NFL's Vijaipur-II debottlenecking project:An update

Feb 8: NFL's capacity enhancement scheme for the ammonia and urea plants in Vijaipur-II -- an increase of a 23% -- seems to finally going ahead.
 8The price bids for the price bids for the S-50 converter and the Synthesis Waster Heat Boiler were opened in September, 2009 but the L-1 bidder was not finally invited.
 8Revised price bids were subsequently sought with revised bid conditions.
 8The revised bids were received in November, 2009 and the bids are under evaluation in Haldor Topsoe's office at present office at present.
 Urea revamp:
 8Effective date of contract with Saipem has been fixed as August 10, 2009.
 8Basic Engineering has been completed and detailed engineering and pre-order procurement activities of equipment are in progress.   Details

Poor coal quality continues to dog fertilizer companies

Feb 8: Poor quality coal continues to be the main headache of NFL units.
 8The coal received by the company seems to be dogged by high ash content and low NCV. The NCV has found to be as low as 3200 to 3500 cal/ gm as against an average NCV of around 4000 cal/ gm being received earlier.
 8The ash content of the coal is also high, in the range of 45- 55% against the desired range of 35-39%.
 8Besides, the coal continue to contain large boulders, stones, slate and other debris.
 8As a result of poor quality of coal, daily consumption of coal as well as the wear and tear of coal handling equipments have gone up. Erosion of tubes in boilers has increased significantly as well.
 Comment: Poor coal quality is a perennial complaint not just of NFL but also of other companies. An attempt to go for joint sampling was agreed upon by the coal ministry but Coal India Ltd found reasons to back out of the commitment. No immediate solution seems to be in sight.   Details

DAP brief

Feb 8: OCP Group's last shipment carrying 40,000 tonnes of DAP, against the current DAP contracts running through March, 2010, set sail this week on vessel AGAIL.
8This shipment is for Zuari and is to be discharged at Kandla.

Zuari takes new environmental initiatives under feed changeover project

Feb 7: 8Zuari Industries Limited (ZIL) is taking a slew of environment protection initiatives to comply with environmental clearance stipulations for for its feedstock changeover and ammonia revamp project in Goa.
8The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest had granted environmental approval to this Rs 300-crore project in September 2009.
8In its latest compliance status report, the company said it would phase out the use of arsenic from the carbon dioxide adsorption system in ammonia plant in March 2011 during the annual turnaround.
8Apart from changing the feedstock from naphtha to natural gas, the project provides for an increase in ammonia capacity to 346,500 tonnes per annum (tpa) from 220,000 tpa and urea capacity to 495,000 tpa from 376,200 tpa. It would ramp up NPK capacity to 1million tpa from 300,000 tpa.
8ZIL would also instal a hooter system for leak detection in the ammonia in plant premises during March 2010 turnaround.
8ZIL is procuring modern design burners with lower nitrous oxide emissions as a part of the ammonia revamp project. It is also redesigning scrubbers in the NPK complex fertiliser plants to improve their efficiency.
8The basic and detailed engineering of the Rs 300-crore project is currently under way. After completion of this study, the company would approach the concern authorities for necessary approvals. KBR of the US is the technical collaborator for the project
8In November 2009, the company submitted the risk assessment study for storage and handling of ammonia at the plant site.
Click on our Reports section to see compliance report and environmental approval.

NFL forays into wind power generation

Feb 7: 8National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) is seeking turnkey bids for construction, operation and maintenance of 15-20 megawatt wind power project.
8“The Company, with a view to diversifying its business and with a view to discharging its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has decided to enter into this green energy project.”
8The company would like to locate the project at a suitable site in any wind potential state. The project is to be completed by the prospective contractor within four months of the award of letter of intent.
8Companies find it profitable to enter the wind power generation business largely due to lucrative tax incentives, according to an analyst.
Click on our Reports section for more

Q-3 Results of two SSP producers

Feb 7: For references purposes, we carry in our reports section the latest quarterly results of two single superphosphate companies, Asian Fertilizers Ltd and Shiva fertilisers Ltd.
Click on our Reports section for more information.

SPIC bracing to restart urea plant

Feb 4: Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Limited (SPIC) is confident of restarting its urea plant after infusion of Rs 50 crore by the M.A Chidambaram (MAC) promoter group by subscribing to fully and compulsorily convertible preference shares (FCCPS).
  8This fund infusion, coupled with a debt restructuring proposal, is expected to enable the company to secure fresh credit from lenders to help fund the restart of urea plant that has been lying shut since 26 March 2007 due to a severe liquidity crunch.
  8SPIC is also in the midst of discussions with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on the prospects of resumption of supply of naphtha and fuel furnace oil to the urea plant.
  8The revival plan was indicated SPIC's shareholders whose approvals for the proposed FCCPS issue it would seek in their forthcoming extra general meeting (EGM) on 22 February.
  8In the explanatory statement to the EGM notice, SPIC has disclosed that the preferential allotment of FCCPS would be made to the MAC group company FICON holdings Limited of Mauritius.
  8The conversion of FCCPS into equity shares would increase FICON’s stake in SPIC to 28.66% from 14.73% of the equity capital. With this, the MAC group’s total stake in SPIC would rise to 46.02% from 39.24%.
  8The public sector co-promoter, Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation’s stake in the expanded equity base of SPIC would decline to 5.8% from 8.19%.
  8The largest lender to the SPIC, the Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Limited (ARCIL), would end up having a 10.94% stake in the company after the proposed conversion of Rs 30-crore debt into equity.
  Click our reports section to see the EGM notice.

RCF to pre-qualify turnkey bidders for Rs 4220-cr Thal expansion

Feb 4: Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (RCF) intends to pre-qualify prospective turnkey contractors for its Rs 4220-crore brownfield expansion project at Thal in Maharashtra.
  8The company will open globally invited pre-qualification bids from “competent ISO certified bidders” at Projects and Development India Limited’s (PDIL’s) corporate Office at Noida adjoining Delhi on February 25, 2010, according to RCF.
  8The project envisages setting up of one 2200 tonnes per day (tpd) ammonia unit and one 3500 tpd urea unit along with associated facilities such as power generation, offsite, utilities and product handling facilities.
   Click our reports section for details.

Ammonia leak: CIL suspends operation at Kakinada plant

Feb 3: 8Coromandel International Limited (CIL) has suspended the operation of its Kakinada fertilizer plant following a leakage of ammonia that resulted in the death of two employees.
8In a brief communication to the stock exchanges, CIL (formerly Coromandel Fertilisers Limited) said it “would be temporarily suspending its operations at the plant located at Kakinada,” with immediate effect.
8The company had yesterday informed stock exchanges about the accident. It stated that on 1st February late evening, liquid ammonia unloading from a ship at Kakinada jetty started.
8After initial stabilization at the ammonia sphere, when the changeover to the atmospheric tank was carried out by the operators through the change-over valve, there was apparently a sudden failure of flange gasket joint. This led to release of a pool of liquid ammonia.
8A CIL release said: “the leak was controlled by the fire crew of Coromandel and neighbouring units like Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Spectrum and the Government Fire Service Department.”
8The company has started investigating the cause of the accident.
8Apart from the death of two employees, reports from Kakinada indicated that the vaporization of the spill affected several persons at the site and in its vicinity. Many people rushed to the hospital for treatment.
8The company uses imported ammonia for production of diammonium phosphate (DAP) at Kakinada, where it also produces NPK fertilsers.
Click on our Reports section to see the CIL`s announcements.

Ammonia safety: Related primers

Feb 3: As ammonia safety has acquired added importance following the Coromandel accident, we are uploading a few enlightening documents on ammonia`s health risks and leakage handling in public interest.
8The Health Effects of Ammonia published by The Fertiliser Institute, the US,
8Guidance for Inspection of and Leak Detection in Liquid Ammonia Pipelines published by European Fertilizer Manufacturers’ Association.
8Fast Facts on Ammonia published by Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
8Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (including ammonia) published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)of the US.
Click on our Reports section to see documents.

PCL inducted under decontrolled fertilizer subsidy scheme

Feb 3: 8The Department of Fertilisers has included Kolkata-based The Phosphate Company Limited (PCL) as an importer in its concession scheme for decontrolled phosphatic and potassic fertilisers.
8In an office memorandum, the department said this inclusion has been done with immediate effect following scrutiny of the company’s representations.
Click on our Reports section to see the memo.

Dynamics of phosphatic market to come under lens at global meet

Feb 3: 8Multi-faceted challenges faced by different segments of the phosphatic industry are expected to discussed at the forthcoming global conference, dubbed Phosphates 2010. The conference will be held in Brussels during 22-24 March 2010.
8According to British Sulphur, the 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Phosphates is being organized with the participation of the International Fertilizer Industry Association. It is also endorsed by the Global Phosphate Forum and the International Feed Industry Federation.
8This is the only conference in the industry to cover all 3 major phosphates markets - fertilizers, industrial and feed. The programme will bring together representatives from the whole spectrum of the phosphate industry, including fertilizers, animal feeds and industrial uses, as well as mining, shipping and trading, and agronomic research and development.
For references purposes, we are carrying here the conference brochure.
Click on our Reports section for more information.