The new ammonia terminal in the Russia Black Sea/Azov Sea port of Taman could start operations in the second quarter of this year, according to an Interfax report on Jan. 26, citing Russia’s Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Mikhail Yurin.
Uralchem and Togliattiazot, which is controlled by Uralchem, had been targeting the end of 2023 for a launch of the first phase of the new terminal, which has capacity of up to 2 million mt/y of ammonia (GM Nov. 23, 2022).
Yurin said in this week’s report that there were unforeseen factors affecting the project, but “the period sometime in the second quarter of this year is when the terminal will be launched.”
The start-up of the new export facility will enable Togliattiazot, Russia’s biggest ammonia producer and exporter, to return to full capacity after having to reduce production following the company’s suspension of ammonia transit through the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline on Feb 25, 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A second development stage is aimed at taking the terminal’s total handling capacity to 3.5 million mt/y of ammonia and 1.5 million mt/y of urea. Construction of the second phase originally was scheduled for 2024-2025.