The Israeli government decided on July 3 to permit Haifa Chemicals to receive ammonia via a ship off of Haifa directly to the company’s plant in the city. The decision is seen as a short-term solution for the problem of ammonia supplies to Haifa Chemicals. Haifa Chemicals would be supplied by a marine pipeline directly to its production plant in Haifa. Environmental groups have criticized the decision saying that unlike the storage tank the vessel off of Haifa port has absolutely no protection.
The government also decided on a long-term solutions whereby a relatively small ammonia plant would be built by a private company in southern Israel to supply all other users of ammonia.