NPSZ
Cornbelt:
The NPSZ market was pegged at $680-$735/st FOB in the Cornbelt, depending on location.
Pacific Northwest:
40-Rock remained at the $790/st FOB or DEL level in the Pacific Northwest.
All Posts from May 26, 2023
AN-20
California:
AN-20 pricing remained at $385/st DEL in California.
Pacific Northwest:
The AN-20 market was steady at the $390/st level FOB Kennewick.
CAN-17
California:
CAN-17 pricing in California was steady at $420/st FOB Stockton $435/st FOB Woodland, and $450/st FOB Helm.
Pacific Northwest:
The CAN-17 market remained at $390/st FOB Kennewick in late May.
Ammonium Thiosulfate
Eastern Cornbelt:
Ammonium thiosulfate tightened to $360-$390/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low in Illinois and the high at Terre Haute, Ind. The Cincinnati market was pegged at the $385/st FOB level in late May.
Western Cornbelt:
The ammonium thiosulfate market remained at $340-$370/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low confirmed at Waterloo, Iowa.
California:
Ammonium thiosulfate pricing remained at $430-$440/st FOB in California.
Pacific Northwest:
The ammonium thiosulfate market was steady at $375-$377/st FOB and $367-$370/st rail-DEL in the Pacific Northwest.
Western Canada:
The ammonium thiosulfate market was steady at C$450/mt DEL inSaskatchewan for the latest offers.
TotalEnergies, Ductor Form Organic Fertilizer/Biogas JV
France’s TotalEnergies, the global multi-energy company, and Finland-based biotechnology company Ductor Corp. on May 24 announced a new commercial and financial partnership with joint development of organic fertilizer and biogas production facilities and TotalEnergies equity ownership in Ductor.
The two have agreed to form a joint venture to co-develop and jointly invest in 15-20 anaerobic digestion facilities targeting nitrogen rich feedstocks and organic waste from the agricultural sector and turning it into sustainable organic fertilizers and renewable natural gas.
The facilities will utilize Ductor’s proprietary circular biotechnology already in use at Ductor’s operational plants in Germany and Mexico, capable of processing highly untapped waste streams from the poultry and aquaculture industries. The priority geographies for these new projects are in the US and Europe.
“Ductor has identified a significant opportunity pipeline for future biogas and sustainable organic fertilizer plants ready for development and commercialization, and the partnership with TotalEnergies will allow us to move forward with executing that pipeline and towards the construction of the first integrated fertilizer and biogas project,” said Ductor CEO Bernard C. Fenner. He added that the global market for organic fertilizer and biogas is expected to grow strongly in the years to come, and that the market potential is virtually endless.
Ductor will be responsible for screening opportunities, securing land, providing feedstock, engineering, obtaining permits, and conducting feasibility studies. TotalEnergies will actively participate in the development, construction, and operational phase, as well as being the offtaker of all produced renewable natural gas and its associated environmental attributes.
Ductor will offtake and market the specialty fertilizers such as liquid nitrogen fertilizers produced at the facilities. The product was registered for use in organic farming by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in October 2021.
“We are pleased to partner with Ductor, a young company with an innovative pre-treatment technology that will enable us to develop new biomethane production projects, using organic waste that is currently not, or only slightly, reused. By accelerating the biogas chain, this technology contributes directly to the energy transition and to TotalEnergies’ ambition of producing 20 TWh of biogas worldwide by 2030,” said Olivier Guerrini, Vice President, Biogas at TotalEnergies.
In addition, TotalEnergies has acquired a 20% stake in Ductor. Guerrini will join the Ductor Board of Directors.
Yara North America – Management Brief
Yara North America on May 24 announced the appointment of Molly Biedenfeld as Vice President, US Eastern Region Sales and Marketing, effective June 5, 2023. She replaces Federico De Vries, who will take a position in Yara Clean Ammonia as Vice President, Commercial and Business Development Projects. Biedenfeld will report to Geraldo Mattioli, Senior Vice President North America.
Yara said Biedenfeld brings a wealth of experience, with more than 20 years working in various roles at Cargill, Mosaic, Ostara Nutrient, and most recently ICL. Her expertise includes specialty and commodity fertilizers, nutrient recycling, freight, grain, and feed ingredients. She has an MBA and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business.
ATOME to Produce 250,000 Mt/y of Green CAN in Paraguay; Baker Hughes Buys 6.6% Stake
UK-based ATOME Energy Plc has decided to use its planned green hydrogen/ammonia complex in Paraguay (GM May 12, p. 1) to produce 250,000 mt/y of green calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), the company announced on May 22. ATOME hopes to make a final investment decision and begin construction by the end of the year at its 75-acre site in Villeta, with the project scheduled to start production in second-half 2025.
“Our Villeta project is increasingly recognized as one of the most advanced and cost-effective green hydrogen and ammonia projects in the world,” said Olivier Mussat, ATOME CEO. “As such, discussions are underway with numerous leading international offtakers who have expressed interest in purchasing the entire planned green fertilizer production from Villeta.
“Our new commercial division has seen significant incoming market demand, which has underpinned our shift in strategic direction to incorporate a downstream proposition,” he added. “There is a clear and compelling commercial rationale to harness our Villeta plant so that it produces green fertilizer. With the EU being the largest consumer of CAN in the world and the Mercosur region being the largest importer of CAN – all of which are currently derived from hydrocarbons – the market potential for 100% green CAN is vast.”
ATOME said the global market for CAN is forecast to grow to US$43 billion by 2030.
While the company expects to expend more funds to build the plant and is seeking to add an additional 300MW of immediately available renewable power to its Paraguay business, it is holding to the 2025 start-up date.
The Villeta project extension to fertilizer will be accomplished with the same industry professional teams already appointed and currently working on the front-end engineering design (FEED) study, including ATOME’s owner’s engineer, multi-national Fortune 500 consulting firm AECOM, international Spanish contractor Urbas, and Swiss ammonia and fertilizer contractor Casale.
ATOME said other green projects are currently in discussions in Costa Rica and Iceland.
In addition to the CAN news, ATOME announced that Houston and London-based Baker Hughes, the global energy technology company, has subscribed £2.4 million in cash for a total of 2,526,316 new ordinary shares of ATOME at a price of £0.95 per share, representing 6.6% of the enlarged issue share capital of the company. ATOME has granted Baker Hughes the right of first offer to supply ATOME with compressors. The proceeds of the subscription will be used for general working capital.
LSB, Amogy Partner on Low-Carbon Ammonia
LSB Industries Inc. and Amogy Inc. on May 25 jointly announced they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at promoting the adoption of low-carbon ammonia as a marine fuel, initially for the US inland waterways transportation sector. The two will collaborate on the evaluation and development of a pilot program that integrates LSB’s low carbon ammonia and Amogy’s ammonia-to-power technology.
Upon successful completion of the evaluation and pilot program, the companies expect to further collaborate on a larger-scale development, including exploration of opportunities for development of an end-to-end supply chain of low carbon ammonia and deployment of Amogy technology across multiple applications, including maritime vessels. The evaluation and pilot program includes potential engagement with other parties across the ammonia value chain. The two parties will also collaborate on various advocacy, education, and outreach efforts regarding the use of ammonia as a fuel.
“Our vision at LSB is to be a leader in the energy transition through the production of low and no carbon products,” said LSB President and CEO Mark Behrman. “This collaboration agreement is an exciting step in our journey toward achieving our goals and we’re thrilled to be working with such an outstanding partner in Amogy.”
“We’re delighted by this opportunity to work with LSB to advance the development of a low-carbon ammonia supply chain primarily in the US,” said Seonghoon Woo, Amogy CEO. “The success of this collaboration will be a key step toward solidifying ammonia’s position as a comprehensive solution for decarbonizing the commercial transportation sector across the entire value chain, from the upstream production to the downstream usage.”
Brooklyn-based Amogy, founded in 2020 by four MIT PhD alumni, seeks to enable the decarbonization of the heavy-duty transportation sector. Amogy plans to present its ammonia-powered, zero-emission tugboat in late 2023 (GM March 24, p. 28). Upon the successful sail of the tugboat, it plans its first commercial offering in 2024.
To date, Amogy’s scalable ammonia-powered, zero-emissions energy system has been demonstrated with success in a drone, heavy-duty tractor, and a semi-truck (GM Jan. 20, p. 31; June 3, 2022).
Amogy has other commercial deployments with partners, including an inland barge retrofit project with Southern Devall (GM Nov. 4, 2022) and Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA), a decarbonization-focused subsidiary of Yara International ASA (GM Nov. 11, 2022), under which YCA will consider Amogy’s ammonia-to-power system for use within future shipping projects. The companies will also pursue opportunities with external partners, including shipowners, for Amogy to deliver its technology and YCA to deliver clean ammonia.
Mosaic Closes New 10-Year $700 M Loan
The Mosaic Co. has closed on a new $700 million 10-year term loan facility through the Farm Credit System. The facility terms include a delayed draw option and prepayment with no penalty. The initial interest rate under the agreement is 175 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
Giant NEOM Green Company Achieves Financial Close on $8.4 B Project
NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) on May 22 announced that it has now achieved financial close on the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility at a total investment value of US$8.4 billion.
The project is being financed with $6.1 billion in non-recourse financing from 23 local, regional, and international banks, and investment firms. The plant is currently being built at Oxagon, in Saudi Arabia’s region of NEOM.
NGHC has also concluded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement at a value of $6.7 billion, with Air Products as the nominated contractor and system integrator for the entire facility. Air Products has already awarded major contracts to various technology and construction partners. NGHC has also secured an exclusive 30-year offtake agreement with Air Products for all the green ammonia produced at the facility.
NGHC is an equal joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products, and NEOM (GM July 10, 2020). The mega-plant will integrate up to 4GW of solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 mt/d of carbon-free hydrogen by the end of 2026, in the form of green ammonia.
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