East Dubuque — Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP said Dec. 18 that it expects its ammonia plant that was damaged by fire Nov. 29 to resume production in early January. Rentech says it has completed its evaluation of the equipment damaged in the fire, which occurred in the ammonia synthesis loop of the ammonia plant at its East Dubuque, Ill., nitrogen fertilizer facility. Rentech anticipates the repairs, which are currently underway, to be completed within the next two weeks, with ammonia production of approximately 790 st/d expected to resume on or before the first week of January 2014. Rentech continues to anticipate ammonia production at the increased rate of approximately 1,020 st/d by the end of January 2014. The company confirmed its previous estimate of $1-$2 million for the total cost of repairs due to the fire. As previously disclosed, Rentech intends to file a claim related to the incident under its property insurance policy, which has a deductible of $1 million. Based on these schedules for repairs and production, the company currently expects the overwhelming majority of the impact on deliveries of lost production due to the fire to occur in 2013, with minimal impact on previously forecasted deliveries for 2014.
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