Fertz major Nutrien confirms Trinidad plant idled, other unit still down

LONDON (ICIS)–Fertz giant Nutrien late on Tuesday confirmed an indefinitely idled 600,000 tonne/year ammonia plant in Trinidad is already offline, while an identical-sized unit shut down in May will not restart until prices improve.

The Canadian major said it may enter the spot market in future to cover contract commitments should the need arise.

Two similar-sized ammonia plants and an associated 680,000 tonne/year urea facility at the same Point Lisas coastal complex will continue to operate at “maximum capacity”.

In a statement released earlier in the day, Trinidad’s largest ammonia producer revealed the “suspension of operations is in response to market conditions and lower global prices for ammonia”.

The shuttering of one of the firm’s four ammonia units on the Caribbean island will reduce its workforce by 15%, although no actual figure for the lost headcount was provided.

“These changes will enable the facility to operate more efficiently, competitively and sustainably into the future,” Nutrien added.

“We are optimising to ensure we support our customers and there are no changes to existing supplier contractual agreements.”

Nutrien’s announcement came as a 500,000 tonne/year ammonia unit operated by Trinidad Nitrogen Company Limited (Tringen) prepares to undergo a temporary maintenance stop of at least 21-28 days.

That unit, a joint venture involving National Enterprises Limited (NEL) and Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara, will be shut down by the end of this month.

Global ammonia prices have been depressed throughout 2020 due to fundamental overcapacity, compounded by reduced industrial demand from chemicals manufacturers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, the cost of natural gas in Trinidad is high compared to other key producing nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia, Ukraine, and the US.

At the end of 2019, Yara permanently shut its 270,000 tonne/year wholly-owned unit at Point Lisas after talks on a new gas supply contract failed.

According to data from Trinidad’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Nutrien produced around 922,000 tonnes in January-July 2020, of which just over two-thirds was exported.

In 2019, the republic’s (then) 11 plants produced around 5.5m tonnes of the nitrogen fertilizer, of which 90% was exported via marine vessel to buyers across the Americas, Asia Pacific, north Africa and northwest Europe.