ACRON GROUP, a global Russian mineral fertilizer producer, has developed several new brands of NPK complex mineral fertilizers at its Veliky Novgorod site in Russia that are tailored for the cereal crops grown in East and West Africa. In 2021, Acron Group shipped over 25 000 t of its new NPK brands to countries in the region. The advantages of the new brands are additional nutrients, namely calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, and crucial microelements, specifically zinc and boron, which balance nutrition during the crop lifecycle. The new NPK brands have minimal acidity effect, which is significant for those African countries where the soil acidity is already high. With easily accessible phosphorus in water-soluble form, balanced content of nitrogen forms and a high rate of granule solution, the nutrients quickly reach the soil despite the arid African climate, ensuring excellent crop yields.
STAMICARBON, the licensing and IP center of Maire Tecnimont SpA, has signed a contract with Abu Qir Fertilizers Co., in Alexandria, Egypt, for the revamp of one of their urea melt plants, also known as Abu Qir 3. Stamicarbon will deliver the license and the Process Design Package for the revamped plant, which is expected to be operational in 2025. Designed in 1996, the urea plant has a nameplate capacity of 1750 tpd and a design capacity of 1925 tpd. The scope of the revamp includes a capacity increase from the current production of 1940 tpd currently to 2370 tpd and a reduction in emissions from the melt plant absorbers to meet the local norm. The revamp will use Stamicarbon’s EVOLVE CAPACITY™ Mega Design with Medium Pressure Add-on technology. The revamp technology allows capacity expansion of a plant without having to invest in high-pressure equipment or a high-pressure CO2 compressor, while simultaneously reducing the energy consumption. The MP Add-on technology allows for large-scale capacity revamping, while reducing energy consumption per tonne of final urea product. Abu Qir Fertilizer Company is one of the largest producers of nitrogenous fertilizers in Egypt and the Middle East, producing about 50% of all Egyptian nitrogen fertilizers.
ABU DHABI NATIONAL OIL Co. (ADNOC) and chemical producer OCI N.V. are likely to pick Citibank, HSBC and First Abu Dhabi Bank to work on the public-share sale of their fertilizer joint venture Fertiglobe. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Fertiglobe was formed in 2019 after ADNOC and OCI combined their ammonia and urea assets, with the two companies currently holding ownership stakes of 42% and 58% respectively. The line up of banks is still not finalised and ADNOC may add more advisors to the deal, according to media reports. Fertiglobe is expected to be next in line for a listing after ADNOC completes the IPO of its drilling business, one of the sources said. Both the transactions, should they go ahead, will be subject to market conditions and regulatory approval.
