UPDATED: 06/17/2014 — see Change Log

OWNER: Invista (Koch Industries)
PROJECT: Brownfield 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): $600 million
JOB CREATION (reported): 15 to 25 permanent, 400+ construction
START-UP DATE (reported): None (“on hold”)

AMMONIA CAPACITY	REPORTED	ADJUSTED *
New	400,000 short tons per year	[Membership required]
* Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons assuming 365 days per year — see Methodology).

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SUMMARY STATUS: Abandoned
Invista cancelled this project because it saw no benefit to producing its own ammonia instead of buying it on the open market. Apparently they expect the price of ammonia to fall when the other new plants start up.

COST: $600 million
JOB CREATION: 15 to 25 permanent, 400+ construction
START-UP DATE: None (originally 2017, now “on hold”)
LIKELIHOOD: Dead — see Methodology

AMMONIA CAPACITY	REPORTED	ADJUSTED *
New	400,000 short tons per year	389,556 metric tons per year
* Reported Capacity is in short tons, assumed to be based on 340 days per year (unconfirmed). Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons assuming 365 days per year — see Methodology).

FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Nylon, Acrylonitrile

RESEARCH NOTES:
In January 2014, a local newspaper reported that this project had been cancelled; Invista issued no press release.

In September 2013, Invista announced that it was considering building a combined hydrogen and ammonia unit at its plant in Victoria, Texas (the original press release no longer appears on Invista’s website). A few days later, it filed an air permit application with the EPA. The proposed unit would have been able to produce hydrogen independently from ammonia, which Invista believed would be “highly unique” and the first of its kind in the US.

It seems that Invista cancelled this investment because it expects the price of ammonia to fall in the coming years (as a Koch Industries subsidiary, I expect them to have a pretty good ability to forecast ammonia market trends). This plant was therefore an unnecessary expense: they anticipate that “Improved ammonia pricing – whether made by us or purchased on the open market – achieves the same goal of making Invista Victoria more competitive.”

According to Invista’s original plans, construction could have begun in the first quarter of 2015 for start-up in in the first quarter of 2017. The air permit application estimated the total project cost as $600 million. The unit’s ammonia capacity was to be “in excess of” 400,000 tons per year. The Victoria facility currently purchases ammonia as feedstock for its “nylon intermediates” chemical manufacturing process; this new unit would have made it self-sufficient in hydrogen and ammonia (more than: some marketable hydrogen might have been left over).[/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: 2695 Old Bloomington Road North, Victoria, Texas 77905, United States
WEBSITE: http://www.invista.com/

SOURCES:

• 01/31/2014: Victoria Advocate local news story: Invista puts $500M project on hold [LINK]
• ONGOING: US EPA air permit documents: Texas [LINK (scroll down)]
• 09/17/2013: US EPA documents: Invista Victoria Plant Greenhouse Gas Prevention of Significant Deterioration Permit Application [PDF]
• 09/12/2013: Invista press release: Invista considers $500 million investment in Victoria, Texas [LINK (broken) / LINK (archived)]