Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL) reported today its Waggaman, La, ammonia plant went down again on May 8, due to a coupling failure on the refrigeration compressor, upon which the facility was safely shutdown.
The company said the plant had restarted production in mid-April as expected and operated successfully at nameplate capacity for two weeks when it unexpectedly tripped upon the failure of a vibration probe. After repairs, the subsequent restart process was stopped on May 8.
The restart of the plant is expected to take two-to-three weeks. IPL said the additional impact to FY2021 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from the initial trip to the expected restart of the plant is estimated to be between A$33m and A$42m (or A$26m and A$33m on a net profit after tax basis).