Power outage shuts Yara’s Pilbara ammonia plant for two months

Yara Australia’s Pilbara facility is expected to remain offline for around two months following a power outage at the site. The incident is understood to have damaged some systems at the facility and that repair work is now required. Initial assessments are indicating a prolonged curtailment of both ammonia and technical ammonium nitrate production.

Pilbara has ammonia capacity of around 850,000 t/a. Most of its output is exported through the Port of Dampier into markets including Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Japan, while some volume is directed to the adjacent technical ammonium nitrate plant operated with Orica.

The disruption comes at a particularly sensitive moment for regional nitrogen markets, with seaborne ammonia supply already under pressure from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A two-month outage at Pilbara removes a major non-Gulf source of exportable tonnes for Asian buyers just as alternative prompt supply is becoming more sought after.