Pilbara Ports has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Yara Pilbara for low carbon ammonia bunkering. The companies have agreed to collaborate on government and stakeholder advocacy, develop a training program for safe ammonia handling, and are planning the necessary fuelling infrastructure at Dampier and Port Hedland ports as part of the Pilbara Clean Fuel Bunkering Initiative.
PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Pupuk Kaltim) says that it has begun work on a revamp to its number 2 ammonia plant. The plant, which was originally constructed in 1984, has a capacity of around 1,500 t/d of ammonia. The revamp, which is being carried out internally by Pupuk Kaltim, aims to improve energy efficiency at the ageing plant and reduce carbon emissions, according to the company. The revamp is expected to extend the plant’s operational life, improve production reliability, and support Indonesia’s long-term fertilizer supply amid rising domestic demand.
• Prices are likely to remain on an upward trajectory as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and Middle East export availability is constrained.
The government of Morocco has signed an agreement with the ORNX consortium to advance a $4.5 billion green ammonia project in the southern city of Laayoune, as part of Morocco’s ambitions to become a global hub for green hydrogen and derivatives. The development combine wind and solar electricity generation with hydrogen from electrolysis to feed green ammonia production. Under the terms of the agreement, more than 2 GW of renewable energy capacity will be installed, feeding 900 MW of electrolysers producing green hydrogen. To ensure operational stability and continuous output, the facility will also incorporate battery energy storage systems. In addition, a seawater desalination plant will be constructed to provide the purified water required for hydrogen production, addressing resource constraints in the arid coastal region. During its initial phase, the complex is expected to generate around 100,000 t/a of green hydrogen, which will allow the production of 560,000 t/a of green ammonia. The ammonia will be used both domestically in ammonium phosphate production as well as being exported internationally.
NextChem says that its subsidiaries Stamicarbon and KT Tech have been awarded licensing, process design package (PDP) and critical equipment supply contracts for the development of three world-scale complexes, two of them dedicated to granular urea production, and one integrating ammonia and methanol co-production, for an undisclosed “major client in West Africa”. The contracts are all based on proprietary technologies.
CF Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with Trafigura and TFG Marine, a leading global marine fuel supplier, to facilitate the adoption of low-carbon ammonia as a marine fuel. Building on previous collaboration between CF Industries and Trafigura in the shipment of low-carbon ammonia, this agreement establishes a framework for the parties to work together on advancing low-carbon ammonia as a marine fuel, supporting the global shipping industry’s emissions-reduction efforts, including market development, stakeholder engagement, and bunkering logistics planning. The collaboration will initially focus on the U.S. Gulf Coast and Northwest Europe.
Ammonia sentiment was overtaken this week by the escalating Middle East conflict and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which left vessels unable to enter or exit the Arabian Gulf. With maritime trade frozen, price indications for prompt Middle East business largely stalled. In normal conditions, the sudden removal of Gulf export flows would point to sharply higher prices, particularly given the already-tight global availability and surging urea values, but participants said the absence of tradable cargoes made it difficult to pin down an indication. The immediate knock-on was felt East of Suez, where the supply shock pulled southeast Asian values back up to around $470-480/t f.o.b. Prevailing length in the market has been reportedly absorbed, with buying interest strongest from east Asia and India.
The current block to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz places global fertilizer supply chains at risk, warns the International Fertilizer Association (IFA).
MAIRE’s technology arm NEXTCHEM has secured its largest contract to date, a €485 million ($563 million) package to license technologies...
A huge CASALE converter has been installed at Koch's Beatrice, Nebraska, fertilizer plant, after completing a mammoth 6,000-mile journey.