PJSC PhosAgro could make a final investment decision on the construction of a new ammonia and urea complex in the first half of 2024, according to an Interfax report, citing PhosAgro CEO Mikhail Rybnikov speaking to reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 14-17.
Rybnikov said the group is continuing to select licensees for the project and is looking at Asia, and the “chances are high” that the process will be completed this year.
PhosAgro reported in April that it was “actively looking” for a licensor(s) for the ammonia and urea project, with both Cherepovets, some 600 km north of Moscow, and Volkhov, in Russia’s Leningrad region, under consideration as the site for the new production facility (GM April 21, p. 1). The group already has existing production sites at both locations.
PhosAgro has said the new complex would remove the group’s need to buy ammonia for its existing plants at the two locations. The Russian group first announced its plans to build a new ammonia and urea complex in late 2021, indicating at the time a proposed production capacity of 1 million mt/y of ammonia and up to 1 million mt/y of urea (GM Nov. 24, 2021).
It had been targeting a construction start in 2022 and first production for the end of 2025, but Western sanctions on Russia have likely contributed to the project delay. PhosAgro earlier estimated the expected cost of the project at some $1.5 billion.