Russia's Port Alliance launches first ammonia handling facility in Ust-Luga

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 13 (Interfax) - JSC Port Alliance has launched Russia's first ammonia handling facility at the Port Favor terminal in Ust-Luga, Leningrad Region, formerly known as EuroChem Terminal Ust-Luga (ETU), an Interfax correspondent reported from the ceremony.

"We are opening the first ammonia transshipment terminal in Russia. It was previously transshipped through foreign ports, and we were cut off from the markets at a certain point. We plan to transship 1 million tonnes of ammonia in 2025 and 1.5 million tonnes of ammonia in 2026. [...] We have returned transshipment of ammonia to Russia. This is a big event for us and for the country," Port Alliance CEO Mikhail Kuznetsov said at the ceremony.

Ammonia is currently delivered to the terminal by tanker truck and it can handle 2,600 tonnes per day at this point. The terminal is expected to begin receiving cargo by train in May 2025, which will enable it to increase handling to 1 million tonnes of ammonia per year. In 2026, Port Favor expects to handle almost 1.5 million tonnes of ammonia.

The first process line of the fertilizer transshipment facility at Port Favor, with capacity to handle 9 million tonnes per year, is scheduled to go into operation in the fourth quarter of 2025. The terminal should reach full capacity of 14 million tonnes per year in the spring of 2026, Kuznetsov said.

Upon reaching design capacity, the terminal will be able to handle 350 freight cars per day, or more than 24,500 tonnes. Its berths will run a total length of more than 800 meters, enabling it to accommodate three bulk carriers simultaneously and thus load up to 200,000 tonnes in one ship call. The terminal will also have eight domed and two span roof warehouses with combined capacity to store 500,000 tonnes.

Investment in the project at Ust-Luga will total 80 billion rubles.

Russian fertilizer producer EuroChem planned to launch the transshipment complex in Ust-Luga back in 2015, but the project was delayed due to shoddy work on the berth construction. Subsequently, the project was suspended, in part due to the introduction of a ban on locating mineral fertilizer warehouses within 500 meters of the sea. Amendments were made to the Water Code in 2023 that lifted this restriction.

The design capacity of the terminal was doubled to 14 million tonnes from 7 million tonnes after the Baltic countries restricted access to their ports for Russian companies in 2022.

Port Alliance, founded in March 2024, took over management of the transport assets of EuroChem and Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK). In addition to Port Favor, they include JSC Murmansk Commercial Sea Port, Murmansk Bulk Terminal LLC, Tuapse Bulk Terminal LLC, Maly Port LLC (Nakhodka, Primorsk Territory), and JSC Daltransugol. These five facilities combined can 53 million tonnes of cargo per year. All of these companies were managed by National Transport Company until July 2024.