UPDATED: 02/06/2018 — see Change Log

OWNER: Nutrien, formerly Agrium
PROJECT: Ammonia plant[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

COST (reported): None given
JOB CREATION (reported): 30+ permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE (reported): 1987

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		473,708 mtpy	[Membership required]	[Membership required]
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Nutrien Fact Book 2018. Sources linked below. [3] [Membership required]. Sources: linked below. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology.

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SUMMARY STATUS:
The Joffre plant, in operation since 1987, is the only remaining ammonia plant in Canada to use industrial byproduct hydrogen as feedstock. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a “merger of equals” between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.

COST: C$80 million in 1985
JOB CREATION: 30+ permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE: 1987

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		473,708 mtpy		473,708 mtpy
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Nutrien Fact Book 2018. Sources linked below. [3] No capacity data in available permit documents. Sources: linked below. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year; based on Nutrien’s data. See Methodology.

FEEDSTOCK: Hydrogen, industrial byproduct
END PRODUCTS: Ammonia

RESEARCH NOTES:
In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a “merger of equals” between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.

The Joffre plant, near Red Deer, was for many years the only ammonia plant in North America to use byproduct hydrogen as a feedstock, although it also uses natural gas as a fuel. OCI’s restarted methanol-ammonia plant in Beaumont, TX, also utilizes byproduct hydrogen (from the methanol process).

Other hydrogen feedstock ammonia plants are now under construction or in development by Yara/BASF at Freeport, TX, by Agrifos/Borealis on the Gulf Coast, TX, and by Pallas Nitrogen at Pasadena, TX.

Hydrogen is delivered by pipeline from nearby petrochemical plants, including NOVA Chemical’s Joffre plant, where it is a byproduct of NOVA’s ethylene production process. The ammonia plant was originally expected to consume hydrogen feedstock at a rate of “768 million cubic metres” per year.

Anhydrous ammonia leaves the plant in a 19-kilometer pipeline, which takes it to Agrium’s terminal at Chigwell, where it is distributed by truck and rail.

The plant began operations in 1987, as a partnership between Cominco and Alberta Energy Co Ltd, with a design capacity of 350,000 mpty. Cominco (originally called Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co of Canada Ltd) renamed itself Agrium in 1993. [/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: Joffre Petrochemical Complex, Red Deer, Alberta, T4N 5G6, Canada

WEBSITE: https://www.nutrien.com

REGULATORY SOURCES:

• USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]
• Alberta Environmental Authorization: permit document search [LINK / PDF]
• US Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory filings: EDGAR Search Results, Agrium Inc., CIK#: 0000943003 [LINK]

NEWS SOURCES:

• 01/02/2018: Nutrien press release: Agrium and PotashCorp Merger Completed Forming Nutrien, a Leader in Global Agriculture [LINK]
• 01/2018: Nutrien Fact Book 2018 [PDF]
• 09/12/2016: Agrium / PotashCorp merger presentation: Creation of a World-Class Integrated Global Supplier of Crop Inputs [PDF]
• 09/12/2016: Agrium press release: Agrium and PotashCorp to Combine in Merger of Equals to Create a World-Class Integrated Global Supplier of Crop Inputs [LINK]
• 2015: Agrium Fact Book 2014-2015 [PDF]
• June 2015: Agrium Brochure: Joffre [PDF]
• 11/01/1985: Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board minutes: Industrial Development Permit decision (archive) [LINK]