MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yara International and BASF has broken ground on a world-scale ammonia plant at the BASF site in Freeport, Texas, said BASF on its site.
Total capital investment for the plant - which is expected to come online in 2017 - is estimated at USD600 million.
As part of the project, Yara will build an ammonia tank at the BASF terminal, while BASF will upgrade its current terminal and pipeline assets for the export of ammonia from the new plant.
"I am very pleased to be here today, initiating the construction of an important investment for Yara – alongside our partners at BASF. The building of the Freeport Ammonia plant is a firm demonstration of how we deliver on our growth strategy," said Torgeir Kvidal, president and CEO of Yara.
The plant will have a capacity of about 750,000 tpy and will be owned 68% by Yara and 32% by BASF. Each party will off-take ammonia from the plant in accordance with its equity share.
BASF will use its share of ammonia from the plant to produce caprolactam, a key ingredient in the manufacture of nylons for carpet, textiles, film, monofilaments, and wire and cable. Yara will market the remainder mostly to industrial customers in North America, in addition to supplying the agricultural sector.
"BASF is in a period of significant investment in North America," said Wayne T. Smith, CEO of BASF. "Through the joint investment with Yara, we can take advantage of world-scale production economics and the attractive raw material costs in the US; strengthening our operations in Freeport and the competitiveness of our customer value chain in the region."
As MRC reported earlier, in june 2014, BASF undertook three key capacity expansion projects for performance materials at its Pudong site in Shanghai (China). The capacity expansion projects includes Ultramid (polyamide, PA), Ultradur (polybutylene terephthalate, PBT), Elastollan thermoplastics polyurethane elastomers (TPU), and Technical Center and capacity expansion of Cellasto (microcellular polyurethane components).
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC