Category: Industrial

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.

Suiso, a South African company specialising in blue ammonia production, is set to invest $1.7 billion in a coal-to-fertiliser facility in Kriel, Mpumalanga in the east of South Africa. The proposal is for a 1.5 million t/a ‘blue’ ammonia-urea plant which will replace South Africa’s annual imports of 1.2 million t/a of urea, as well as producing 235,000 t/a of blue methanol for fuels, using advanced decarbonisation and carbon capture technologies. Suiso is partnering with Sinopec Ningbo Engineering, Stamicarbon, and ETG – the latter will distribute Suiso’s fertilisers across Africa, supporting local agriculture and long-term food security.

Three European energy companies are planning to develop a green methanol plant in Spain that will capture around 380,000 t/a of biogenic carbon dioxide, which will be used to produce 200,000 t/a of methanol. Spanish renewable energy firm Magnon will oversee the carbon capture portion of the project, while partners Power2X and ErasmoPower2X will handle […]

Koppö Energia Oy has ordered a FEED (front end engineering design) contract from thyssenkrupp Uhde for its planned green methanol plant, as part of a power-to-x (P2X) project being developed by Koppö Energia in Kristinestad, Finland. The methanol plant will have a planned capacity of 450 t/d to support the maritime and e-gasoline fuel markets. […]

UK engineering and consulting company Wood has received a contract from the UAE’s chemicals and transition fuels hub TA’ZIZ to provide project management consultancy for the development of one of the largest methanol plants in the world. Wood will work with TA’ZIZ’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, Samsung E&A, to deliver this project. Gerry […]

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC), a joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM, says that construction of its new green ammonia plant in Saudi Arabia has reached 80% completion across the hydrogen plant, wind and solar farm and transmission grid, with milestone equipment being received and installed, including wind turbines, hydrogen storage vessels, […]

The progressive closure of smelter capacity in Australia poses potential problems for acid consumers across the country.

Kazakhstan Zinc (KazZinc) is progressing with plans to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from its Ust-Kamenogorsk site following an environmental audit in December 2024 as a result of smogs caused fugitive emissions which forced residents to stay indoors. The site has reduced emissions from 69,000 t/a in 2011 to 15,000 t/a, but plans to invest $210 million in in new technologies, including sulphur dioxide recovery systems and upgraded filters for solid particle capture. The key measure is the modernisation of gas purification units which is expected to reduce SO2 emissions by 2,200 t/a by 2026. Another important initiative is the construction of the “Hydropolimet” workshop at the KazZinc Ridder metallurgical complex, which aims to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by 714 t/a.

The mid-year negotiations between Antofagasta (AMSA) and Chinese smelters have concluded with a historic settlement of $0/0¢. While unprecedented, the outcome is not surprising, as it lands slightly above the midpoint of the believed negotiating range, from -$15/-1.5¢ proposed by Antofagasta +$10/1.0¢ from the Chinese smelters. Moreover, this result aligns with market participants' rumours circulating prior to the agreement. Separately, rumours suggest Q3 contract negotiations between one top miner and Chinese smelters concluded at levels ranging from -$25/-2.5¢ to (+)$5/0.5¢.

The S.A. Nyyazov Chemical Plant in Turkmenabat produced 115,850 tonnes of sulfuric acid during the first five months of this year, according to local press reports. The plant also produced 11,297 tonnes of mineral fertilizers over the same period, including 5,227 tonnes of nitrogen-based and 6,070 tonnes of phosphorus-based fertilizers. The Turkmenistan government recently approved the construction of a new plant at the facility to produce 350,000 t/a of superphosphate and 100,000 t/a of ammonium sulphate. South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. has been awarded the EPC contract for the plant.