Category: North America

World Energy GH2 has shelved its 1.2 GW green hydrogen and ammonia project in Stephenville, Newfoundland, after failing to secure offtake agreements. Project Nujio’qonik was conceived as a major green hydrogen/ammonia scheme backed by 2 GW of new wind capacity, intended to export green ammonia to Europe. However, despite a $50 million investment from South Korea’s SK Eco-plant and high-profile endorsement by then German chancellor Olaf Scholz, the developer has confirmed that the project is being replaced by a new initiative, called Clean Grid Atlantic, which will use the wind resource to power domestic markets instead.

Air Water Gas Solutions, a subsidiary of Air Water America, will build an air separation unit to support the production of 1.1 million t/a of blue methanol at Sandpiper Chemicals’ blue methanol facility in the US. The low carbon methanol producer has contracted Air Water to design, build, and operate the ASU to provide oxygen, nitrogen, and instrument air for blue methanol production. The project is still at the pre-final investment decision (FID) stage, with production targeted for 2030.

Woodside Energy says that its Beaumont New Ammonia (BNA) facility in southeast Texas has begun production of ammonia following the completion of systems testing, representing the first phase of operations commissioning of the facility. Commercial production of ammonia from BNA is expected to begin following the handover to Woodside Energy from OCI Global in early 2026. Production of lower-carbon ‘blue’ ammonia is targeted to start in the second half of 2026. Woodside says it has also finalised agreements with leading global customers to supply significant volumes of conventional ammonia from the BNA facility. Deliveries will commence in 2026 and continue through year-end, under contracts that reflect prevailing market prices. Additional agreements are being advanced to align with expected BNA output, including for lower-carbon ammonia.

The Mosaic Company has sold its Mosaic Potash Carlsbad business in New Mexico to newly-formed company International Minerals Carlsbad for $30 million.

The US ended ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on fertilizer imports on 14th November.

A consortium consisting of TotalEnergies, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and ITOCHU have signed a joint development and operating agreement, granting the Japanese companies a combined 33.3% stake in the Live Oak project – a large-scale facility to produce renewable synthetic natural gas, also referred to as e-NG or e-methane, initiated by TES and TotalEnergies and currently under development in Nebraska. Following the agreement, TES and TotalEnergies will each maintain a 33.35 % stake in the project.

Potash and phosphate have been added to the updated 2025 List of Critical Minerals published in the US Federal Register on 6th November.

In this CRU Insight, Humphrey Knight assesses the key market factors driving high SOP pricing.

Recent developments show the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) remains active for fertilizers, but the European Commission proposes tariff reductions to offset import costs. Tariff suspension details The Commission will temporarily suspend remaining Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) tariffs on ammonia, urea, and certain other fertilizers. Import tariffs from most-favoured nations stand at 6.5%, excluding higher staged tariffs […]

Venezuela’s nitrogen industry faces uncertainty from US military intervention, as outlined in a recent CRU analysis. Strategic facilities State-owned Pequiven manages three northern coastal plants with 2.4 Mt annual ammonia capacity and 3.0 Mt urea capacity. These sites link directly to PDVSA pipelines and nearby natural gas operations. Historical disruptions and 2023 rebound US sanctions […]