A major ammonia and urea fertilizer production plant near Edmonton will be shut down until Nov. 20 for repairs on a failed waste heat boiler.
Agrium’s Redwater 2 plant at Redwater, about 45 km northeast of Edmonton, was shut down Oct. 15 due to the boiler failure, the company said in a release Thursday.
“Reduced ammonia availability” from Redwater is also expected to lead to a lower operating rate at Redwater’s phosphate plant during the company’s fourth fiscal quarter, Agrium said.
Redwater 2, one of six N fertilizer plants Agrium operates in the province, has capacity to make 680,000 tonnes of gross ammonia, 250,000 of net ammonia, 720,000 tonnes of urea, 180,000 of nitrogen solutions, 250,000 tonnes of industrial ammonium nitrate and 355,000 tonnes of ammonium sulphate.
Read Also
Saskatchewan harvest lags behind
At 12 per cent complete as of Aug. 25, harvest progress in Saskatchewan was well behind the five-year average of 25 per cent finished, the provincial agriculture department reported. Rain and thunderstorms hampered harvesting in some areas of Saskatchewan.
The Redwater 2 facility was previously taken offline for about a month this summer due to an “issue” with the plant’s heat exchanger that turned up in late May.
Agrium announced in June it would postpone previously-planned expansion work for the Redwater N plant, citing other companies’ similar projects and the uncertainty of long-term natural gas costs. — AGCanada.com Network
Related story:
Agrium suspends nitrogen projects as rivals race to build, June 4, 2013
