Group DF Rivneazot plant's key fertilizer production workshops now operating following repairs
MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Rivneazot, part of Dmitry Firtash's Group DF, has restarted its basic mineral fertilizer production workshops: an ammonia workshop, a non-concentrated nitric acid workshop and a workshop for the production of ammonium nitrate, Ukrainian media reported, citing a press release from Group DF International.
"Upon completion of the planned repair campaign, the plant was successfully restarted. It is safe to say that we have prepared for the new high season. (...) Products are being shipped to customers throughout the country. The enterprise is gaining momentum in proportion to growing demand. All our logistics capabilities are being used to the maximum," Chairman of the Board of Rivneazot Mikhail Zabluda said.
Operation of the gas synthesis preparation unit resumed and the ammonia synthesis unit was modernized during the spring-summer maintenance campaign at Rivneazot, the press release said.
The work was done as part of the Ostchem investment program (Ostchem is Group DF's nitrogen holding, which includes Rivneazot), which started two years ago and involved significant investments in the plant's fixed assets. The purpose of the investment is to optimize costs and energy losses, thereby improving the production cost of finished products.
The capacity of the launched ammonia line is 650 tonnes of ammonia per day, and 1,000 tonnes of non-concentrated nitric acid per day, the press release said. The ammonium nitrate workshop will operate based on the maximum load of the operating ammonia line, that is, it will produce at least 40,000 tonnes of nitrate per month.
It was previously reported that Ukrainian farmers increased their demand for nitrogen fertilizers at least 15% in May and June. Among the main factors affecting demand which are atypical for this period are rising grain prices and the emergence of additional resources for farmers to purchase fertilizers, lower prices for basic fertilizers, disruption of importers' supply chains, as well as the current situation in the Ukrainian electric power industry.
Plants in the Ostchem nitrogen holding produced 520,600 tonnes of mineral fertilizers in Q1 2024. Meanwhile, imports of fertilizers to Ukraine significantly exceeded local production.
Rivneazot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises in Western Ukraine. Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement in April 2024 on the construction of a chemical hub in Rivne. The project involves the construction of plants for the production of green ammonia and hydrogen based on renewable energy sources, as well as new plants for the production of nitrogen fertilizers and derivative chemical products.
Group DF consolidates Firtash's assets in the gas distribution, chemical, titanium and port industries, as well as in agriculture and media.
Ostchem unites the largest producers of mineral fertilizers in Ukraine. It includes Rivneazot, and Azot in Cherkassy.