Category: Europe

The Iran-Israel conflict in mid-June placed the urea market on edge prior to a ceasefire announcement.

The Belarusian government has nationalised and is fast-tracking the two million t/a capacity Slavkaliy project.

Grupa Azoty Police has successfully loaded a 36,640 tonne fertilizer consignment at its seaport for transport to South America. The historic shipment marks the first of its kind, in terms of its scale and the history of the company’s Police production plant, Grupa Azoty said.

Fertiberia’s Cinta Cazador Ruiz outlines the aims of the B-FERST project and highlights its major successes.

EasyMining’s Christian Kabbe provides an update on the company’s first full-scale Ash2™Phos plant in Germany.

Thyssenkrupp Uhde’s BioTfueL® technology has been selected for the BioTJet project by Elyse Energy and its partners (Axens, Avril, IFPEN). This project will produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from end-of-life wood waste and local forestry residues. together with the addition of green hydrogen. By 2029, BioTJet will supply sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon intensity in air

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with the German developer RWE to supply 30,000 t/a of green hydrogen to the Leuna refinery for fifteen years, beginning in 2030. The green hydrogen will be produced by a 300 MW electrolyser, built and operated by RWE in Lingen. Green hydrogen storage will be provided locally. The green hydrogen will be delivered by a 600 km pipeline to the gates of the refinery and will prevent the site’s emission of some 300,000 tons of CO2 beginning in 2030. This is the largest quantity of green hydrogen ever contracted from an electrolyser in Germany.

Horisont Energi says that it has secured a non-binding offtake deal with “a European energy group” for ammonia sales from its Barents Blue clean ammonia plant at Markoppnes in northern Norway. Sales and purchase agreements are targeted for completion in 2026. Horisont is pressing ahead with the 1 million t/a project in spite of the withdrawal of project partner Fertiberia, and the exit of Polish company Orlen from a related CCS project. Front end engineering and design work has not yet been completed, but the project has been working on commercial agreements for the supply of gas, offtake of clean ammonia and storage of CO2 . Carbon capture is projected to be above 99%, and it is expected to be the most energy-efficient clean ammonia plant in the world. Barents Blue is supported by a $48 million grant as part of the EU IPCEI hydrogen program, Hy2Use. The project is targeting a final investment decision (FID) in 2026 and estimated production start in 2029/2030.

Achema says that it plans to “temporarily” suspend ammonia production at its site at Jonava from May 15th, due to the volatility of natural gas prices and competition from cheaper foreign imports. It currently plans to resume production in 3Q 2025. The facility has been operating at reduced capacity since 2021, and Lithuanian lawmakers have discussed converting the site to explosive grade ammonium nitrate production as part of a European rearmament programme.

Clariant says that its MegaMax 900 methanol synthesis catalyst has been used in the successful startup of European Energy’s green methanol plant at Kasso, Denmark. The facility uses biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen to produce up to 42,000 t/a of green methanol. Clariant’s Applied Catalyst Technology (ACT) technical service team provided on-site support throughout the startup procedure, overseeing the catalyst loading, reduction, and startup. Clariant says that the catalyst is operating with excellent activity and stability despite the challenging conditions of CO2 -to-methanol conversion.