Tag: Fertilizer

The curtailment of ammonia production in Europe and reduction in export supply from Russia has led to an unprecedented year for the merchant ammonia market.

The latest improvements to melamine process technology now make it even easier to integrate a melamine plant with an ammonia and urea fertilizer complex. Guido Canti of Eurotecnica and Marc Wieschalla of thyssenkrupp Uhde discuss the benefits of plant integration.

Industry focus on technologies to reduce the carbon intensity of ammonia and methanol production has been intensifying. In this article thyssenkrupp Uhde, Proton Ventures, Toyo Engineering Corporation, Stamicarbon, BD Energy Systems and KBR report on some of their latest technology developments towards decarbonisation.

Maire Tecnimont’s innovation and licensing company Stamicarbon has been selected as the licensor for a urea project in sub-Saharan Africa, its first license in the region. Stamicarbon will deliver the process design package for the front-end engineering and design for a 4,000 t/d urea melt and granulation plant. The urea melt plant with a pool reactor will use Stamicarbon’s MP Flash design, a melt concept with improved energy efficiency, entailing a significant reduction of steam consumption. The minimal equipment items result in a significant reduction of the footprint and the overall capital cost of the plant. Less equipment also allows for a reduction in maintenance costs and OPEX savings.

As we near the end of the third quarter of 2022, the attention of the nitrogen industry is focused on the coming northern hemisphere winter, and the prospects for higher natural gas prices as temperatures fall and power and heating demands rise. Vladimir Putin has been stoking these worries to try and force a climbdown from European countries over the sanctions that followed his invasion of Ukraine, with the flow of gas through the Nordstream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea gradually dwindling over the summer and finally stopping altogether at the end of August due to “technical issues” – an explanation somewhat undermined by the subsequent statement from spokesman Dmitry Peskov that gas would flow again once sanctions were eased. This is a familiar enough tactic; Russia has used gas stoppages to pressure Ukraine and Europe several times over the past two decades.

The war in Ukraine has severely affected the supply of ammonium nitrate and CAN from Russia and Ukraine, with particular potential impact on Europe and Latin America. Can urea make up the difference?

T he high-price environment for fertilizers and other commodities, including natural gas, is having very different consequences globally.

Some 1,160 delegates from 475 companies and 76 countries gathered in Vienna, Austria, for the 89th International Fertilizer Association (IFA) Annual Conference, 30 May – 1 June 2022. We report on the main highlights of this three-day flagship event.

Canpotex is celebrating its 50th anniversary year in 2022. The world’s premier potash exporter has been exclusively marketing and distributing Canadian potash overseas since 1972. In this article, we profile this potash export colossus and look back at its landmark achievements over the past five decades.

The Argus Fertilizer Europe Conference returns as an in-person event at the Hotel RIU Plaza España, Madrid, Spain, 17-19 October 2022.