Melbourne — Incitec Pivot Ltd. said July 2 that it has achieved a further milestone at its ammonium nitrate complex at Moranbah in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The downstream nitric acid, AN solution and AN emulsion, have produced the initial tons of ammonium nitrate. This production was based on imported ammonia. The commissioning of the ammonia plant continues according to plan and will be brought on line in the fourth quarter of IPL’s financial year, after the downstream plants are stabilized. IPL said in May (GM May 21, p. 1) that the Moranbah AN plant is only expected to produce about 50,000 mt for the remainder of 2012, stair-stepping production up to full capacity of 330,000 mt/y in 2015. The project is expected to cost over the budgeted $935 million, but the company said the overspend will not be material. Once up and running, IPL expects Moranbah to generate $165 million in earnings for the 2015 financial year. IPL says the plant’s production is fully booked. IPL said it will be looking at debottlenecking Moranbah for further expansion.
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