Russia's sulphur supply is under renewed pressure after another Ukrainian strike hit the Astrakhan gas processing plant, a facility vital to the country's fertilizer industry and responsible for over 60% of its sulphur output.
The Indian government is considering a new financial relief package for its domestic fertilizer industry aimed at protecting its agricultural sector from volatile global markets, according to a Department of Fertilizers (DoF) document dated 14 August. The proposal directly addresses the impact of the "West Asia crisis" on key raw material costs.
Brazil's Federal Senate on 11 August approved the final text of the Profert bill (PL 699/2023), which will release up to BRL 10 billion ($1.85 billion) in tax-credit subsidies over five years to build new fertilizer plants or expand and modernise existing ones.
Germany's chemical industry association VCI has warned that continued low water on the Rhine and other inland waterways could force chemical companies to cut production, as Berlin publicly acknowledged the freight squeeze and put a relaxation of the Sunday lorry driving ban up for review.
Rail, road, ship or pipelines all bring different benefits and risks to long distance transport of ammonia, but the fundamentals of ammonia safety remain a constant.
VK Arora of Kinetics Process Improvements (KPI) compares the delivered-cost competitiveness of blue ammonia from regions including the US Gulf Coast, Western Canada, Atlantic Canada, the Middle East, Indonesia, and Malaysia into Japan, the European Union, and South Korea.
Energy, food, and fertilizer are three faces of the same system, says Alzbeta Klein, CEO of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA).
VK Arora of Kinetics Process Improvements, Inc. (KPI) looks at how – while carbon border taxes may reshape ammonia trade – the economics of hydrogen and electricity will ultimately determine the long-term competitiveness of European production.
A review of papers presented at this year’s Sulphur World Symposium, held by The Sulphur Institute (TSI) in Vancouver, Canada this year from April 28 to 30.
Policy decisions and geopolitical shocks are now the dominant drivers of sulphur and phosphate fertilizer markets, overriding more traditional seasonal fundamentals. The conflict in the Middle East, including the escalation around Iran, has tightened sulphur availability and lifted costs sharply, while China’s export restrictions continue to restrict global phosphate supply.