UPDATED: 10/03/2017 — see Change Log

OWNER: None, yet
PROJECT: Greenfield urea plant[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

COST (reported): $1.2 billion
JOB CREATION (reported): 350 permanent, 1,200 construction
START-UP DATE (reported): None given

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		None given	[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] No capacity data announced yet. [3] [Membership required]. No air permit yet. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology.

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SUMMARY STATUS: Concept phase
A regional economic development proposal, seeking an investor. The municipality of Chatham-Kent spent significant time and money trying to encourage a company to build a new fertilizer plant in this location but, despite being in development since 2013, there is nothing to show for their effort. No schedule for future announcements.

COST: $1.2 billion announced, likely much higher
JOB CREATION: 350 permanent, 1,200 construction
START-UP DATE: 2022 earliest estimate; project has no schedule yet
LIKELIHOOD: Unlikely — see Methodology

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		none given		800,000 mtpy
Urea		none given		1,000,000 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] No capacity data announced yet. [3] No air permit yet. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year assuming operations for 365 days per year; capacities given are estimates, based on conversations with project developers. See Methodology.

FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Ammonia, Urea

RESEARCH NOTES:
The economic development office of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, tried to attract investors to build a new nitrogen fertilizer plant near Wallaceburg. In mid-2015, four companies were reported to be interested: two from China, one from Canada, and one from the Middle East, with local attention focused on one of the Chinese companies.

Nothing appears to have happened during the last two years.

The mayor and staff had been touring the globe to meet with potential investors, for this and for other projects (even opening an economic development branch office in Beijing), and were reported to be “quite a ways down the road” with some of them.

In November 2013, the municipality started the process of rezoning and changing its Official Plan, which “prohibits the operation of chemical plants.” In February 2015, Chatham-Kent spent $3.6 million to buy the railway line that served the proposed site, near Wallaceburg, in order that the site would retain its logistical advantage (the line might otherwise have been dismantled). The unidentified Canadian company had made at least two offers to buy this railway line, but the terms of these offers were not acceptable to the municipality.

The exact site for the plant was not disclosed but the municipality felt strongly that its location, on the Wallaceburg-Dresden section of the former CSX line, was advantageous for a nitrogen fertilizer plant, primarily because of its proximity to Union Gas’s Dawn Hub and natural gas pipelines. (In related news, the mayor shared IFFCO‘s concern about TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline project, which could have significantly affected the availability – and price – of natural gas across the region).

Council documents listed the site’s additional benefits: “the entire logistics infrastructure – rail, road and water. The ability to access many shipping ports for global markets and the geographic proximity to the US mid-west … Excellent infrastructure in water, wastewater systems and electricity.” CF Industries’ Courtright plant shares these advantages, from just a few miles upstream.

Until a company commits to build the plant and specifies its design, this project will lack anything more precise than roughly estimated capacities or end products. The municipality’s initial plans estimated an ammonia capacity of 800,000 to 1,000,000 metric tons per year, most of which would be upgraded to urea. Additionally, “80 per cent of the proposed fertilizer production would be for the export market.”[/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: Near Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada

WEBSITE: No website yet

REGULATORY SOURCES:

• USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]

NEWS SOURCES:

• 01/26/2016: Wallaceburg Courier Press: Chatham-Kent still seeking rail line operator [LINK]
• 07/15/2015: The Chatham Voice: Lambton fertilizer plant expansion won’t affect C-K/China talks [LINK]
• 02/27/2015: Sydenham Current: Council spending $3.6M to purchase rail line [LINK]
• 02/19/2015: Chatham-Kent Council memo: WDC Rail – Update [PDF]
• 02/04/2015: Chatham This Week: China trip leads to more business talks in the spring [LINK]
• 11/17/2014: Chatham Daily News: New C-K council discuss jobs, investment during strategy session [LINK]
• 02/14/2014: Wallaceburg Courier Press: Fertilizer plant possible for Wallaceburg area [LINK]
• 11/26/2013: Chatham-Kent Council memo: Planning process to introduce Nitrogen-Based Fertilizer production and related uses into the Chatham-Kent Official Plan and Zoning By-Law [PDF]