Category: Regions

Chile’s state-run mining company Enami says that it has received an environmental permit for a new $1.7 billion copper smelter, as part of the modernization of its Hernan Videla Lira smelting facility in the northern Atacama region. The new facility will process up to 850,000 t/a of copper concentrate, and its electrolytic refinery will produce up to 240,000 t/a of copper cathodes for use in electronics, construction and renewable vehicles. Enami says that the modernisation will “ensure profitable and sustainable operations, and practically triple the capacity of the old smelter.”

A UK–based energy watchdog, the Impact Investigators Platform (IIP), has dismissed allegations that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery imported substandard gasoline into Nigeria, describing the claims as “technically inaccurate, commercially implausible, and unsupported by verifiable evidence.” The IIP said its independent assessment of shipping data, customs declarations, and refinery process documentation found no indication that the refinery imported or sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) with sulphur levels above Nigeria’s approved limit of 50 parts per million (ppm). The investigation followed media reports alleging that a vessel had delivered high-sulphur gasoline to the Dangote Refinery under the guise of locally refined products. However, the IIP clarified that the cargo in question was an intermediate feedstock , a raw material used for refining and not finished gasoline meant for retail.

Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL) has announced a $400 million capacity expansion program, following its October 13th merger with Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (MCFL). This company says that the move aims to strengthen PPL's market position and enhance its production capabilities. The investment will involve increasing granulation capacity by 1.0 million t/a at the Paradeep site, as well as an additional 250,000 t/a of phosphoric acid and 750,000 t/a of sulphuric acid capacity at the company’s new Mangalore site. The expansion is expected to be completed within three years, according to PPL, and is expected to ensure 100% backward integration for fertilizer production, reduce import dependency, and enhance operational capabilities and profitability. low-contaminant phosphate concentrate that allows for easy conversion into purified phosphoric acid. The company has spent over C$100 million advancing the project and has received funding and investment from the Quebec Government.

thyssenkrupp Uhde says that it has successfully commissioned a hydrogen recovery unit (HRU) at the Fertil ammonia-urea plant in Ruwais, owned by Fertiglobe, a global exporter of urea and ammonia. The scope of work included engineering, procurement and site supervision during installation and start-up of the units.

As part of the Japanese government’s Green Transformation scheme, two hydrogen producers have been selected to receive subsidies for low-carbon production projects. Out of the overall $1 trillion GX scheme, $51 billion is earmarked for hydrogen and ammonia investments, with the bulk going towards a long-term programme that subsidises the increased production costs. The first two recipients are a Toyota Tshuho-led consortium (electrolytic hydrogen for steel), and Resonac (hydrogen from used plastics for ammonia). In the programme, production projects are required to have the support of a major hydrogen consumer – in Resonac’s case, this is Japanese chemicals giant Nippon Shokubai, who will offtake the ammonia produced from lower-carbon hydrogen.

The US Department of Energy has agreed a $1.5 billion loan for the Indiana-based Wabash Valley Resources LLC to finance a coal-powered ammonia plant in West Terre Haute. The project will restart and repurpose a coal gasification plant that has been idled since 2016. However, previous plans to include carbon capture and storage in the project, as agreed as recently as May by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), appear to have been abandoned. The loan comes from the Trump administration’s Energy Dominance Financing Program financed via the so-called “big beautiful bill”. It aims to reduce US dependence on foreign sources of fertilizer and to provide domestic sources of consumption for America’s shrinking coal industry. The facility is aiming to produce 500,000 t/a of ammonia using coal from a mine in southern Indiana as well as petroleum coke as feedstock.

Topsoe has been selected as technology provider by Sandpiper Chemicals LLC, for their new blue methanol plant in Texas City, Texas. Topsoe will license its Syn-COR™ technology, which will be combined with carbon capture & storage (CCS) for the production of blue methanol. The project, when operational will produce 3,000 t/d of blue methanol. The IEA estimates that methanol demand is expected to grow to 120-150 million t/a by 2030. Today, methanol is primarily used within the chemical industry, but growing demand is coming from the shipping industry as it looks to lower emissions.

ATOME says that it has signed a definitive offtake agreement with Yara for the purchase of the entire 260,000 t/a output of the low-carbon Villeta project. The plant will be based on 100% renewable baseload power, and will displace some 500,000 t/a of carbon dioxide equivalent. ATOME says that the agreement represents the last commercial milestone in its path to a final investment decision (FID), following the successful completion of other key commercial items, including the signing of the $465 million fixed-price, lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contract with Casale.

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) has granted approval in principle to SRC for ‘methanol superstorage’, an innovative tank design concept that uses a sandwich plate system technology to almost double shipboard storage capacity for both methanol and ethanol. The approval confirms that methanol superstorage is feasible for the intended application in accordance with the society’s 'Guidelines for Ships Using Alternative Fuels’.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor International Corporation says that it has successfully delivered syngas and ammonia refrigeration compressor trains for the Beaumont New Ammonia Project in Beaumont, Texas. This facility, originally developed by OCI Global as the OCI Clean Ammonia project, now owned by Woodside Energy, will be the first large-scale, lower-carbon greenfield ammonia facility in the world.