Petrobras to build R2.4bn fertilizers plant in Brazil

21 March 2011 18:35  [Source: ICIS news]

SAO PAULO (ICIS)--Brazil’s energy giant Petrobras will invest Brazilian reais (R) R2.4bn ($1.5bn) in a new fertilizers plant to reduce the country’s dependence on the product, the company said on Monday. 

The plant will be built in Uberaba in the state of Minas Gerais and should have a production capacity of 519,000 tonnes/year of ammonia using natural gas as feedstock, the company said.

According to Petrobras, the new unit will help Brazil become self sufficient in the production of fertilizers and a possible exporter in the future.

The construction of the plant is scheduled to start in February 2012 and production could begin by 2014.

Output would be sent to the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Goias and Sao Paulo, the company added. 

Petrobras currently operates two fertilizers plants in the states of Sergipe and Bahia, where it produced 223,000 tonnes of ammonia and 758,000 tonnes of urea in 2010, respectively.

Brazil presently imports 60% of its fertilizer needs.

($1 = R1.66)

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By: Hellen Berger
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