Nitrogen & Methanol articles from January 2002

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from January 2002

Slow progress. (Editorial).(trade barriers)(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... So China is, at long last, a member of the World Trade Organisation, and with it Taiwan (under the face-saving legal fiction of 'Chinese Taipei'). And in November, in Doha, Qatar, the WTO also finally agreed to a new round of negotiations,...

Price trends.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... AMMONIA Prices crash to two-year lows Ammonia prices continued to slump during November, apart from a slight increase on a 43,000t cargo to Tusgas in Turkey. In spite of new loading regulations imposed by the Ukrainians at Yuzhnny and...

Aftershocks from Toulouse blast are still continuing. (France).(ammonium nitrate detonation at Grande Paroisse's Toulouse plant)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Following the catastrophic ammonium nitrate detonation last September at Grande Paroisse's Toulouse plant, which killed 29 people, the repercussions have continued. The cause of the blast remains open to speculation, with one of the dead...

Synetix in tie-up with Hydro. (United Kingdom/Norway).(Synetix named preferred supplier to Hydro Agri; Norwegian government to sell up to 10% of its stake in Norsk Hydro)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Synetix and Hydro Agri have signed a three and a half year contract under which Synetix is the preferred supplier of catalysts for ammonia production in Hydro Agri's plants worldwide. The companies also hope that the partnership will provide an...

Omifco on track. (Oman-India).(Oman-India Fertilizer Company )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Financial closure agreements and take or pay contracts have finally been signed over the long-running Oman-India Fertilizer Company (Omifco), putting it on track for 2005 completion. The $970m joint venture, between Indian partners Krishak...

Kemira Agro the sticking point in IK deal. (Finland).(proposed merger of Kemira with Dynea and Sydsvenska Kemi derailed by Finnish government)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Scandinavia's chemical industry, which looked to have been heading for a massive shake-up following the proposed merger of Kemira with Dynea and Sydsvenska Kemi (SSK), is now back to square one after Finnish government, 56% majority owners of...

Sud Chemie sells fats and oils catalysts. (News in Brief).(to Engelhard Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Sud Chemie has sold its oil and fats catalysts business to Engelhard for an undisclosed sum. According to reports, the deal includes technology, trade names and some manufacturing equipment, but there will be no transfer of personnel or...

Work begins on Qafco IV. (News in Brief).(ammonia-urea complex)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Construction has begun at Messaieed in Qatar on the Qafco IV ammonia-urea complex. The $530m plant will produce 660,000 t/a of ammonia and 1,150,000 t/a of urea.

Snamprogetti working on Nanjing plant. (News in Brief).(for China National Technical Import Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Snamprogetti has begun engineering, procurement and project supervision work on an ammonia/urea plant at Nanjing in China for CNTIC. The plant is being uprated to 330,000 t/a ammonia and 578,000 t/a of urea.

EPA considering rules on zinc fertilizers. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The US Environmental Protection Agency is considering new regulations on the amount of heavy metal residues allowable in zinc fertilizers. Some exemptions, for example the one allowing the use in fertilizer production of K061, a hazardous waste...

Linde reorganisation. (News in Brief).(forms Linde Gas and Engineering Division)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... German industrial gases and engineering firm Linde has, from January 1st, merged its Industrial Gases and Process Engineering and Contracting Divisions to form the Linde Gas and Engineering division.

NFU calls for EC to keep anti-dumping duty level. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The UK National Farmers' Union has asked th European Commission to keep its antidumping duty on imported Russian ammonium nitrate at [euro]26.3/t instead of the proposed increase to [euro]47/t.

Plenty River now aiming for even larger plant. (Australia).(proposed Plenty River ammonia/urea plant, Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Further to last issue's report on the proposed Plenty River ammonia/urea plant at the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, the company has indicated that following the departure of Chambal from the project, the decision was taken in the...

Ammonia outlook uncertain. (Trinidad & Tobago).(Trinidadian Energy Ministry develops plan for natural gas reserves)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Trinidadian Energy Ministry has received the results of a survey from a consulting firm regarding the future direction for the island's large and growing natural gas reserves. Proved and likely reserves now total in the region of 900bcm,...

China finally enters the WTO. (China).(World Trade Organisation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... On December 10th, China formally became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organisation, ending several years of often tortuous negotiations. Quotas on fertilizers that can be imported with a fixed 4% rate of tariff are now in force. These...

Togliatti breaks ground on ammonia terminal. (China).(Togliatti Azot)(ammonia import terminal at the southern port of Zhanjiang in China)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Russian ammonia producer Togliatti Azot has broken ground on the company's new ammonia import terminal at the southern port of Zhanjiang in China, some 200 miles west of Hong Kong. The project is 'twinned' with a similar size ammonia export...

Nitric acid spill on Rhine. (Germany).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... On November 21st last year an accident aboard a Dutch barge led to a nitric acid spill into the river Rhine at Krefeld. Apparently a leaking pipe aboard the Stolt Rotterdam, owned by shipowners Stolt-Nielsen, led to nitric acid - a strong...

Methanex back to Burrup Peninsula. (Australia).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Methanex has decided to move its Australian mega-methanol development back to the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, following potential problems with the gas supply to the proposed Darwin site in the Northern Territories. The move follows...

Kvaerner sells process division to Yukos. (Norway).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Troubled Anglo-Norwegian construction firm Kvaerner has sold Kvaerner Process Technology to Yukos, Russia's second largest oil company, as part of a deal worth a reported $lOOm and also including Kvaerner's hydrocarbons and petrochemical...

BP signs fuel cell car deal. (Singapore).(to develop a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for fuel-cell based vehicles )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... BP has signed a letter of intent with the Singapore Economic Development Board to develop a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for fuel-cell based vehicles within the city. The hydrogen would be sourced from natural gas already available in...

GTL contract awarded. (Nigeria).(to Foster Wheeler)(gas to liquids plant)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... UK-based Foster Wheeler has been awarded the $20m contract for the front end engineering and design of Chevron's 34,000bbl/day GTL plant in Nigeria, using the Sasol slurry phase distillate process. Foster Wheeler will also prepare the tender...

Indonesia studying GTL plant. (Indonesia).(gas to liquids)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Indonesia state oil/petrochemical company Pertamina has asked US GTL technology supplier Rentech to conduct a feasibility study on possible locations for a 15,000 barrels/day gas to liquids plant, using Rentech's proprietary technology to...

Gazprom in pipeline deal. (India).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Following a visit to India by Russian president Vladimir Putin, a memorandum of understanding has been signed between Gazprom and the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) over a long-mooted pipeline from Iran to India. Agreements over Indian...

Gas shortages cause production problems. (India).(urea production hurt due to supply interruptions from Gas Authority of India Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Shortages of natural gas continued to cause problems for Indian urea producers during 2001. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) says that it lost up to 700,000 tonnes of urea production because of supply interruptions from the Gas...

Technip awarded hydrogen contract. (Austria).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... OMV has awarded Technip the E35m contract to build a hydrogen unit for the Schwechat refinery near Vienna. The unit will produce 30,000[Nm.sup.3]/h of high purity hydrogen via steam reforming and high temperature shift conversion, with pressure...

BP withdraws from gasline project. (China).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... BP has announced that it is pulling out of the running to build China's massive 20bcm/year, 4,200km West-East gas pipeline, which is projected to run from gas-bearing areas in the northwest to the hungry markets of the coast near Shanghai. The...

Lurgi wins Atlas contract. (Trinidad & Tobago).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The contract to build the huge 1.7m t/a Atlas methanol plant at Point Lisas has been awarded to German engineering firm Lurgi, for an undisclosed sum. Lurgi were also the contractor for the 850,000 t/a Titan methanol plant at the same site....

Go-ahead for Shell GTL proposal. (Iran).(Iran approves Shell's proposal gas to liquids plant at Assaluyeh)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Iranian government has given the go-ahead for a Shell proposal to build a 70,000 b/d gas to liquids (GTL) plant at Assaluyeh, where gas is landed from the giant South Pars field. A six-month feasibility study is now underway, and if...

No resolution to gas dispute. (Ukraine).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Ukraine has failed to reach agreement with Gazprom over its outstanding debts and delivered price of Russian gas. Gazprom has banned deliveries to Ukraine from other suppliers, and is currently charging $2.85/mmBtu at the border, which Ukraine...

People.(multiple brief articles)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Mr R C Gupta, general manager of marketing for the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Collective (IFFCO), has been appointed as the new deputy Director-General of the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI), replacing Dr S K Saxena, who resigned from the...

Methanol comes to Phoenix: The world methanol gathered in Phoenix last November somewhat sobered by the aftermath of the September 11th attacks on the US. (Methanol Conference and Exhibition).(2001 World Methanol Conference)
January 1, 2002... The 2000 World Methanol Conference returned to the USA in November 2001, when some 170 delegates met at the Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix from the 5th to 7th, to discuss the current shape of the world methanol industry. The conference began...

GulfNitrogen 2002 in Qatar - where the action is. (Conference Preview).(GulfNitrogen 2002 )
January 1, 2002... Our choice of the brand-new Ritz-Canton hotel in Doha, Qatar, as the venue for GulfNitrogen 2002 reflects the growing importance of the Gulf area of the Middle East, not only as a source of feedstocks but also as an increasingly important...

A passing phase? (Middle East Update).
January 1, 2002... Just as the Arabian Gulf seemed to be coming into its own as a site for new ammonia, methanol and downstream developments, terrorism, war and global recession have cast large shadows over the region. Nitrogen & Methanol looks at the past year...

Alternative uses for gas. (Gas to Liquids).(remote or stranded gas)
January 1, 2002... Hitherto the choice for owners of stranded natural gas was fairly simple: flare it, liquefy it as LNG, or convert it into ammonia or methanol. But with flaring gradually being outlawed and the relative costs of other techniques gradually coming...

All things considered: Snamprogetti's ammonia stripping technology is well suited for revamping total recycle urea plants - an attractive alternative to complete replacement under the volatile conditions of today's urea markets. (Urea Revamping).
January 1, 2002... Urea plant revamping - by which is understood any or all of debottlenecking, upgrading, retrofitting, rehabilitation, refurbishment and modernization - has been a regular topic in Nitrogen & Methanol over the years. Because a urea plant is...