Magazine: 518 Jan-Feb 2024

In a recent webinar, Chris Lawson, CRU’s Head of Fertilizers, gave the CRU view on what 2024 holds in store for the global fertilizer industry. Here are CRU’s top 10 calls for the year ahead:

For 50 years, Kimre engineers and application specialists have been solving process and gas stream emission problems in chemical and fertilizer plants around the globe. In an exclusive interview, Kimre’s new president Mary Gaston sets out her plans for the company, building on its invaluable understanding of gas and vapour stream separation and mass heat transfer.

We look ahead at fertilizer industry prospects for the next 12 months, including the key economic and agricultural drivers likely to shape the market during 2024.

With phosphate supply concerns persisting as 2023 draws to a close, CRU’s Senior Analyst Logan Collins looks back at what’s been a dynamic year for the global phosphate market.

The ownership of Fertilizer International magazine transferred from BCInsight Ltd to CRU, the global commodities experts, at the start of the year.

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has entered into a partnership with Metso and thyssenkrupp Uhde to develop and license an integrated process to reduce carbon emissions and recycle phosphogypsum in Saudi Arabia. A framework agreement between the three partners was jointly announced on 10th January.

Urea: December began on a positive note with a flurry of Egyptian urea sales and firmer prices for delivery to Brazil. The increase in values was short lived, however, and piecemeal demand in Europe was insufficient to halt the downward trend. By mid-December, buying interest from Brazil had fizzled out, although sellers breathed a sigh of relief when India’s NFL floated a new import tender on 21st December.

CRU Events will convene the 2024 Phosphates International Conference & Exhibition in Warsaw at the Hilton Warsaw City Hotel, 26-28 February.

Granulation technology generates a premium urea end-product in large volumes capable of withstanding lengthy storage and extreme shipping conditions. Prilling technology, meanwhile, given its typically lower investment cost, can be an attractive option for smaller-scale urea producers supplying local markets. Stamicarbon’s Dr Wilfried Dirkx, Ahmed Shams and Branislav Manic explore the technology options for urea finishing.

New regulatory developments in Europe are focusing attention on eliminating microplastic residues in soils by adopting biodegradable fertilizer coatings. Major technology licensors and engineering companies are also developing new coating technologies for controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs).