Nitrogen & Methanol articles from May 2002

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from May 2002

South America: is history repeating itself? (Editorial).(economic outlook)(Brief Article)(Editorial)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Following the oil crisis of 1973, Latin America, which up until then had been one of the most dynamic, fast-growing parts of the world economy, slumped into a decade of crisis and debt, and rule by military strongmen backed by the army. The...

Price trends.(ammonia, urea and methanol)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... AMMONIA Ammonia prices on the rebound Ammonia prices Eurasia surged during March and April. Production shutdowns in Russia and the Ukraine in early March provided the turning point. Minudobreniya Rossosh announced the closure from...

Argentina causes woes for Agrium. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Agrium has had its "worst year since going public in 1993" following the collapse of the Argentine currency. Although the company had tried to insulate itself from exposure to currency risk by conducting most of its business in Argentina in...

ICI places Synetix on sale. (Nitrogen Industry News).(catalyst and bulk chemical technology unit)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Debt-burdened UK chemicals producer ICI has announced the sell-off of its catalyst and bulk chemical technology unit Synetix to raise [pounds sterling]800m ($1160m) against the company's [pounds sterling]2.9bn debt. Syentix had sales of [pounds...

US companies leaving nitrogen. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Koch Pipeline Co., Duke Energy Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Amid general gloom in the US nitrogen industry, major players are attempting to get out of the business. Koch Pipelines has indicated that the company's ammonia pipeline system is up for sale. The pipeline system, running from production sites...

Government to build fertilizer complex. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... The Turkmenistan government is to build a fertilizer complex consisting of a 200,000 t/a ammonia plant, a 346,000 t/a urea plant, and a 150,000 t/a ammonium nitrate unit. The plants are to be built for the Turkmenkarbamid company, which will be...

Higher anti-dumping duties on Russian AN. (Nitrogen Industry News).(European Union increases import duty on ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The European Union has confirmed that it has increased the anti-dumping duty on imports of ammonium nitrate from the Russian Federation from E26.30/t to E47.07/t. The new duty level is effective from April 18th. The move follows an...

EU attacks US farm bill. (Nitrogen Industry News).(European Union opposes farm subsides)
May 1, 2002... EU agricultural commissioner Franz Fischler has attacked US plans to increase farm subsidies in a bill due for approval in May. The bill ends efforts over the past six years to limit subsidy payments to farmers, and responds to complaints from...

Bad timing still hitting gas-based industry. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Mexican producers of ammonia and other natural gas-intensive products are being still being hampered by the winter 2000/2001 gas price spike. Petroleos Mexicano (Pemex), which controls all sales of natural gas in Mexico, inked three-year...

Ban on AN imposed. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Colombia bans ammonium nitrate)
May 1, 2002... The Colombian government has banned production and sale of ammonium nitrate within the country in an effort to prevent it from falling into the hands of guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). A three-year...

Sabic buys DSM petrochemicals. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Sabic has made its first oversea acquisition with its $2bn purchase of DSM's petrochemicals arm. The move does not involve DSM Agro

Bids in for Abu Qir IV. (News in Brief).(nitrogen plant expansion)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Abu Qir Fertilizers has received two bids to build the expansion to its nitrogen complex near Alexandria, Egypt, from Krupp Uhde and Snamprogetti respectively. The expansion plans, provisionally costed at $250m, call for a 400,000 t/a ammonia...

Urea as part of Brunei refinery complex? (News in Brief).(Petroleum Brunei)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Petroleum Brunei, a newly incorporated state-owned venture, is conducting a feasibility study on the construction of an ammonia-urea complex as part of a major oil and gas-based chemical complex that will include ethylene refining, a naphtha...

Sohar signs offtake deal. (News in Brief).(with Transammonia)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Oman's Sohar Urea and Chemicals company, aiming to build a $550m, 1,150,000 t/a urea plant, has signed an offtake agreement with Transammonia for the entire output of the plant. Engineering and procurement contractors have yet to be decided....

MissChem posts $5m loss. (News in Brief).(Mississippi Chemical Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Mississippi Chemicals has reported a $5m loss for 1Q 2002, even including an $11m gain from a successful litigation settlement. Most of the losses came from the nitrogen sector. CEO Charles Dunn blamed high stocks from last year and low prices...

Nitric Acid and Ammonium Nitrate Producers' Meeting. (Nitrogen Industry News).
May 1, 2002... For the first time ever, this year's Nitric Acid Producers Meeting and Ammonium Nitrate Producers Study Group (ANPSG) Meeting will be combined. In the interests of cost and time savings as well as cross-fertilization of ideas, the executive...

Energy bill may finally kill MTBE. (Gas and Methanol News).
May 1, 2002... Ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland, a big Bush campaign supporter, was one of the big winners from the April 25th Senate energy bill S517 (passed by 88 votes to 11). The bill was passed still containing its provision to phase out MTBE by...

Bids expected soon for GTL plant. (Gas and Methanol News).
May 1, 2002... Qatar Petroleum and Sasol Chevron are expected to invite prequalified bidders to tender for the construction of a $900m 34,000 bbl/day GTL facility at Ras Laffan in the next few weeks. The prequalified companies include Krupp Uhde, Mitsubishi...

Methanex considering fourth plant. (Gas and Methanol News).
May 1, 2002... Methanex president and CEO Pierre Choquette has indicated that the company is seriously considering a fourth train for its Punta Arenas site in southern Chile. The new plant would be 825,000 t/a, effectively a duplicate of Chile III. Methanex...

New acetic acid demonstrator plant. (Gas and Methanol News).(Saudi Basic Industries Co. awards contract)
May 1, 2002... The Saudi Basic Industries Co (Sabic) has awarded the design and construction contract for its new acetic acid demonstrator/test plant at Yanbu on the southern coast of Saudi Arabia to Technip. The 30,000 t/a plant is expected to be onstream in...

Aceb disturbances may turn off gas again. (Gas and Methanol News).(Arun LNG plant facing kidnappings)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A spate of kidnappings at Exxon Mobil's Arun LNG plant in Aceh may disrupt gas supplies in the region again. Six employees of Exxon and state partner Pertamina have been kidnapped in the past few weeks, and the pipeline from the gas fields to...

Oil and gas industry developing rapidly. (Gas and Methanol News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... By 2006, Angola will be the second largest oil producer in Africa, according to the Centre for Global Energy Studies. Over the past six years proven oil reserves have multiplied sevenfold, and production is forecast to double by 2006, allowing...

IMC Global. (People).(appointments, U.S.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... IMC Global has announced the integration of its International and North American Sales and Marketing functions, to be headed by former senior vice president C Stephen Hoffman, who becomes president of IMC Sales and Marketing. Kermit E...

China and the WTO. (China).(overview of China's fertilizer industry)(Illustration)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... China's economy has made great strides in the past twenty years as the country has persued a policy of gradually opening its markets. However, the final step, that of WTO entry, is likely to prove the most challenging, especially for the...

Nitrogen project listing 2002. (Nitrogen Project Listing).(by country, licensor, company, location, product and capacity, world)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Nitrogen project listing 2002 Contractor Licensor Company AUSTRALIA Thiess Krupp Uhde Plenty River Thiess Stamicarbon/Hydro Plenty River SNC Lavalin ...

GulfNitrogen 2002 conference report. (Gulf Nitrogen 2002 Conference).
May 1, 2002... The GulfNitrogen 2002 International Conference and Exhibition, organised by British Sulphur Publishing, was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha, Qatar, from Sunday 17th March to Wednesday 20th March 2002. The after-effects of September...

Keeping urea plant corrosion at bay. (Materials of Construction).(world)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)(Technical)
May 1, 2002... Corrosion is an ever-present hazard in nitrogen chemicals manufacture, and nowhere more so than in a urea plant. But advances in stainless steel technology are reducing the cost of protecting the most vulnerable parts of the plant. Most...

Is there any real competition for iron? Cobalt and, especially, ruthenium are more active than iron as catalysts in the ammonia synthesis reaction, but there are practical and economic disadvantages. We view their prospects. (Ammonia Sythesis Catalysts).(world)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)(Technical)
May 1, 2002... Platinum impregnated into asbestos was well established in the early days of chemistry as a catalyst for various chemical processes. So in the pioneering research for a catalyst for the synthesis of ammonia from gaseous hydrogen and nitrogen by...

British Sulphur Consultants. (People).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Jim Orheim has been appointed vice president, market analysis and strategy consulting at British Sulphur Consultants' North American office. Jim has been a senior consultant with British Sulphur for the past four years. He replaces Doug...

Professor Cor Herkstroter. (People).(appointment, the Netherlands)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Professor Cor Herkstroter will succeed Herman Wijffels as chairman of DSM's supervisory board from April 1st. Professor Herkstroter was previously chairman of the committee of managing directors at Royal Dutch/Shell.

Mario Alves Barbosa. (People).(appointment, Brazil)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The Brazilian fertilizer industry association Associacao Nacional para Divisao de Adubos has elected Mario Alves Barbosa as the new president of its administrative council and board of directors for 2002-2005. Mr Barbosa is head of Bunge...

Ratna Kishore. (People).(appointment, India)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Ratna Kishore has taken over as managing director of Godavari Fertilizer and Chemicals following the completion of the term of office of PV Bhinde. Mr Kishore was secretary and commissioner of agriculture for Andhra Pradesh province.