Nitrogen & Methanol articles from September 2000

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from September 2000

Straws in the wind.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Barely half a year into his term of office, Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, has found himself facing a tough month this August. Chechnya, arguably Boris Yeltsin's downfall, has come back to haunt him via another massive bomb blast on the...

Prices on a downward slide.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Ammonia prices slid lower during July due to a combination of lower seasonal demand, and annual maintenance shutdowns in downstream nitrogen units. Even a turnaround at the Baltic Ventspils terminal could do nothing to lift the market, and...

Outages cause price spike.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Turnarounds in the FSU and major outages in Brazil and Indonesia kept urea prices moving sharply upwards during July. Three plants were down in Brazil, while Latin American demand continued to be strong, and Yuzhnyy price levels which started...

Shutdowns bring price rises.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The August contract natural gas price for the US Gulf Coast settled down substantially to $3.91/mmBtu from July's level of $4.45/mmBtu. This represents the first monthly decrease in pricing so far this year. At this point, June and July...

Another urea plant for Oman?(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The Oman India Fertilizer Company (Omifco) is no longer Oman's only proposed fertilizer plant. The local Suhail Bahwan Trading Group, with interests in steel and sulphuric acid, has put forward its own proposal, to be sited at Sohar, in the...

Terra and Mississippi settle over Port Neal.(Terra Industries Inc. and Mississippi Chemical Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The Mississippi Chemical Corporation and Terra Industries have settled their long-running legal dispute which arose as a consequence of the December 1994 explosion at Terra's Port Neal, Iowa ammonium nitrate facility. Terra had claimed that...

Orica buys LaRoche AN plants - albeit briefly.(LaRoche Industries Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... LaRoche Industries, currently in receivership under US Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules, has sold its four ammonium nitrate plants at auction for $44m. The buyer was Australian fertilizer and explosives manufacturer Orica, who then promptly sold two...

Duty imposed on Polish, Ukrainian AN.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The European Commission has announced new anti-dumping actions on AN originating in eastern Europe. This time the targets are Poland and the Ukraine. A duty of E23.13-26.91 will be in force against Polish AN -- depending upon source, and E33.25...

New ammonia plant mooted.(in Algeria)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The prospect of another Algerian ammonia plant resurfaced in July, with news that Ferrostaal has signed a memorandum of understanding with Transammonia and Algeria's Asmidal over a $370m ammonia project in the county. The 600,000 t/a plant...

Toyo wins Jubail contract.(Toyo Engineering Co. has contract with National Chemical Fertilizer Co.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Toyo Engineering Co (TEC) has been awarded a contract to debottleneck the 500,000 t/a National Chemical Fertilizer Company (ibn al-Baytar) ammonia plant at Jubail. The debottlenecking will raise capacity to 583,000 t/a, and will be carried out...

SPIC plant "to start up in 2001".(Southern Petrochemicals Industries Co. to reactivate Jebel Ali plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... India's Southern Petrochemicals Industries Co (SPIC), which is refurbishing and reassembling an idled ammonia-urea plant at Jebel Ali, says that the project is now about 50% complete and that the plant will start up in late 2001 -- nearly three...

KBR, Stamicarbon win revamp contract.(Kellog Brown and Root and Stamicarbon bv contract with Yunnan Yuntianhua Co.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Kellogg Brown & Root and Stamicarbon have been awarded twin debottlenecking contracts by Yunnan Yuntianhua Ltd and its trading agent the China National Chemical Construction Corporation. The contracts are to provide licensing, basic...

Hainan urea project resurrected.(China National Offshore Oil Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) has said that it plans to revive one of the ammonia-urea projects proposed for Hainan Island. The current proposal is for a 450,000 t/a ammonia and 800,000 t/a granular urea unit. Total investment is...

New urea capacity moving ahead.(Bangladesh Chemical Industries Co and Chinese Huanqui Chemical Engineering Co.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The Bangladeshi government is pressing ahead with plans to build more urea capacity within the country. The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Co and Chinese Huanqui Chemical Engineering Co have signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a...

Pak-Saudi sale attracts locals only.(Pak-Saudi Fertilizers Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Pakistan's privatisation committee is currently shortlisting companies who wish to bid for the Pak-Saudi Fertilizer Company, due to be privatised in October. However, only Pakistani companies have expressed an interest so far. These include:...

Western companies leave urea project.(BP Amoco, Statoil, Tomen, and Mitsui leave Ba Ria urea project)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... BP Amoco, Statoil, Tomen and Mitsui have joined BHP in leaving the struggling 800,000 t/a Ba Ria urea project, after failing to reach agreement with PetroVietnam on gas prices after more than three years of negotiations. The consortium will...

Possible ammonia demand for nickel project.(Kvaerner conducts Mindoro Nickel Project feasibility study)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Anglo-Norwegian engineering and construction group Kvaerner is conducting a feasibility study on the Mindoro Nickel Project. The project envisages a 40,000 t/a nickel laterite processing facility using high pressure acid leaching (HPAL), a...

Profertil first sale in September.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The 1.1m t/a Profertil urea complex in Argentina has started production, and will make its first sale in September. Commissioning was delayed for three weeks by a fire at the ammonia plant and subsequent leak, but the situation has now been...

Neochim part-privatised.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Bulgaria's main fertilizer producer Neochim has been part-privatised, with a 51% stake being sold for just $100,000 to Neochim Invest, a joint venture consisting of Bulgaria's EuroFert and Lebanese-based Karinex International. The balance of...

Hydro to buy Adubos Trevo.(Norsk Hydro )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Norsk Hydro has agreed to buy a 58% stake in bankrupt Brazilian fertilizer producer Adubos Trevo - the share previously held by Trevisa Investimentos SA - Grupa Trevo. Trevo is Brazil's third largest fertilizer company, and has 1.7m t/a of...

FAI calls for 175% tariff.(Fertilizer Association of India on urea imports)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Arguments continue over the Indian government's plans to remove quantitative restrictions on urea imports from April 1st 2001. The Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) has called for a 175% tariff on urea imports if the restrictions are...

Government mulls Kaltim privatisation plans.(PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The Indonesia government is considering a strategic sale of PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim) instead of the original initial public offering (IPO) proposal, if market conditions make returns from an IPO less attractive. The Ministry of...

Plenty River cost study complete.(construction of urea and ammonia plants in Western Australia)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Plenty River has completed its feasibility study on the projected 600,000 t/a ammonia and 726,000 t/a urea plants, to be sited on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The cost of the project, originally put at US$450m, has been revised...

New ammonia synthesis catalyst?(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... For many years the ammonia industry has essentially relied upon the traditional iron-based catalyst, with the addition of some osmium and ruthenium, for the Haber-Bosch process, apart from some honourable exceptions like Kellogg Brown & Root's...

Privately owned ammonia/urea plant under consideration.(Kermanshah Petrochemical Complex, Iran)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The privately-owned Kermanshah Petrochemical Complex is to issue a tender for a new ammonia-urea complex in Iran -- said to be the first private petrochemical development in the country since the 1979 revolution. Kermanshah -- a consortium...

Work begins on world's largest methanol plant.(Trinidad)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Kvaerner has announced that it has been awarded the engineering design contract for a 5,000 t/d (1.65m t/a) methanol plant at Point Lisas on Trinidad. The award has come from Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd, an umbrella organisation for the...

Methanex closes Kitimat.(methanol plant, British Columbia, Canada)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... As indicated in the previous issue of Nitrogen & Methanol, Methanex has shut down its 500,000 t/a Kitimat plant in British Columbia. The closure is expected to be for at least twelve months, and has been prompted by high North American gas...

MTBE - the lawsuits begin.(methyl tertiary butyl ether and water pollution, Santa Monica, CA)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... In California, the city of Santa Monica has filed a claim for damages against eighteen MTBE producers, including Shell, Texaco and ExxonMobil. The city claims that the chemical has contaminated most of the city's drinking water, and is seeking...

Tender issued for fourth methanol plant.(Iranian National Petrochemical Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The Iranian National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has invited bids to construct its fourth methanol plant. Originally to be a 1,000,000 t/a unit, the option has been left open for this to be revised upwards to 1,500,000 t/a. The plant, to be...

LNG exports to India under consideration.(British Gas International's exports of Iranian liquefied natural gas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... British Gas International is examining the possibility of exporting Iranian LNG to India. BG has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian Oil Industries Engineering and Construction company to explore the possibility. The proposed...

EBRD wants Gazprom to be dismembered.(European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has joined the IMF in calling for the break-up of the giant Gazprom empire in order to encourage competition in the Russian energy sector. Gazprom has been fighting moves to split the...

Trans-Caspian pipeline fading fast.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... It looks like the end for the $2.2bn, 16bcm/year Trans-Caspian Pipeline (TCP), running 1,700km from Turkmenistan to Turkey. US backers GE Capital and Bechtel have withdrawn from the project, leaving only Royal Dutch/Shell. Shell, with a 50%...

Decision on Metor deferred.(Mitsubishi Gas Chemical on Metanol de Oriente methanol complex in Venezuel)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC) says that is no nearer a decision on what to do with the Metanol de Oriente (Metor) methanol complex in Venezuela, in which it has a share along with fellow Mitsubishi company MHI and Venezuela's state-run...

Shell plans GTL alongside LNG.(gas to liquids plant, liquefied natural gas, Egypt)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Shell has said that it is looking at combining a gas to liquids (GTL) plant alongside its proposed Egyptian LNG scheme. The company is looking at spending $4bn -- one quarter on gas field development and the remainder on the production complex....

LNG warning as projects forge ahead.(use of liquefied natural gas for power projects, India)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The World Bank has cautioned India against relying upon LNG for generating too much of its baseload power requirements. With an eye to the cost of imported LNG, currently running close to $5.00/mmBtu, and the large number of LNG projects that...

People.(includes information on various executive appointments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Linde AG has appointed Dr. Ing. Peter Grafoner as vice chairman of the executive board, with effect from September 1st. It is planned that he will replace Gerhard Full as chairman after the shareholders' meeting on May 29th, 2001. ...

Fertilizer: more than just a commodity.(interview with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan's CEO Bill Doyle)(Interview)
September 1, 2000... Bill Doyle of PCS talks to Nitrogen & Methanol. What did you identify as the main issue to be addressed when you assumed the position of President and CEO of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan? A number of issues were identified even before...

Agrium - branching out.(to Argentina)
September 1, 2000... Following its acquisitions of Viridian and Unocal's nitrogen arm, Agrium is now the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in North America. It is also extending production to Argentina, where the company has a retail sales arm. Nitrogen &...

Improved ammonia plant safety via advanced process control systems.(Farmland Industries Inc. and GE Continental Controls have new process control system)
September 1, 2000... Brent Frahm of Farmland Industries, Inc. and Robert Lin and William A. Poe of GE Continental Controls describe the implementation of a new process control system made at Farmland's ammonia unit at Beatrice, Nebraska. The application of a...

Catch the cash.(catchment systems)
September 1, 2000... Matthew Dex of Terra Nitrogen UK and Darren Bryce of Johnson Matthey Plc describe how increases in the price of precious metals have made catchment systems a topic for debate amongst nitric acid producers. Platinum group metal alloy gauzes...

Keeping it safe.(environmentally safe ammonium nitrate plants)
September 1, 2000... Besides the usual concerns of efficiency and environmental cleanliness, ammonium nitrate plant designers and operators have to contend with special safety considerations. Millions of tons of ammonium nitrate are produced, stored, handled,...

Ammonium nitrate storage and handling regulations.
September 1, 2000... Ammonium nitrate is almost infamous for its potentially explosive properties, mainly due to a series of serious accidents in the first half of the 20th century, and its use in terrorist weapons in the closing years of the century. Of course,...

AN and CAN fluid drum granulation.
September 1, 2000... S Valkov of Kaltenbach-Thuring describes the application of fluid drum granulation technology to the Croatian fertilizer manufacturer Petrokemija Kutina. Petrokemija Kutina is a wellknown fertilizer producer in Croatia. It has a production...