Yara and BASF have announced from Oslo the two nutrient giants are exploring a joint venture in the United States. Few details are available at this point, but the plans include a world scale ammonia production facility located on the Gulf coast.
The parties are still kicking the idea around, and details like production capacity, construction logistics and the exact location are still yet to be determined. The move is one among many nitrogen projects aimed at capitalizing on low cost natural gas which is projected in the 4 dollar range for 2014 by EIA, and high end-user demand.
The United States already has a handful of domestic nitrogen projects underway including the Iowa Fertilizer Company, the Midwest Fertilizer Corporation in Posey County Indiana, Northern Plains Nitrogen and other expansions. These projects are expected to cut nitrogen imports by over half and the addition of a BASF and Yara joint venture will push the U.S. ever closer to nitrogen independence.
We will keep you posted on all the details but the addition of these world players will give U.S. nitrogen production a shot in the arm.
