Category: Asia

The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA), Kandla, has issued a tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build India’s first port-based bio-methanol plant. The 3,500 t/a plant will use oxy-steam gasification technology to convert biomass into bio-methanol. The scope covers design, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and product certification, with bidders required to outline plant life, warranties, capital expenditure, and operating costs. The move follows DPA’s earlier call in May for turnkey proposals for a larger integrated plant of over 15,000 t/a, and its February 2025 agreement with Bapu’s Shipping Jamnagar Pvt. Ltd. to develop India’s first bio-methanol bunkering facility, including a dedicated bunker barge, at Kandla Port.

Shipping classification society ClassNK has formed a consortium with IHI Corporation, JFE Steel, Tohoku University, and Institute of Science Tokyo to participate in Japan’s Feasibility Study Program on Energy and New Environmental Technology. The consortium will promote the development of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) probability evaluation tools for fuel ammonia storage tanks and transportation equipment. Initially, the consortium will conduct a detailed study of the SCC mechanism involved in steel cracking due to the combined effects of mechanical stress and corrosion caused by liquid ammonia. Thereafter, the consortium plans to develop tools for easily and accurately assessing SCC probability. Finally, opinions will be solicited from stakeholders to formulate risk-based maintenance procedures for fuel ammonia storage and transportation facilities, and marine fuel tanks ultimately to promote the expanded use of fuel ammonia.

Eurotecnica says that Zhongneng Chemical Co., Ltd., a major player in China’s nitrogen-based fertiliser sector, has selected Eurotecnica’s proprietary Euromel® melamine technology for a new world-scale facility with a nameplate capacity of 120,000 t/a.

SulGas® KL, South-East Asia’s sulphur recovery and gas treating conference organised by Three Ten Initiative Technologies LLP, made its debut from 2-3 July 2025, at Impiana KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

CRU's analyst Viviana Alvarado discusses the effect of smelter outages and maintenance, a copper concentrate shortage, and Asian capacity ramp ups, on sulphuric acid supply and prices.

Chinese electrolyser manufacturer LONGi Green Energy has begun construction on a $325 million green methanol project in Inner Mongolia that will combine biomass gasification with hydrogen from the company’s electrolysers. The project, being developed at the Urad Rear Banner Industrial Park, will process 600,000 t/a of agricultural waste to produce 190,000 t/a of green methanol in the first phase. Phase 2 will expand ethanol capacity to 400,000 t/a, with hydrogen coming from new electrolysers powered by 850 MW of wind and 200 MW of solar power. LONGi says that the project will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million t/a, while adding more than 1 GW of wind and solar capacity to the region’s energy mix.

Clariant has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Boiler Works, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric which specialises in energy conversion and the development of new energy applications, to jointly foster innovation in sustainable energy solutions. The partners say that they will combine their expertise to advance green energy projects in China.

Casale has been awarded a contract to supply melamine technology by Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group. The new melamine plant will feature Casale’s uLEM-N technology, with a design capacity of 60,000 t/a, and will be fully integrated into an urea plant operated by Anhui Haoyuan. This is the third project that the two companies have developed together, following the successful implementation of two 1,500 t/a ammonia synthesis loop plants based on Casale’s N-LOOP™ technology.

L&T Energy GreenTech Ltd (LTEG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has entered into a joint development agreement with Japan’s Itochu Corporation of Japan to develop and commercialise a 300,000 t/a green ammonia project at Kandla in Gujarat state. Under the agreement, LTEG and Itochu will collaborate on the development of the green ammonia facility, with Itochu planning to offtake the product for bunkering applications in Singapore.

The Chechen Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade is reportedly in discussions with Chinese company Wuhuan over the construction of a mew nitrogen fertilizer plant in the region. Wuhuan is being considered as a potential EPC contractor, with technology and design coming from Russian design agency JSC GIAP. A site in the republic’s Naursky district has been earmarked for the project, which aims to produce 1,700 t/dm of ammonia and 3,000 t/d of urea. Development and construction is expected to take five years, with plant startup currently scheduled for the first half of 2030. The total cost of the project is estimated at $2.4 billion.