• Skip to main content

    Fertilizer International 530 Jan-Feb 2026

    26 January 2026

    Eighth ‘Ultra-Low Energy’ urea project for Stamicarbon

    CHINA

    Eighth ‘Ultra-Low Energy’ urea project for Stamicarbon

    Stamicarbon has been awarded a contract for the licensing, process design package (PDP) and the supply of proprietary equipment for a new urea plant in Eastern China.

    The new 2,700 tonnes per day (t/d) plant – for an unnamed “prominent fertilizer producer” – will feature Stamicarbon’s proprietary NX STAMI Urea™ technology and adopt the company’s Ultra-Low Energy design. This innovative design reduces plant steam consumption by 35% and cooling water usage by 16%, compared to a conventional urea plant.

    The urea production process and prilling tower design also generate high-quality prills with very low biuret content. Stamicarbon will provide key equipment to the plant, including the pool reactor and stripper, both constructed using E-type super duplex stainless steel.

    “This project marks the tenth global application of Ultra-Low Energy technology and the eighth in China, with seven operational plants demonstrating our benchmark role for energy efficiency in large-scale urea production,” said Fabio Fritelli, Nextchem’s managing director. “This contract further strengthens NEXTCHEM’s presence in this geography and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to enhancing the sustainability of the fertilizer sector through cutting-edge technological advancements.”

    Latest in Asia

    Nickel Industries starts up ENC acid plant

    Nickel Industries announced started up the sulphuric acid plant at its new Excelsior Nickel Cobalt (ENC) HPAL project in the final week of June. The ENC Project is a massive, multi-billion dollar high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) facility located in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is operated by Australia’s Nickel Industries to supply battery-grade materials for the electric vehicle (EV) market. At capacity, it is expected to yield roughly 72,000 t/a of contained nickel equivalent as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), nickel sulphate, and nickel cathode.

    Russia bans rail transport of Kazakh sulphur

    Russia has ordered a “temporary cessation” of rail transport of all sulphur originating from Kazakhstan that is destined for Russian seaports and railway checkpoints, representing a significant policy shift, according to an official order from the Federal Agency for Railway Transport (Roszheldor). The directive, which took effect from May 26th, orders a halt to the loading and movement of Kazakh sulphur “until further notice.” While the measure is officially described as temporary, the order provides no specific timeline for when the transit might resume. The action cites instructions from Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, D.V. Manturov, as its basis.

    Restart for Hongda smelter

    Hongda's 100,000 t/a zinc smelter, in China's Sichuan Province, completed scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrading and officially resumed production on 21st June, the company said. The smelter had been shut down for planned maintenance since January, during which time a modernisation project for the electrolytic zinc smelting system was also carried out. Following the nearly six-month revamp, the resumption of production is expected to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce unit production costs, and increase the utilisation rate, The company said. The stable supply of sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelter will effectively leverage the synergies of the "sulphur-phosphorus" industrial chain in the company, an help alleviate cost pressures on the company's phosphorus chemical business segment.