The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) says that Svein Tore Holsether has been elected as its new chair of the Association. IFA said in its press release that the selection of Holsether, the president and CEO of Yara International, is a continuation of the industry’s commitment to sustainability.
As recently as five years ago, decarbonising fertilizer production was little more than an aspiration.
More than 560 delegates participated in CRU’s Phosphates 2021 Virtual Conference, 23-25 March 2021. To highlight this successful event, we report on keynote and selected commercial and technical presentations.
We compare and contrast the 2020 financial performance of selected major fertilizer producers, following the publication of fourth-quarter results.
CF Industries has signed an agreement with thyssenkrupp to develop a commercial-scale green ammonia project at its Donaldsonville production complex in Louisiana.
Mayo Schmidt , the former chair of Nutrien, became its president and CEO on 18th April. He succeeds Chuck Magro who is stepping down to pursue new opportunities outside the company. In a coordinated move, Nutrien also announced that Russ Girling , TC Energy’s former president and CEO, would replace Mr Schmidt as the new chair of its board. Mr Magro made himself available to Nutrien until 16th May to allow a smooth transition.
The Chemical & Process Technologies business unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions is celebrating a milestone in 2021. It is one hundred years since engineer and entrepreneur Friedrich Uhde founded his own plant engineering company in a barn at his parents-in-law’s farm in Dortmund-Bövinghausen on April 6th, 1921. Now, in this centenary year, the origins of the firm are to become visible in its name again: thyssenkrupp is changing the business unit’s name to thyssenkrupp Uhde.
February saw ammonia prices jump due to a series of plant outages, including EBIC in Egypt, and several plants in North America, including two on Trinidad; the 760,000 t/a Nutrien 4 plant and 500,000 t/a Tringen 2 plant, both due to gas shortages, as well as Yara and BASF’s 750,000 t/a unit at Freeport, Texas.
Hans Vrijenhoef has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Proton Ventures with immediate effect. He will continue to serve as non-executive chairman of the management board for at least another three years to support the growth of the existing business of green ammonia production technologies. Paul Baan succeeded Hans Vrijenhoef as of April 1st, 2021. Baan has served in leadership positions at Ørsted and EON. He is an engineer by background who has a strong understanding of Power to X technology and business cases.
Gas availability and pricing continues to affect ammonia and methanol output from Trinidad, while Venezuela struggles with sanctions and political instability.