Venkat Pattabathula, a member of the AIChE Ammonia Safety Committee, reports on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Safety in Ammonia Plants and Related Facilities Symposium held in San Diego on 8-12 September 2024.
Urea. As February ended, urea prices found support in the US and Brazil while Europe remained subdued and Egypt struggled to find buyers. New Orleans was the one bright spot in the urea market – with NOLA prices benefitting from the meeting of suppliers and buyers at the TFI’s domestic conference. With positive sentiment all round, prices moved up $30/st, peaking at $390/st f.o.b. for March.
We report on fertilizer production, consumption and pricing in the US market. The country’s fertilizer industry, ranked fourth globally in terms of total production capacity, has grown and developed alongside its increasingly sophisticated domestic agricultural sector.
Norwegian chemical shipping company Stolt-Nielsen says that Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen will step down from his role as CEO on September 1, 2023, after 23 years as Chief Executive Officer. He will be succeeded as CEO by Udo Lange and will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, the company announced. Lange has more than 20 years of experience in the international trade industry, with expertise in freight forwarding, express and parcel logistics and airline catering. He was most recently president of Healthcare, Logistics and Americas International at FedEx Express, leading a team of more than 50,000 employees across 80 countries. He was also part of the FedEx Senior Management Committee which sets the strategic direction of the circa $90 billion revenue enterprise and has held several other senior roles at FedEx since joining in 2015.
There is growing acceptance and integration of biostimulants into the wider fertilizer and agricultural markets. This is illustrated by rocketing sales, the spate of new product launches, and merger and acquisition activity.
Improvements to nutrient use efficiency (NUE), particularly for nitrogen, can deliver dual environmental and economic benefits. We report on recent developments in nitrogen management and global progress on NUE.
We report on the state of US fertilizer production and supply. The US industry – the second-largest finished phosphates producer and third-largest urea producer globally – has grown and developed alongside North America’s mature and sophisticated domestic farming sector.
A selection of innovative products and technologies that have recently been brought to market.
Part 1 of a two part look at a potential sustainable future for the nitrogen industry, looking at sustainable nitrogen management and nutrient use efficiency.
Illinois-headquartered CF Industries has made a long-term commitment to low-carbon ammonia production and net-zero emissions.