Category: Products

Two dam failures at the Morowali industrial park in Indonesia have killed three people. On March 16, during heavy rains, the PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt tailings storage facility at the Morowali industrial park failed, and tailings flowed into the Bahadopi River. The breach flooded facilities at the industrial park and the village of Labota. Five days later another tailings dam inside the industrial park, owned by PT Qing Mei Bang (QMB) New Energy Materials, collapsed, killing three workers. The affected tailings facilities store acidic waste from high pressure acid leaching (HPAL). It is estimated that for every ton of nickel, HPAL processing generates 150-200 tons of tailings. The affected facilities use filtered tailings, where some of the water is removed from the tailings before they are placed the dam. However, heavy rains, landslips and seismic activity appear to have affected the stability of some of the dams.

The Tunisian cabinet has met to review its future programme for phosphate production, transport, and processing for the 2025-2030 period, as well as the current situation of the Tunisian Chemical Group and its work plan for the same period, according to a government statement. The prime minister stressed the need to develop phosphate production as a national resource and a cornerstone of the national economy that must regain its role and position in supporting state revenues and wealth creation, including increasing production capacity, processing, and exports, while investing in modern technology to enhance productivity, exploring new export markets, and prioritising environmental considerations.

Axens says that it has completed the expansion of its Axens Catalyst Arabia Ltd site, aimed at providing local and regional partners with the latest tail gas treatment catalysts, in addition to the site’s legacy catalyst hydroprocessing manufacturing capacity. This makes Axens is the first and only company to produce tail gas treatment catalysts in the Middle East. The company says that the expansion consolidates its capacity to serve its regional customers to meet regulatory requirements and maximise sulphur recovery by up to 99.9%, minimising SOx emissions. The production site supplies the region’s refining and gas industries with the latest generation of Axens’ catalysts, capable of operating at lower temperatures than conventional catalysts, and resulting in lower energy consumption.

Astron Energy, a subsidiary of Glencore, says that it will spend $328 million to upgrade its South African crude oil refinery in order to comply with the country’s upcoming cleaner fuel regulations. The investment aims to bring the facility in line with South Africa’s Clean Fuels II standards, which mandate lower sulphur content in both petrol and diesel. The 100,000 bbl/d refinery near Cape Town is one of only two remaining operational refineries in the country. Astron says that construction work is already under way for a gasoline hydrotreating plant that will reduce sulphur levels to Euro 5 (<10ppm sulphur) specifications. The regulations have been delayed to July 2027 due to concerns over the cost of upgrading existing refining infrastructure. n

Avenira has secured an A$7.56 million strategic investment from majority shareholder Hebang Biotechnology to progress its Wonarah phosphate project in Northern Territory. The investment, in which Hebang will acquire 1.08 billion shares priced at A$0.007 each, will boost its equity holding in Avenira to 49%. Hebang has also agreed to provide Avenira with an unsecured drawdown loan facility to be repaid on completion of the placement or after the date of the first drawdown.

• Continuing oversupply means that ammonia prices should continue to come under pressure moving into 2H April, though it remains to be seen just how much further values in Asia can decline before producers begin to shutter output.

Methanol demand is rising again after a few years of relative stagnation, but with the Chinese MTO boom largely over, it looks to be energy uses which will drive most future demand.

Spanish company Ignis has decided to pause work on the renewable energy generation projects it had planned in Chile’s Magallanes region. In a press statement, Ignis said that: “even though we firmly believe that this industry will develop and mature, the company is considering a longer time frame than initially planned and a reduction in the project to adapt it to this new reality.” The company was developing a wind farm to supply the green ammonia plant with hydrogen, but reportedly found the process of leasing the land area to build the turbines slower and more difficult than it had hoped.

Hy2gen says that it has submitted its Courant renewable ammonia project to Quebec’s Minister of the Environment, marking the end of the planning stage. The Ministry will now define an impact study that Hy2gen must carry out to ensure that the project meets safety and environmental impact requirements. Project Courant aims to produce 230,000 t/a of low carbon ammonia for the local mining industry and region around Baie-Comeau, Quebec, using 300 MW of electrolyser capacity to generate renewable hydrogen in what Hy2gen says will be one of the largest renewable ammonia projects in North America. The plant is due to become operational in 2030.

Horisont Energi says that it has secured a non-binding offtake deal with “a European energy group” for ammonia sales from its Barents Blue clean ammonia plant at Markoppnes in northern Norway. Sales and purchase agreements are targeted for completion in 2026. Horisont is pressing ahead with the 1 million t/a project in spite of the withdrawal of project partner Fertiberia, and the exit of Polish company Orlen from a related CCS project. Front end engineering and design work has not yet been completed, but the project has been working on commercial agreements for the supply of gas, offtake of clean ammonia and storage of CO2 . Carbon capture is projected to be above 99%, and it is expected to be the most energy-efficient clean ammonia plant in the world. Barents Blue is supported by a $48 million grant as part of the EU IPCEI hydrogen program, Hy2Use. The project is targeting a final investment decision (FID) in 2026 and estimated production start in 2029/2030.