News
09/05/26
Brazil's Petrobras halts ops at 2 fertilizer units
Sao Paulo, 9 May (Argus) — Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras halted
fertilizer production at two of its recently-restarted units, the firm told
Argus . The Araucaria Nitrogenados (Ansa) unit, in southern Parana state, has
been halted since 30 April because of an "incident in the compressor room",
Petrobras told Argus . The company said that ammonia sales have continued as
usual and the timeframe for the fertilizer resumption "will be disclosed in due
course". Ansa's operations had started on the same day after being shut since
2020. Ansa has production capacity of 720,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr of urea,
475,000 t/yr of ammonia, and 450,000 m³/yr of Arla 32, a heavy vehicle
emissions-control product also known as AdBlue in Europe and DEF in the US.
Operations are also halted at the Fabrica de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados (Fafen)
unit, in northeastern Sergipe state, because a lack of power supply that damaged
the unit's operational system. The damage will require maintenance and Petrobras
expects operations to resume this month. Supplies were uninterrupted thanks to
"existing factory inventories", Petrobras said. The company also highlighted
that Brazil is in its offseason for urea purchases and that farmers are awaiting
developments in the war in the Middle East, meaning domestic demand is reduced.
Petrobras did not disclose for how long Fafen has been halted, but said that it
was "producing continuously" before the power supply issue. It was operating at
90pc of its maximum capacity in early March, which amounts to 1,800 t/d of urea,
Petrobras told Argus at that time. Fafen Sergipe restarted ammonia production on
31 December, marking the resumption of operations, Petrobras' chief executive
Magda Chambriard said on social media in early January. The unit can produce up
to 650,000 t/yr of urea, 450,000 t/yr of ammonia and 320,000 t/yr of ammonium
sulphate. Fafen Bahia Another Fafen unit, in northeastern Bahia state, recently
reduced output to enable maintenance in its pumping system, but production has
since increased. Petrobras did not disclose the unit's current production rate.
Petrobras estimates that the return of Fafen Bahia and Sergipe allowed the
company to meet approximately 10pc of Brazil's urea market in the first quarter
of 2026. All three units — Fafen Bahia, Fafen Sergipe and Ansa — went through
"periods of hibernation", Petrobras said, alluding to the units' long periods of
idleness. That led to degradation, the need for investment, and "as expected,
required maintenance to improve reliability and operational continuity",
Petrobras added. Petrobras halted activities at Ansa in 2020, following previous
plans announced in 2017, which consisted of fully exiting non-strategic sectors,
including fertilizers. Operations in Fafen Sergipe and Bahia had been idled
since March 2024, when both were managed by the Brazilian chemical company
Unigel. The decision to resume fertilizer operations is in line with Petrobras'
strategic plan and Brazil's government national fertilizer plan, which aims to
reduce the country's dependency on imports. Brazil consumed more than 49.1mn t
of fertilizer in 2025, of which 88pc was imported, according to national
fertilizer distributor's association Anda. By Renata Cardarelli Send comments
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