Pampa keeps $2.5bn urea plan alive as FID looms
Argentina's Pampa Energía is advancing work on a proposed 2 million t/y urea plant but has not yet taken a final investment decision, the company said in its recent investor briefings.
Tag: Urea
Petrobras restarts UFN-III fertiliser project with $1bn investment
Petrobras has approved the resumption of construction on its long-delayed UFN-III nitrogen fertiliser plant in Três Lagoas, signalling a renewed push into Brazil’s domestic fertiliser market.
CRU London briefing: Cost pressures reshape fertiliser supply
CRU’s "Energy Shock: Impact on commodity value chains" briefing in London on 14 May is essential for fertiliser, sulphur, nitrogen and syngas professionals seeking practical tools to manage rising cost and supply risk.
CRU Webinar On Demand: Fertilizer Constraints Amid Ongoing Conflict
CRU's fertilizer and raw materials experts examine mounting market pressures in a newly available on-demand webinar, Straight Talk: Fertilizer Constraints Compound as Conflict Lingers.
Middle East conflict drives historic urea affordability crisis
An update on the impacts of the Middle East conflict on fertilizer markets.
Market Insight
Price trends and market outlook, 26th February 2026. (Important note: this Market Insight was published two days before the start of the latest Middle East conflict.)
Incident No. 8 - Pressure instrument related failure at a urea plant
Diaphragm seals are applied when pressure or level transmitters need to be protected against harsh conditions like the corrosive ammonium carbamate in urea plants. The process pressure is transmitted via the flexible diaphragm and transmission fluid to the measuring instrument as shown in Fig. 1 below.
Government moving forward with coal-based urea plant
The government of Pakistan has published a ‘strategic roadmap’ for the country’s major Coal-to-Fertiliser (C2F) initiative. The project is being executed by the publicly-owned Fauji Fertiliser Company (FFC), and will use local coal reserves at Thar as feedstock for the ammonia plant, which will in turn feed 720,000 t/a of urea capacity. The $1.1 billion project aims to strengthen the country’s fertiliser security as well as add value to local resources. A bankable feasibility study was completed in November 2025, and the project is now in the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and project agreements phase. Under the proposed timeline, financial closure is expected between late 2026 and 2027, while commercial operations are targeted to commence in January 2031.
Where will new urea capacity be built?
Changing markets for feedstock, shifts in demand, carbon pricing and geopolitics all help dictate the location of new urea capacity.
Memorandum of understanding on strategic ammonia collaboration
Polymer manufacturer Covestro has signed a memorandum of understanding with ammonia and urea exporter Fertiglobe and chemical producer TA’ZIZ to explore collaboration across the ammonia and nitric acid value chains. The MoU reflects the parties’ shared interest in assessing both near-term supply solutions and longer-term opportunities supporting the transition toward lower-carbon production pathways. The agreement was signed during the visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the UAE.