Ammonia prices could remain stable for the duration of October, with any further increases likely to be capped by a lack of demand. The outlook for November is more positive for buyers, with prices set to ease off once turnarounds at key export hubs are concluded.
Sachin Nijhawan has been appointed as the new CEO of thyssenkrupp nucera US, and Juergen Grasinger was named Chief Operating Officer to advance the company’s international growth strategy and expand its global leadership in the manufacturing and supply of hydrogen production technology. Based out of the thyssenkrupp’s Houston office, Nijhawan will be responsible for the business activities of the US operations.
Methanex Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire OCI Global’s international methanol business for $2.05 billion. The transaction includes OCI’s interest in two world-scale methanol facilities in Beaumont, Texas, one of which also produces ammonia. The transaction also includes a low-carbon methanol production and marketing business and a currently idled methanol facility in the Netherlands.
Dr Burkhard Lohr , the chair of the executive board of K+S Aktiengesellschaft, will retire at the end of May next year, after more than 12 years in the role, having decided not to extend his current mandate.
In our May/June issue I discussed the race to be the next major green shipping fuel, in which methanol and ammonia both remain significant contenders, but which methanol appeared to be pulling ahead in. But more recently, a few stories from the past few weeks have left me not quite as sure as I was about that. Firstly, there’s the news in our Syngas News section this issue that the FlagshipONE green methanol project in Sweden is being delayed and possibly abandoned, because demand for green methanol for shipping has not actually materialised as fast as was anticipated.
In China, domestic prices are expected to come under significant downward pressure, with seaborne indications already following suit, with buyers said to have rejected offers around the $375/t c.fr mark.
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Prices in the Eastern Hemisphere, whilst still flat-to-firm, do not appear as supported as they have been over the past month, whilst indexes. There are still no signs of softening in the Far East although demand remains underwhelming and supply improving. While production in Indonesia is said to be back up and running, traders do not expect any spot cargo to emerge in July other than possibly some small part cargoes. August could see spot offers.
With all of the focus on low carbon ammonia and methanol developments, one could occasionally be forgiven for forgetting that most of the syngas industry relies upon natural gas as a feedstock, and that gas pricing and availability remain the key determinants of profitability for producers. As our article this issue discusses, even low carbon ammonia is likely to be largely based on natural gas, albeit with carbon capture and storage, at least for the remainder of this decade.
While there has been a lot of talk about decarbonising ammonia and methanol production, for as long as blue and green production is more expensive than conventional production, uptake will be dependent upon markets which are prepared to pay a premium for such chemicals, perhaps because they have no other reasonable choice, given environmental mandates. One sector above all has dominated the prospects for medium term demand for low carbon ammonia and methanol alike, and that is shipping.