Agrium commissions new Borger urea plant
Agrium Inc. announced on April 18 that it has successfully commissioned its new urea plant with the first run of urea production at the Borger Nitrogen Operations facility in Texas. The company said it continues to ramp up production and expects to reach full operational capacity by the end of the second quarter of 2017. Capacity for the new facility is rated at 610,000 mt/y of urea, of which 100,000 mt will be Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF).
“The successful completion of our first run of urea production from our Borger nitrogen expansion project continues to emphasize our commitment to operational excellence and creating shareholder value at Agrium,” said Agrium President and CEO Chuck Magro. “We look forward to bringing our reliable and high quality urea and DEF products to existing and new customers in this key agricultural region of the U.S.”
Agrium announced its plan to proceed with the $720 million Borger expansion in February 2014 (GM March 3, 2014). At that time, Agrium said the project would also increase annual ammonia capacity at Borger by approximately 145,000 mt/y, but the company opted against the ammonia debottleneck in August 2015 (GM Aug. 10, 2015), citing high costs and significantly longer downtime. Agrium places current ammonia production at Borger at approximately 453,000 mt/y.