Nitrogen & Methanol articles from January 2003

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from January 2003

Counting the cost. (Editorial).(oil prices)
January 1, 2003... By the time that this issue reaches you the decision about whether there will be war in Iraq may have been made. Some cynics would argue that the decision was made months ago. Either way, the drum beat of war is sounding stronger than ever, and...

Price trends.(ammonia, urea, methanol)
January 1, 2003... AMMONIA Ammonia prices slide The downturn that the market had been expecting finally happened in November, although not as quickly and as sharply as had been predicted, owing to spot buying from the US which kept Yuzhnyy prices stable...

MissChem to close Donaldsonville. (United States).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Mississippi Chemicals has announced the permanent closure of its Donaldsonville nitrogen complex in Louisiana during 1Q 2003. The company blames high gas prices and the closure of Melamine Chemicals, Inc., the facility's largest industrial...

Farmland sell-off. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Farmland Industries breakes up)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The break-up of debt-ridden Farmland Industries has begun with Cargill purchasing Farmland Hydro's Green Bay processing plant, capable of producing 1.5m t/a of phosphate fertilizer for $16.3m. Hydro Agri has bought the Farmland ammonia terminal...

Uhde wins Sohar contract. (Oman).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Uhde has won the turnkey EPC contract from Sohar International Urea & Chemical Industries to build a large-scale fertiliser complex on the east coast of the Arabian peninsula. The plants will be located at the newly created industrial site of...

Engro and OOC plant moving forward. (Oman).(Oman Oil Company)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A second ammonia-urea complex at Sohar is also moving forward. This one, a joint venture between Engro, Pakistan's largest fertilizer producer, and the Oman Oil Company (OOC), will include a new 850,000 t/a urea plant. The memorandum of...

Anti-dumping duties imposed. (Brazil).(ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Brazil has imposed a 32.1% duty on imports of AN from Russia and 19% on imports from the Ukraine effective from November 21st until 2007. The move follows an investigation launched in October 2001 following claims by Ultrafertil, Brazil's only...

Naphtha to coal conversion. (China).(China National Petroleum Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Sinopec is to convert an ammoniaurea unit from naphtha to coal gasification. The plant, at Jinling, will license Texaco gasification technology from ChevronTexaco. Basic design has begun, and when complete in 2005 the complex will produce...

Hainan on course for November. (China).(China National Offshore Oil Corporation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has reported that it has successfully installed a 350 tonne 50m carbon dioxide absorption tower at the new 570,000 t/a ammonia-urea plant on Hainan Island, and that it now expects to complete...

Pequiven crippled by general strike. (News in Brief).(Petroquimica de Venezuela S.A.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The general strike in Venezuela prompted by attempts to force president Chavez to call elections has halted production at Pequiven's fertilizer units at Jose, Moron and El Tablazo. Only one ammonia train at Jose kept running through December.

Government to sell stake in Sabic. (News in Brief).(Saudi Basic Industries Company)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Saudi government has said that it will sell its 70% stake in the Saudi Basic Industries Company (Sabic) during 2003 in order to kick-start the country's stalled privatisation programme and raise badly needed capital. Qatar is also said to...

Ammonia from waste. (News in Brief).(Showa Denko KK)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Showa Denko is constructing a 65,000 t/a ammonia unit in the industrial city of Kawasaki near Tokyo based on gasification of municipal plastic waste. The $60m project will have half of the costs met by the city authorities. As well as ammonia...

Duties on Pulawy UAN removed. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The European Commission has removed anti-dumping duties on UAN supplied by Polish producer Zaklady Azotowe Pulawy, after the Commission was able to recalculate margins based on the recent emergence of a domestic UAN market in Poland....

SPIC plant delayed again. (News in Brief).(Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... India's Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp has again put ack the completion date of its reassembled 400,000 t/d ammonia-urea plant at Jebel Ali, UAE, to end-2003.

IFI closes permanently. (Ireland).(Irish Fertilizer Industries)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The rationalisation of the European fertilizer industry continues, with the announcement that Irish Fertilizer Industries (IFI) has gone into liquidation with the loss of 620 jobs. The company operated three sites at Cork (530,000 t/a of...

Farmland MissChem plant to be sold. (Trinidad & Tobago).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Mississippi Chemicals has agreed with bankrupt Farmland Industries, the latter currently in Chapter 11 Administration, to sell the two companies' joint venture ammonia plant on Trinidad. The 610,000 t/a ammonia unit is likely to be one of the...

Ca Mau EPC to be awarded soon. (Vietnam).(Technip S.A.)(Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... PetroVietnam has said that it expects to finalise the engineering, procurement and construction contract for its new Ca Mau 800,000 t/a ammonia/urea complex in February 2003. Talks are ongoing with preferred contractor Technip. Technip's...

Ha Bac revamp delayed. (Vietnam).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The much-delayed revamp of the coal-based Ha Bac ammonia-urea plant in Vietnam has been delayed once more, this time until January 2003 at the earliest. Plans call for an expansion of production from 60,000 t/a to 90,000 t/a of ammonia and from...

AN import ban. (Philippines).(ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Philippine Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority has approved a ban on imports of ammonium nitrate from December. The ban follows fears of terrorists using it as the raw material for bombs according to Agricultural Secretary Leonardo...

Dampier Nitrogen gets environmental approval. (Australia).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The massive Dampier Nitrogen project has moved another step further ahead with the granting of environmental approval by the Western Australian government. The prime mover behind the project since its inception in 1997 has been Australia's...

Revamps for Qafco I, II and III. (Qatar).(Qatar Fertilizer Company )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Qatar Fertilizer Company (Qafco), while building a new complex at its Mesaieed site, has awarded Qafco IV contractor Uhde the contracts to revamp the other three ammonia-urea trains at the same site. Qafco I and II will receive a new high...

Kaltim starts up new ammonia unit. (Indonesia).(PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim) has commissioned its 330,000 t/a Kaltim IV ammonia plant at the company's Bontang site and was expected to be producing ammonia commercially by press time, bringing Indonesian ammonia production to almost 5.0m...

Gasoline price rises as Congress fails to agree Energy Bill. (United States).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... California has seen hikes in gasoline prices during November caused by a shortage of MTBE. One of the major factors has been the decision by Alberta Envirofuels, a joint venture between ChevronTexaco and Finnish company Fortum, to close its...

Methanex to write-off Fortier. (Gas and Methanol News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Methanex has announced that it will take a charge of $86m in Q4 2002 as part of a $113m write-off of the company's 570,000 t/a Fortier methanol plant in Louisiana. The remaining $27m will be offset by a reduction in site restoration and...

Rentech to license floating GTL technology. (United Arab Emirates).(gas to liquids)(Global Process Systems Inc)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Rentech has signed an agreement with Dubai-based Global Process Systems Inc to license the company's proprietary gas to liquids (GTL) technology for use on floating production vessels. The aim will be to build 2,500-10,000 bbl/day FPSO units...

Progress on GTL plant. (Qatar).(gas-to-liquid)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Qatar Petroleum and Sasol have jointly appointed 15 banks as lead arrangers in the $700m debt financing of their $900m gas-to-liquid (GTL) project at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. The Royal Bank of Scotland is acting as financial adviser...

Sohar financing being arranged. (Oman).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Finance is being sought for the $400-500m Sohar methanol plant, being developed by the Oman Oil Company in conjunction with the Omani-based Ozmest Group and Germany's Ferrostaal, the latter of whom is also general contractor for the project....

GTL feasibility study. (Bolivia).(GTL Bolivia SA)(Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GTL Bolivia SA has commissioned a feasibility study on the proposed 10,000 bbl/day Rentech GTL unit that has been mooted in the country for some time (see Nitrogen & Methanol 254, Nov/Dec 2001, p13). The company, based in California, has tasked...

Another methanol project proposal. (Australia).(Methanol Australia Ltd)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Methanol Australia Ltd have released details of their proposed methanol development for the Tassie Shoals area, 300km off Australia's Northern Territories. The Tassie Shoal is an area of shallow water 1 3m below sea level some 5km south of the...

New acetic acid plant. (Taiwan).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... BP is to enter into a 50-50 joint venture with the Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corporation to build a 300,000 t/a acetic acid plant at Mai Liao, using BP's own technology. The IV company will be known as the Formosa BP Chemical Corporation. The...

Methanol plant proposal. (Nigeria).(Silicon Oil and Gas Ltd. signs gas purchase agreement with Shell Nigeria)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Silicon Oil and Gas Limited announced at the World Methanol Conference in December the signing of a gas purchase agreement with Shell Nigeria for a prospective 1 .7m t/a methanol plant at Abissa in the Niger Delta. The project appears to so far...

Methanex proceeds with Chile IV. (Chile).(methanol plant)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Methanex has given the go-ahead for the construction of a fourth plant at its Punta Arenas complex at the southern tip of Chile. The 840,000 t/a plant is projected to cost around $320m. Gas will be piped from Argentina to extend the lifespan of...

Nam Con Son gas finally flowing. (Vietnam).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The much-delayed Nam Con Son gas project is finally delivering gas from the offshore field southeast of Vietnam to the new 715MW power station at Phu My near Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City through a 400km pipeline. The $1.3bn project was brought in...

Strike cripples gas production. (Venezuela).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The general strike called by opponents of beleaguered Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has had a crippling effect on the country's gas and downstream petrochemical production. Most of Venezuela's natural gas is associated with oil production,...

Country faces power 'crisis'. (Indonesia).(Indonesia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Indonesia has an electricity generation shortfall of 6,500 MW according to the Merak Chemical Industry Association of western Java, and this is growing. Already power allocations to some areas of the country have been cut 10-20%, and within a...

Methanex and BP complete Atlas financing. (Trinidad & Tobago).(methanol joint venture funded)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Methanex has said that project financing has been completed for the Atlas methanol project in Trinidad, a joint venture with BP in which Methanex has a 63.1% stake. The project financing will total $237m, representing approximately 60% of the...

Thierry Le Henaff will join Atofina's Executive Committee on January 1st. (People).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Thierry Le Henaff will join Atofina's Executive Committee on January 1st, following the retirement of Michel Perratzi. M. Le Henaff will have responsibility for Agrochemcials, Fertilizers and Thio and Fine Chemicals, as well as overseeing the...

Norman B. Beug has been promoted to vice president and general manager of IMC Global's potash unit, effective from February 2003. (People).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Norman B Beug has been promoted to vice president and general manager of IMC Global's potash unit, effective from February 2003. He will succeed Bob Thompson, who is retiring. Mr Beug will take responsibility for IMC's six mines in North...

Spanish fertilizer producer Fertiberia has appointed Javier Goni del Cacho as chief operating officer. (People).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Spanish fertilizer producer Fertiberia has appointed Javier Goni del Cacho as chief operating officer. He is responsible for the commercial, logistics and supplies divisions of the company. He joins Fertiberia from US management consultancy...

Finland's Kemira Agro has appointed Jussi Ollila as vice president of communications and member of the company's board. (People).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Finland's Kemira Agro has appointed Jussi Ollila as vice president of communications and member of the company's board. Mr Ollila was previously with Kemira Group Communications. He will report to Kemira Agro president Heikki Sirvio.

Diary.(Calendar)
January 1, 2003... January 28-30 2003 Arab Fertilizer Association 9th International Annual Conference, Cairo, Egypt. Contact: AFA - P.O. Box 8109 Nasr City, 11371 Cairo, Egypt. Tel: +20 2 4172347 Fax: +20 2 4173721 Email: info@afa.com.eg...

New technologies to be unveiled. (Nitrogen 2003).(Calendar)
January 1, 2003... At British Sulphur's Nitrogen 2003 International Conference and Exhibition in Warsaw, two new technologies of very substantial potential importance to the nitrogen industry will be revealed for the first time. The European nitrogen...

Mega plants cast a long shadow: the methanol industry gathered in Rome last December to ponder a future of large new capacity additions at a time when demand is being cut back due to the US MTBE phase-out. (Methanol Conference and Exhibition).(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... The World Methanol Conference returned to Europe in November 2002, when over 300 delegates met at the Hilton hotel at Rome's Fiumicino airport from the 9th -- 11th December, to discuss the current shape of the world methanol industry. That...

Still the poor relation? In spite of the sweeping changes occurring in central Europe, the fertilizer industry regionally is still facing many of the problems that have dogged it for the past 10-12 years since the fall of communism. (Central Europe).(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... The European Union has agreed accession terms with 10 new entrants, including several from central Europe such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It marks a historic shift following a Europe divided after the Second World War....

Forewarned is forearmed: presented jointly with CC technologies, IESCO's one-day seminar demonstrated state-of-the-art techniques for inspecting and assessing the remaining life of reforming furnace tubes. (Seminar Report).
January 1, 2003... A substantial majority of synthesis gas generating plants around the world are based on steam reforming of light hydrocarbons, predominantly methane (natural gas). On account of the combination of working temperatures, heat fluxes and pressure...

Methanol as a feedstock for power, fuel and olefins. (Methanol As Feedstock).(Lurgi Oel Gas Chemie )
January 1, 2003... Last issue Nitrogen & Methanol examined proposals for 'gas refineries' converting natural gas into a variety of other downstream products. Here Wolff Balthasar and Wolfgang Hilsebein of Lurgi Oel Gas Chemie GmbH discuss their company's...

Improved materials provide a safety dividend: solving the corrosion problem in urea plants not only improves reliability and cuts maintenance costs. It can make the operation of the plant safer, too. (Materials of Construction).
January 1, 2003... Carbamates are highly corrosive wherever they are encountered in chemical processing. In the carbon dioxide removal section of an ammonia plant, they are formed as the undesirable products of side reactions between the carbon dioxide and the...