Acron Group, Moscow, said it increased its commercial fertilizer output by 6 percent last year, to 6.45 million mt, up from 6.09 million mt in 2019. The group’s overall commercial output, including industrial products, increased 7 percent to 7.98 million mt, versus 7.46 million mt in the previous year.
The group attributed the increase in its overall commercial output as mainly due to upgrades to the ammonia unit at its Dorogobuzh subsidiary in late 2019, which it said allowed increased output of all ammonia-based products at the Smolensk site.
Acron also highlighted its success in promoting its industrial-grade ammonium nitrate (AN) in international markets, with last year’s output of industrial-grade AN increasing 68 percent to 318,000 mt. Its AN output for the agricultural sector increased 25 percent last year, to 2.43 million mt.
The group remains on schedule to complete its Urea-6+ project at Veliky Novgorod in the second quarter of 2021 (GM Oct. 23, 2020). The completion of the upgrade will increase the unit’s production capacity by 520,000 mt/y, and will increase Acron Group’s annual urea production capability by over half a million mt to 1.9 million mt, making it the largest urea producer not only in Russia, but also in Europe.
Acron said it is targeting to produce 8.4 million mt of commercial products in 2021.
In a separate development, the group has signed a new collective three-year agreement for 2021-2023 with the Russian chemical industry’s primary trade union organization, Roskhimprofsoyuz, covering all of its employees. The collective agreement covers all aspects of social support for Acron’s employees, according to the trade union’s Chairperson Stanislav Melnikov.
Acron fertilizer production (‘000 mt)
| Product | 2020 | 2019 | % change |
| Ammonia | 2,729 | 2,583 | +6 |
| Nitrogen fertilizers | 4,707 | 4,933 | (5) |
| AN | 2,430 | 1,951 | +25 |
| Urea | 1,180 | 1,253 | (6) |
| UAN | 1,096 | 1,719 | (37) |
| Complex fertilizers | 2,372 | 2,026 | +17 |
| NPK | 2,236 | 1,892 | +18 |
| Bulk blends | 136 | 133 | +2 |
| Total commercial fertilizer output | 6,448 | 6,087 | +6 |
Acron selected industrial products output (‘000 mt)
| Product | 2020 | 2019 | % change |
| Low density and technical grade AN | 318 | 189 | +68 |
| Industrial urea | 140 | 131 | +6 |
| Total commercial industrial products output | 1,245 | 1,079 | +15 |