Koch Fertilizer LLC notified customers on March 9 that it had suspended urea loading until further notice out of its Enid, Okla., plant. Also on March 9, CF Industries notified customers that it had suspended UAN loading until further notice out of its Woodward, Okla., facility.
On March 12, CF sent out another notice to customers that it had resumed loading of UAN-32 and UAN-28 at its Woodward facility, but supplies were still under allocation.
No other details were provided, and neither company responded to requests for more information. Industry sources noted, however, that production problems have been rumored at some Oklahoma production facilities in recent weeks. One industry source commented that Koch has been working to increase production rates at the Enid facility, but the plant has so far underperformed. That assessment was not confirmed by Koch.
Koch completed upgrades to the Enid facility in 2009 that were projected to provide an additional 140,000 st/y of urea to the market and significantly enhance the plant’s rail load-out capability (GM March 30, 2009). Urea capacity at the Enid facility prior to the upgrade was 350,000 st/y. The plant also produces ammonia (1 million st/y) and UAN (102,000 st/y).
CF’s Woodward nitrogen facility in recent years underwent a $180 million upgrade to boost UAN capacity by some 1,500 st/day, to 825,000 st/y. The Woodward facility also produces 440,000 st/y of ammonia, but only 100,000 st of that is available for sale as a finished product, with the rest upgraded to UAN.
The Woodward facility also produces 70 percent urea liquor for use in cattle feed supplements and blasting agents, and 40 percent urea for use in NOx abatement.