CF Industries Studies $700 Million Fertilizer Plant Expansion in Louisiana

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). CF Industries (Lake Zurich, Illinois) is considering the addition of a $700 million coke gasification to hydrogen unit addition at the company's nitrogenous fertilizer complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. This new unit will convert petroleum coke residues, obtained from regional refineries, to hydrogen, through an extraction process. CF Industries will use a portion of this hydrogen capacity for internal consumption at the Donaldsonville fertilizer plant, with the remaining product available to the merchant market.

Plans for this new unit are currently in the early conceptual stages and have no third party involvement to date. They hope to choose a venture partner next year, with approvals granted by the end of 2005. Construction is estimated to begin in late 2006 and be completed in early 2007.

The demand for hydrogen has increased significantly in recent years, primarily due to its use by petroleum refiners to produce ultra-low sulfur fuels. The production of hydrogen from petroleum coke not only supports the growing demand for hydrogen, but also provides another end use for petroleum coke stockpiles, which continue to build, since there are only a limited number of environmentally-friendly disposal options currently available.

CF Industries is one of the largest interregional cooperatives in North America providing nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers to over one million farmers and ranchers in 48 states and Canada. Making up one-fifth of the total North American nitrogen and phosphate market, CF Industries has the ability to provide more than 8 million tons of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers annually.

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