OCP GROUP, Moroccan phosphate and fertilizer giant, and the Government of Ethiopia have signed a Joint Development Agreement to implement a fertilizer project in Dire Dawa. The agreement was reached during a visit to Morocco led by Ato Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and a delegation of the country’s business leaders. The visit was used to discuss and reach an agreement to execute a Joint Development Agreement to establish an Ethiopian joint venture company for the implementation of a project that will establish a local fertilizer plant in Ethiopia. The agreement is based on Feasibility, Conceptual, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and hydro and geotechnical studies that have been conducted. According to the agreement an integrated fertilizer complex will be established in Dire Dawa, using local resources (Ethiopian gas and Moroccan phosphoric acid). The project will have an initial estimated investment of approximately US$2.4 billion during the first phase to develop a 2.5 million t fertilizer production unit, combining urea and NPK/NPS products, and which could reach a production capacity of 3.8 million tpy, for a total investment of up to US$3.7 billion during the second phase.
EVOQUA WATER TECHNOLOGIES and OSTARA NUTRIENT RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES have announced the inking of an exclusive agreement, under which both companies will collaborate by combining Evoqua’s water and wastewater treatment solutions with Ostara’s process solutions for nutrient recovery to help municipalities recover nutrients and convert them into fertilizers. Under the agreement, Evoqua will lead the sales and implementation of Ostara’s nutrient recovery solutions into the North America and Western Europe municipal markets. Evoqua’s project delivery resources provide additional strength to further accelerate the growing adoption of nutrient recovery solutions to mitigate the excessive richness of nutrients in lakes and other bodies of water. Nutrient recovery solutions such as these can convert the excessive nutrient loads into a usable, beneficial product. “Ostara’s industry-leading technology for nutrient recovery is a natural fit with Evoqua’s extensive wastewater treatment portfolio,” said Hervé Fages, Evoqua’s Executive Vice President and President of the Applied Product Technologies Segment.
NUTRIEN, a Canadian fertilizer company and the wold’s largest producer of potash and the third largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer, has published a report forecasting the future fertilizer demand. According to the report, the global demand for nitrogen fertilizers in the current year will increase by about 3% due to the influence of strong fundamental factors in the agriculture of the planet. Nevertheless, there are may appear problems with the supply of nitrogen fertilizers due to the delays in their production and the implementation of projects, which together with high energy costs support prices. The Nutrien report also says that high prices for carbamide in the global market and strong demand led to an increase in its supplies from China by over 40% in the first half of 2021. However, China’s authorities appealed to national chemical companies to prioritize the domestic market, which may drop exports from China by the end of 2021.
