Nitrogen & Methanol articles from July 2005

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from July 2005

Enter the dragon.(EDITORIAL)
July 1, 2005... The US Energy Bill, the continuing saga of which has been reported in the pages of this magazine, has been amended again. This time, however, it is not the prospect of drilling for oil and gas in Alaska or liability provisions for MTBE...

Prices pass their peak on falling demand.(AMMONIA)
July 1, 2005... Demand for ammonia remained strong in May, but prices appeared to have peaked. All eyes were on Tampa, where prices rolled over at $305/t c. & f. at the start of the month. US consumption appeared to be running higher than usual at this time of...

Excess supply causes downward correction.(UREA)
July 1, 2005... Global urea markets continued to show strong demand at the start of May, and prices continued to be high in almost all major markets. Pakistan tendered and awarded in early May for 190,000 tonnes of both prilled and granular urea, and returned...

Prices dip in spite of supply concerns.(METHANOL)
July 1, 2005... The July contract natural gas reference price was settled early in the month, at $7.00/mmBtu for Texas, and $7.13/mmBtu for Louisiana, up $0.83/mmBtu on average from the June contract price. On paper, it seems that methanol demand is...

Engelhard buys Chinese syngas catalyst business.(CHINA)
July 1, 2005... The Engelhard Corporation has acquired the syngas catalyst business of Nanjing Chemical Industry Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinopec, one of China's largest integrated energy and chemical companies. The deal includes NCIC's syngas...

Urea exports to fall.(CHINA)
July 1, 2005... Chinese urea exports are projected to fall by more than half in 2005, although domestic consumption is expected to remain unchanged, as a result of direct government measures to curb exports. The National Development and Reform Commission...

Government to intervene in coal prices.(CHINA)
July 1, 2005... The Chinese government is to help fertilizer producers who use coal as a feedstock by fixing a ceiling price on anthracite stone coal, the main raw material used in ammonia-urea and methanol production in China. The move, taken by the National...

One Equity to buy Sud-Chemie.(GERMANY)
July 1, 2005... SC-Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt am Main, a subsidiary of New York-based One Equity Partners, has reached agreement with the three main shareholders of Sud-Chemie AG (AZ-SDC Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH--19%--Possehl...

New ammonia plant planned.(ALGERIA)
July 1, 2005... Spanish fertilizer company Fertiberia is to invest $316m in a 1.1m t/a ammonia plant at Arzew in nothwestern Algeria, near the port of Oran. The new facility will represent 75% of Fertiberia's ammonia output on its completion in 2009....

Catalyst for nitrous oxide reduction.(UNITED KINGDOM)
July 1, 2005... Johnson Matthey has announced the commercial launch of a new patented catalyst technology which can reduce nitrous oxide ([N.sub.2]O) emissions from nitric acid and caprolactam manufacturing operations by up to 90% compared to conventional...

Topsoe selected for Sohar ammonia plant.(OMAN)
July 1, 2005... Low energy ammonia technology from Haldor Topsoe has been selected for the 660,000 t/a ammonia plant at Sohar to be build by Sohar International Urea & Chemicals Industries, SOAC. Along with a 1.15m t/a urea plant designed by Snamprogetti, the...

Hydro celebrates centenary.(NORWAY)
July 1, 2005... Although Hydro Agri now trades under the name Yara, the company is nevertheless celebrating its centenary on December 2nd this year. The company was founded in 1905, when Hydro pioneers Sam Eyde and Kristian Birkeland succeeded in harnessing...

Koch in urea terminal agreement.(UNITED STATES)
July 1, 2005... Koch Nitrogen International has finalized a long-term, exclusive agreement to store urea at a site on the Cape Fear River owned by Carolina Marine Terminal, Inc. By year end, Carolina Marine expects to finish building storage domes with 30,000...

Iffco to revamp ammonia plants.(INDIA)
July 1, 2005... The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) is investing $200m in revamping its ammonia and urea production capacity in order to reduce energy costs. This is expected to result in a significant drop in urea production costs to Rs5,000/t...

WMC sale may be complicated by small shareholders.(AUSTRALIA)
July 1, 2005... WMC Resources Ltd has said that small shareholders holding about 10% of the company's shares may decline BHP's bid to take the company over. WMC's chairman Tommie Bergman, speaking at what was likely to be the company's last annual general...

Urea plant gets government approval.(VIETNAM)
July 1, 2005... The Vietnam National Chemical Corporation (Vinachem) has received final approval for its proposed $400m, 560,000t/y coalbased prilled urea plant in the northern Ninh Binh province, around 90km north of Hanoi. The plant is scheduled to start...

Bidding opens for EFC.(EGYPT)
July 1, 2005... At least three bidders are competing for ammonia and urea producer Egyptian Fertiliser Company (EFC). These include India's Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL), a consortium including the Egypt Kuwait Holding Co, and Sabic. Based in Suez, EFC is 46% owned...

Acron opens ammonia training centre.(RUSSIA)
July 1, 2005... Russian chemical and fertilisers company JSC Acron has opened the first Russian integrated computer training complex, based at the company's Veliky Novgorod production centre. The computer training complex, the only such integrated complex in...

Fertilizer producers face competition probe.(SOUTH AFRICA)
July 1, 2005... South Africa's Competition Commission has referred fertilizer producers Sasol, Kynoch and Omnia to the Competition tribunal for alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the country's fertilizer industry. The investigation was launched following a...

Methanol fuel cell breakthrough.(UNITED KINGDOM)
July 1, 2005... UK-based CMR Fuel Cells Ltd has announced a breakthrough in fuel cell technology which may make mass-market methanol fuel cells commercially viable. The Cambridge based company has developed a working prototype of its unique, patented Compact...

Methanol boom continues.(CHINA)
July 1, 2005... China's methanol and DME boom continues, with project proposals coming thick and fast. An agreement has been signed over a feasibility study for an 850,000 t/a methanol plant at the Chonqing Industrial Park, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries...

Gas price rises amid shortages.(INDIA)
July 1, 2005... India has raised gas prices as shortages continue to bite. Non-industrial consumers no longer have access to subsidised gas, which is now provided only to power and fertilizer producers, who must nevertheless now pay the increased price of...

India looks abroad for energy needs.(INDIA)
July 1, 2005... The Indian government is casting its net ever wider in its search for sources of energy supply, as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's recent visit to New Delhi indicates. As steady economic growth causes India's energy requirements to continue...

Energy Bill still in legislative limbo.(UNITED STATES)
July 1, 2005... The Bush administration's Energy Bill continues to circle the US legislature. On April 21st the House of Representatives passed a new version of the Bill which contained the controversial authorisation to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic...

Moratorium on gas-based projects.(QATAR)
July 1, 2005... Qatar's government has announced a three-year moratorium on new gas-based projects in order to ensure the long-term viability of its huge North Field gas reservoir. Qatar already has committed 70m t/a of LNG supplies by 2012, as well as 330,000...

Gas shortages shut down PIM.(INDONESIA)
July 1, 2005... Indonesian urea producer PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) has decided to shut down its entire urea operations for "an indefinite period" until the company is assured of gas supply to both of its plants, PIM I and PIM II, in Aceh province. The two...

Assofertilizzanti.(PEOPLE)
July 1, 2005... Italy's association of fertilizer producers Assofertilizzanti announced during its annual meeting on 14 May the appointment of Narciso Salvo di Pietraganzili as president of the association for 2005-2006. Salvo, 59, has been working at...

Diary.(Calendar)
July 1, 2005... July 5-7 2005 AFA 18th International Annual Technical Conference, Morocco. Contact: AFA, P.O. Box 8109 Nasr City 11371, Cairo, Egypt. Tel: +20 2 4172347. Fax: +20 2 4173721. Email: info@afa.com.eg September 25-27 ...

Russia's nitrogen and methanol industries.(RUSSIA)
July 1, 2005... The past few years have been a period of considerable change in the Russian nitrogen and methanol sectors, as the gas market within the country changes, and the nitrogen and methanol industries adapt to new market conditions and revamp or close...

Nitrogen project listing 2005.
July 1, 2005... Contractor Licensor Company ARGENTINA Ammonia Casale Ammonia Casale Petrobras Energia AUSTRALIA SNC Lavalin KBR Burrup Holdings Ammonia Casale Ammonia Casale ...

Keeping it cool: large scale ammonia storage is generally conducted in refrigerated tanks at or just below atmospheric pressure. Here Nitrogen & Methanol looks briefly at some of the issues involved in the storage of ammonia.(AMMONIA STORAGE)
July 1, 2005... Ammonia is produced in a continuous process but it is transported in batches--sometimes, as in cargo vessels, quite large batches. As a result there is always going to be a need for storage facilities at both production sites and major shipping...

Hanging on to an old friend: in high-cost areas the economic life of ammonia plants is proving to be considerably shorter than the operable lifetime of the hardware. For some, closure may be the only course, but others may be able to keep going by retrofitting efficiency-improving modifications.(AMMONIA REVAMPING)
July 1, 2005... In spite of some very exacting process conditions, in a properly-maintained and properly-controlled ammonia plant most of the hardware is remarkably durable. There is no reason why a well-run and well-maintained ammonia plant should not remain...