IFA 2018: New NPK fertilizer plant in Taiwan on target for 2020 launch

BERLIN (ICIS)–Taiwan Fertilizer Company’s (TFC) new 170,000-tonne/year nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium (NPK) plant could debut earlier in 2020 than originally planned, a company source disclosed on Tuesday.

The $60m facility at the port city of Taichung was expected to come onstream in late 2020, but could produce its first crop nutrient tonnes several months earlier, the person with knowledge of the matter revealed on the sidelines of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) annual conference in Germany.

“Our initial target for start-up was Q4 2020, but we now hope it could start in Q2 2020, or certainly by Q3 2020 at the latest,” the source disclosed.

Construction of the unit, which will help satisfy increasing domestic demand and requirements from overseas customers, is well underway on a site adjacent to TFC’s three existing 170,000-tonne/year NPK plants.

Once commissioned, the facility will boost the producer’s total NPK capacity to 680,000 tonnes/year from the current 510,000 tonnes/year.