IFA Asia '10: Fauji plant shutdown may last longer than expected

10 November 2010 08:48  [Source: ICIS news]

HANOI (ICIS)--A proposed planned maintenance shutdown at Fauji Fertilizer Company’s Port Qasim fertilizer plant in Pakistan in the first quarter of 2011 could last longer than expected due to anticipated problems over gas supply, a company official said on Wednesday.

Speaking from the sidelines of the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) Asia Pacific Crossroads conference at Hanoi in Vietnam, Asad Sultan Chaudhary said that a normal shutdown at the plant’s diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant, which would normally last 20 to 25 days, may last longer as the government had written to numerous factories warning of potential cuts to gas supply.

Gas supply in Pakistan is very tight and during the winter months, from December to February, supply is switched from some industries to power generation and domestic cooking and heating.

The Port Qasim plant produces 650,000 tonnes/year of DAP and 550,000 tonnes/year of urea, group general manager of marketing Chaudhary said.

He added that production economics made it more likely that urea would be more affected than DAP.

“Our estimated urea production for 2010 is already below forecast [due to gas supply issues],” Chaudhary said. “At one stage we had contemplated exporting urea but this now looks unlikely.”

Looking at the demand and supply scenarios for 2011, Chaudhary said he expected the market to be more in balance, with 6.5m tonnes of urea produced, and roughly about the same amount consumed.

The consequence of this would be that, in order to maintain buffer stocks, more imports of urea would be needed.

The IFA Asia Pacific Crossroads conference is being held in Hanoi from 8 November until 10 November.

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By: Mike Nash
+44 20 8652 3214

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