Category: Outlook & Reviews

Ammonia and sulphur, as essential raw materials, underpin and drive fertilizer production costs. A steep and sustained rally has seen prices for both commodities reach new heights in recent months.

The delivery of nitrogen in nitrate form can deliver superior yields and quality in arable, fruit and vegetable crops. Because of this, production and consumption of the principal nitrate fertilizers – ammonium nitrate (AN), calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), potassium nitrate (NOP) and calcium nitrate (CN) – continue to grow.

Potassium nitrate is an efficient speciality fertilizer, being able to produce more for less. Whether applied to soils, via fertigation or through foliar application, it improves water use efficiency while boosting the uptake of potassium and other nutrients. Katja Hora and Harmen Tjalling Holwerda of SQM International highlight the main advantages of supplying potassium nitrate to crops.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

One year on from the launch of its Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission is still failing Europe’s farmers, says Igor Shmidt, EuroChem Group’s head of public affairs.

During this time of disruption, keeping connected and informed has never been more important. While the in-person events the industry usually relies on are not possible, CRU’s virtual Sustainable Fertilizer Production Technology Forum, 20-23 September, offers exceptional information sharing and networking opportunities.

In 2019, the EU fertilizer market was valued at around e17 billion, with France, Germany and former member state the UK together representing 40 percent of this total.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

The heart of any urea plant is the high-pressure urea synthesis section. Properly functioning safety valves are vital to protect the high-pressure section against ruptures due to pressures that are too high in case of upset conditions. However, the very corrosive intermediate ammonium carbamate makes the reliable and proper functioning of safety valves more challenging.

Ammonia markets continue to be dominated by unplanned outages in Saudi Arabia (where the SAFCO 4 and one of the Ma’aden ammonia plants are both down, removing 2.3 million t/a of merchant ammonia from the market). This comes on top of other shutdowns earlier in the year on Trinidad, in the US and Australia.