Tag: Ammonia

Prices will remain stable-to-soft across the board, though benchmarks could remain slightly more supported in the short-term than previously thought, with more significant declines likely in Q2-Q3.

Nitrogen magazine, as it originally began life in It has been a tough few years for the European nitrogen industry, and between covid, gas price spikes and Russian sanctions, not all companies have weathered the storm. Now that the initial shock of the sky-high ammonia prices that the closure of the Black Sea and the cutting off of almost 40% of Europe’s gas supplies has passed, and the world gas and ammonia markets have largely adjusted to the new reality, prices are coming back down. But it seems that in its wake it may leave quite a different European nitrogen industry from the one that existed in 2019.

Ammonia pricing in the US Mid-West stood at $625/st f.o.b. in February, with applications to field continuing to ramp up. Prices in the US Gulf remain pegged in the low-to-mid$400s/t f.o.b. Recent production outages in the region have largely subsided, though an unexpectedly early uptick in seasonal demand from local buyers is likely to provide a degree of price support moving forward. The Tampa ammonia settlement for March has been settled by Yara and Mosaic at a $445/t c.fr rollover, largely in line with market expectations. The North American market remains detached from the considerably more oversupplied global ammonia scene.

Indian fertilizer producers Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers (MCFL) and Paradeep Phosphates (PPL) have announced that the companies intend to merge, allowing them to consolidate their operations, according to a company statement. The new merged company, to be called PPL, will have a total production capacity of 3.6 million t/a of fertilizers.

NextChem Tech, has signed a contract with Paul Wurth SA, a subsidiary of SMS group, and Norsk e-Fuel AS for a licensing and engineering design package relating to its NX CPO (catalytic partial oxidation) technology, which will be used in an industrial scale plant producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from green hydrogen and biogenic CO2 in Mosjøen, Norway. NextChem’s NX CPO technology produces synthesis gas via a very fast controlled partial oxidation reaction. When applied to synthetic fuel production, it can improve carbon efficiency recovery yield. The first plant developed by Norsk e-Fuel will have a production capacity of 40,000 t/a of green fuel and will enter operation after 2026. Based on the initial design, two additional facilities with a capacity of around 80 000 t/a each are planned to be built by 2030. The fuels will current aviation emissions.

The US is experiencing a new boom in nitrogen projects, with a number of carbon capture ammonia plants under development.

Catalyst development for nitric acid plants is strongly dependent on operating pressures and nitrogen loading levels. Dr Hadi Nozari of Johnson Matthey provides a review of some key catalyst design principles, emphasising the critical role of operating pressure in catalyst selection and highlighting the innovative contributions of Johnson Matthey in advancing catalyst technology for ultra-high-pressure ammonia oxidation in nitric acid plants.

Low carbon intensity hydrogen and ammonia production schemes from KBR, Air Liquide, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Casale and Johnson Matthey.

“ The need for technical knowledge and insights has never been more important.”

Ammonia prices are expected to remain soft moving through January with little in the way of price support from both a supply and demand perspective. Weakened global sentiment was characterised by news of January’s Tampa settlement $100/t down on December at $525/t CFR, with further declines anticipated in Q1 once the Gulf Coast Ammonia (GCA) project comes online. Traders returned to their desks in the New Year and ammonia prices extended losses amid a stable supply outlook and a distinct lack of downstream industrial and fertilizer demand.