Ammonia values in the Middle East, Far East and Southeast Asia edged higher at the start of January, while other major benchmarks were largely unchanged amid a subdued market. Conditions at the start of the year mirror late2025, with prices supported by persistent supply tightness from the continued absence of Ma’aden’s MPC facility, which removes an estimated 300– 400,000 tonnes from the market. The unit is expected to return in midtolate January.
The Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZ) says that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nitrogen Jordan for Fertilisers to develop a gas-based ammonia plant within the Kingdom. Under the MoU, an area of around 200 hectares within the Al Karameh Free Zone on the Jordanian-Iraqi border will be allocated for the establishment of an ammonia production plant. The announcement follows positive developments at the Jordanian Risha Gas Project, located near the Iraqi border and major Jordanian crossings, approximately 30 kilometres from Al Karameh Free Zone, according to a JFDZ statement.
• Ammonia prices are expected to ease through January as new supply comes online. Woodside’s Beaumont facility produced its first ammonia at the end of December and is poised to start commercial production in early 2026, and there is also new supply from Gulf Coast Ammonia (GCA). In Saudi Arabia, the expectation is that both Ma’aden and Sabic will return to the market mid-to-late January.
Deepak Nitrite Ltd says that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Deepak Chem Tech Ltd, has begun production at its new nitric acid plant in Nandesari, Vadodara district, Gujarat. The 70,000 t/a plant has been completed at a reported investment cost of $57 million. According to the company’s filing, the new plant will allow Deepak to “reestablish supply security for key intermediates, support greater resilience across the group’s chemical value chain and enable deeper penetration into high-value applications”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a foundation stone for a new ammonia-urea plant at Namrup in Assam on December 21st. The plant, to be constructed by the Assam Valley Fertiliser and Chemical Company Ltd (AVFCCL), will have a urea production capacity of 1.27 million t/a, and the project is scheduled for commissioning in 2030.
Dangote Fertilizer, Africa’s leading fertilizer producer, has awarded contracts to several major companies for the provision of licenses and technical expertise for the development of two new planned ammonia-urea complexes, one in Nigeria and the other in Ethiopia, as well as the provision of basic engineering and design services for the related plants.
Barents Blue AS has announced Proton Ventures as a new partner in the Barents Clean Ammonia Project (project formerly known as the Barents Blue project). Barents Blue says that the Dutch engineering and project development company, a pioneer in the clean ammonia industry, “will bring significant resources and industry expertise to the project and the value chain for clean ammonia, important for the realisation of Europe’s largest clean ammonia production plant located in Finnmark, Northern Norway”.
Uralchem JSC and three Indian fertiliser companies; Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL), and Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture to construct a urea plant in Russia. The signing ceremony was held in New Delhi in December during a state visit by Russian president Vladimir Putin to India.
Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium comprising HIF EMEA GmbH, Acciona Nordex Green Hydrogen and Al Meera Investments to jointly explore the development of a low carbon methanol supply and bunkering hub at Dhofar in Oman. This strategic collaboration aligns with Oman’s Vision 2040 strategy, supporting national decarbonisation targets and positioning Oman as a pre-eminent green maritime and bunkering hub in the Middle East.
NextChem, via its nitrogen technology licensor Stamicarbon, has been awarded a licensing, process design package (PDP), and proprietary equipment supply contract based on its proprietary NX STAMI Urea™ technology, for a new urea plant in Eastern China by what NextChem describes as “a prominent fertilizer producer”.