Acron unable to buy fertilizer plant in Brazil from Petrobras

MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Acron and Petrobras were unable to close a deal on the sale of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Unit III (UFN-III) fertilizer plant under construction in southwestern Brazil, the seller said.

The deal, which was announced in early February, did not received the approvals required by authorities to proceed with the sale process, Petrobras said.

Petrobras and Akron began exclusive negotiations for two fertilizer plants, Araucaria Nitrogenados SA (Ansa) and UFN-III, back in spring of 2018. In late 2019, however, the Brazilian company said it had ended negotiations with Acron without a deal. In February 2020, Petrobras resumed its search for a buyer for UFN-III.

Acron had previously reached a deal with Bolivia's YPFB to supply gas to that plant. The parties entered into a framework agreement, but the contract was not signed. The agreements reached provided for the supply of gas to UFN-III starting from 2023 for a period of 20 years, as well as the creation of a joint venture to sell urea from this plant and the Bolivian plant in Bulo Bulo, the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons said. YPFB was to receive a 12% stake in the Brazilian plant with an option to increase its stake to 30%.

UFN-III is a plant under construction in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil's southwest with a design capacity of 3,600 tonnes of urea and 2,200 tonnes of ammonia per day. Implementation of the project began in 2011, but was subsequently frozen. The plant is currently 80% ready and a new investor is to complete the construction. The urea technology licensor is Stamicarbon, while the ammonia licensor is KBR.