Nitrogen+Syngas 390 Jul-Aug 2024
31 July 2024
A round-up of current and proposed projects involving non-nitrogen synthesis gas derivatives, including methanol, synthetic/substitute natural gas (SNG) and gas- and coal to liquids (GTL/CTL) plants.
Changing markets for feedstock, shifts in demand, carbon pricing and geopolitics all help dictate the location of new urea capacity.
Nitrogen+Syngas ’s annual listing of new ammonia, urea, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants.
• Prices are likely to remain on an upward trajectory as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and Middle East export availability is constrained.
In just its first two months, 2026 had already managed to be a rollercoaster of a year, but at the start of March, the onset of hostilities against Iran by the US and Israel has managed to deliver another huge shock to markets, particularly commodities. Iran’s strategy of widening the conflict to neighbouring states, including by attacking Qatar’s massive LNG facility at Ras Laffan, effectively shutting it down, has sent the LNG market into chaos, and attacks on several tankers and other ships have paralysed maritime insurance markets and by default achieved the long-feared closure of the Straits of Hormuz.
Methanol’s phenomenal growth in the early years of the century was based on its uptake into fuel uses and its ability to bridge coal reserves with plastics production in China. However, with these sectors maturing, traditional chemical end uses are becoming the main growth sector once again.