AFA focuses on the fertilizer industry's future
The Arab Fertilizer Association's Technical Conference in Amman, Jordan, opened with an executive panel discussion on the future of the industry.
The Arab Fertilizer Association's Technical Conference in Amman, Jordan, opened with an executive panel discussion on the future of the industry.
KBR has been awarded contracts by AGF Nitrogen for the revamp of two ammonia plants in Germany and Austria.
Global engineering company KBR has secured a contract to provide the upgrade of facilities at Saudi Aramco’s Marjan offshore oil and gas field in the Arabian Gulf.
SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company (SABIC AN), Saudi Arabian fertilizer producer, has taken final investment decision on its SAN-7 project in Al Jubail. The development will add 1.2 million t/a of ammonia capacity and 2.6 million t/a of urea capacity. The EPC contract has been awarded to Samsung E&A Co., Ltd. for approximately $3.5 billion, with construction expected to start in Q4 2026.
Maire Group subsidiary Tecnimont has been awarded a contract by Fértil Pampa SAU, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pampa Energia SA, for a large-scale fertilizer complex in Argentina. The facility will include a large-scale ammonia plant and two parallel ultra-low energy urea trains, each with its own granulation unit, with a combined capacity of 6,000 t/d (2.1 million t/a), making it the largest urea plant in Latin America by production. It will occupy an 80-hectare site within the Bahía Blanca Industrial Complex, in Buenos Aires province. The location is adjacent to Pampa’s existing power generation assets, benefiting from direct access to key infrastructure, including gas pipelines, high-voltage transmission lines, water intake systems, and a deep-water export port, enabling efficient logistics.
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed a $5.7 million grant agreement with Morocco-based joint venture ORNX Laayoune 1 SASU (ORNX) to fund a pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) study for a large-scale green ammonia plant.
Pampa Energía has taken final investment decision on its long trailed Bahía Blanca fertilizer complex, confirming a $2.7 billion granular urea project that will host Latin America’s largest urea plant by production capacity.
Japan’s first green ammonia plant using KBR’s K‑GreeN® process is now fully operational at a JGC Holdings Corporation site in Japan.
Asahi Kasei Corp says that it has begun operations at a demonstration plant using green ammonia production technology in January 2026, using hydrogen manufactured by Asahi Kasei. The plant, built by JGC, and using KBR’s K-GreeN® ammonia production technology, is part of Japan’s NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation) Green Innovation Fund project. The hydrogen feedstock comes from a 10MW alkaline water electrolysis system at the adjacent Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research facility, which Asahi Kasei has operated since 2020. Leading the design and construction of the ammonia plant, JGC will conduct the demonstration operation during the fiscal year 2026 to advance process optimisation and commercialisation studies.
KBR has been awarded a contract for its PureM green methanol technology by Fikrat Al-Tadweer for a biomethanol plant in Saudi Arabia which will convert landfill gas into clean fuels. KBR’s technology is designed for commercial-scale deployment with a low cost of renewable methanol production, and can utilise a wide range of feedstocks, including biogas, gasification-derived syngas, hydrogen, and pure CO2 , enabling flexibility and efficiency. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide technology licensing, proprietary engineering design, catalyst, and proprietary equipment for the biomethanol facility.