricane offshore with sustained winds at landfall of 120 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
While it weakened to a Category-1 storm as it crossed Florida, Tampa still received around 18 inches of rainfall from the extreme weather event. Some three million Florida homes and business were also without power in the immediate aftermath.
“Recovery efforts post Hurricanes Milton and Helene have progressed well with all Florida production facilities having returned to normal operations except Riverview which has resumed production and is expected to return to normal rates by the end of the week,” Mosaic reported in an operational update on 21st October.
This company update also confirmed that Mosaic’s mining sites were starting to resume operations. South Fort Meade was expected to return to normal within days, while Four Corners was expected to revert to normal working toward the end of October.
Milton hit the state just two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, on 26th September. More than 200 people lost their lives, the majority through flooding in North Carolina.
Although Mosaic’s 687,000 t/a capacity (P2 O5 ) Riverview phosphates plant went offline following Helene, the company’s other facilities sustained only limited damage and Tampa port was also able to reopen after a few days, Mosaic confirmed on 30th September.
Mosaic has pledged to provide “an update on production losses [from Helene and Milton] as recovery efforts progress”. Hurricane Helene’s impact could have lost the company 150,000200,000 tonnes of total product from its phosphate operations, market contacts suggested to CRU.
The industry was bracing itself for the arrival of Milton in Florida, a state which accounts for around 85% of Mosaic’s finished fertilizer production, given that US DAP/MAP supply has been very tight for months.
Nutrien’s White Springs production plant, around 180 miles north of Tampa, received some damage from Hurricane Helene and was still out of action, as of 11th October, while Nutrien assessed the damage and required repairs. Milton, in contrast, passed well to the south of White Springs, which has a production capacity of 482,900 t/a (P2 O5 ).
Mosaic’s Bartow (858,000 t/year P2 O5 ) and its New Wales plants (1.3 million t/a P2 O5 ), along with Riverview, were originally in the direct path of Milton and therefore vulnerable to damage. As a consequence, Mosaic’s share price declined by 7% to $25.40 over a five day period (3-8 October) preceding the storm.
Some price volatility was also reported. At New Orleans (NOLA), DAP for October traded at $570/st f.o.b. on 8th October, and then a loaded DAP barge transacted at $582.50/st on 9th October. A loaded MAP barge changed hands at $625/st f.o.b. on 7th October, while on 8th October multiple first-half October MAP barges traded at $630/st f.o.b., with loaded MAP barges offered at $635-640/st f.o.b. Finally, a loaded DAP barge traded at $579/st f.o.b. NOLA around midday on 10th October.
Yara continued shipping up to 25,500 tonnes of ammonia from Trinidad to Tampa for Mosaic in the aftermath of Milton, with the vessel Yara Freya due at the west Florida port on or around 14th October. Mosaic has received around 180,000 tonnes of ammonia at Tampa so far this year, including the latest Yara cargo, sourced from a variety of traders and supply partners.
The imported ammonia is consumed at Mosaic’s Riverview phosphates production site. Riverview also consumes domestic ammonia barged across the US Gulf from CF’s Donaldsonville, Louisiana, production plant and – periodically – from Mosaic’s own Faustina ammonia production unit in the state.
News insight courtesy of Fertilizer Week
BEN FAREY
Principal Analyst – Fertilizer Markets Lead ben.farey@crugroup.com +44 207 903 2015
“Farmers are facing a critical moment, with the economy and a range of macro factors putting immense pressure on the industry. From extreme weather events to volatile commodities prices and supply chain disruptions, these challenges are driving up costs. Our survey shows that farmers who want to boost their profits in the coming years need to invest in their operations, whether through sustainable farming methods or adopting agtech to streamline processes and reduce labor-intensive tasks,” said Vasanth Ganesan, partner at McKinsey.
In general, farmers are re-evaluating their operations to maximize profitability in response to “a volatile economic landscape, amid extreme weather concerns and high commodity prices”, concludes McKinsey. While many are adopting new products and sustainable practices, these must generate a significant ROI to justify farmers overhauling their operations.
UAE
OCI exits Fertiglobe
OCI completed the sale of its entire 50% +1 share stake in Fertiglobe to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in mid-October, the sell off having met all necessary legal and regulatory conditions. ADNOC now owns 86.2% of Fertiglobe, with the remaining 13.8% stake floating on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
The completion of this transaction is a major milestone in the expansion of ADNOC’s low-carbon fuels business – and its strategy to become a top five global chemicals player.
ADNOC has signalled that it will now transfer its stakes in existing and future low-carbon ammonia projects to Fertiglobe – at cost –when these are at completion. This includes the transfer of two ammonia projects in Abu Dhabi with a combined capacity of around two million t/a. These two additions will more than double Fertiglobe’s current merchant ammonia capacity of 1.6 million t/a, as well as increase its combined net sales capacity for ammonia and urea to 8.6 million t/a. The company is currently the world’s largest seaborne nitrogen exporter.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s managing director and CEO, said: “Fertiglobe is a world-class company, and it will be the vehicle through which ADNOC advances its low-carbon ammonia business, supporting our efforts to enable a just, orderly, and equitable global energy transition. We see significant growth opportunities for Fertiglobe and I am confident that under the continued and dedicated leadership of Ahmed El-Hoshy, the company will deliver greater value for its shareholders.”
ADNOC highlighted the benefits to Fertiglobe of the acquisition. These included access to its key energy customers globally and ADNOC’s extensive experience in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) for low-carbon ammonia production, as well as its leadership in maritime energy logistics.
Ahmed El-Hoshy will continues in his role as Fertiglobe’s CEO, while stepping down from his role as CEO of OCI Global.
