Saskferco Products Inc. announced Sept. 25 that it is about to embark on its third major expansion since it began operations 15 years ago. The planned $84 million expansion will begin immediately and is slated to be finished during a planned shutdown in June of 2009.
“With the demand for fertilizer at an all time high, we felt that the time was right to expand our production in order to meet growing demands and to serve our customers as well as the producers of this province better.” said D.F. Gill, president and CEO of Saskferco. “We have expanded our facilities twice before with great success and expect the same result from this project.”
The expansion to both its ammonia and urea facilities will increase ammonia production by 200 mt/d while increasing urea production by over 400 mt/d. Current capacity at Saskferco is put at 648,000 mt of ammonia, 968,000 mt of urea, and 230,000 mt of UAN by the International Fertilizer Development Center. The company said that in 2006 it exceeded 1 million mt of urea production.
“This is an exciting time to be in the fertilizer industry and an even more exciting time to be a part of Saskferco. Our company is young, vibrant and about to grow for the third time in 15 years,” said Gill. “It is truly remarkable to see how much we have grown in that amount of time.”
The expansion was recently approved by Saskferco’s board of directors and will now move into the planning stages of the project. The third expansion will build on an expansion in 1997 that increased urea production, and the addition of a UAN plant in 2004. The new expansion is aimed at meeting the needs of Saskferco’s customers and will allow Saskferco to gain a greater share of the fertilizer market.
Located in Belle Plaine, Sask., Saskferco is a joint venture between The Mosaic Co. and Investment Saskatchewan.
Saskferco had a planned turnaround in June. Industry sources have speculated that high wheat prices may keep more of Saskferco’s nitrogen products in Canada in the near term, with less going to the U.S. market.