Category: Outlook & Reviews

No one in this industry should ever need a reminder that commodity markets are cyclical. The corollary of that is – every once in a while – markets can, and will, abruptly change direction.

The degradation of fertilizer granules during handling and storage can be economically-costly and therefore needs to be avoided. Preventing unwanted caking and dust formation requires tailor-made coatings, as Kim ten Wolde, product manager at Holland Novochem, explains.

During this time of disruption, keeping connected nd informed has never been more important. While the in-person events the industry usually relies on are not possible, CRU’s Phosphates 2021 Virtual Conference, 23-25 March, offers exceptional information sharing and networking opportunities.

Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and finished phosphates projects.

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that the question of the carbon intensity of ammonia and downstream nitrogen compound production has been one of the main industry talking points for the past year. Everyone seems to be talking about ammonia of different colours – green ammonia, blue ammonia, and all shades of turquoise in between. If you are confused, it may not be surprising, as these words have come to cover a wide variety of different methods and technologies for producing ammonia, and their green credentials consequently come in a whole range of different shades.

The year 2020 will be remembered as an uncertain, demanding and challenging year. When faced with a global pandemic, companies have adopted new approaches and remote inspection, monitoring and training using the latest digital tools has been key for the successful completion of projects. Stamicarbon, Casale and KBR share some of their experiences of the past year.

The following case studies describe serious incidents associated with leak detection system failures. Incident 4 relates to the failure of the active pressurised leak detection system for the loose liner of a urea reactor and Incident 5 relates to a passive leak detection system which failed to work leading to serious corrosion of the carbon steel wall of the HP scrubber.

Natural gas pricing remains the dominant component of ammonia production costs. The fall in global oil and gas prices due to the Covid outbreak and the continued growth in the LNG market is continuing to break the hold of oil indexation on gas pricing. Meanwhile, reform of gas markets continues, in places as diverse as Brazil, China and India.

This year the CRU Nitrogen + Syngas conference is going virtual. From 1 to 3 March 2021, the CRU virtual event will offer a live and on-demand agenda, interactive exhibition and enhanced networking capabilities on a platform tailored to make remote access as easy as possible.

Alistair Wallace, Head of Fertilizer Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for nitrogen.