State-owned fertilizer producer Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI) is exploring the possibility of building an ammonia export terminal for its 759,000 t/yr plant at Sungai Liang Industrial Park.
The plant currently feeds a 1.35mn t/yr granular urea unit, with minimal surplus capacity for ammonia exports. BFI has yet to indicate any plans to expand ammonia production capacity in order to facilitate future exports, but could export small volumes of ammonia during downstream maintenances.
Engineering firm Thyssenkrupp Uhde has been chosen to undertake a front-end engineering design study for the project, which will include a cryogenic ammonia storage tank, a dedicated ammonia export facility, jetty integration and a ship-loading system, all with the aim of allowing "large-scale exports to global markets", Thyssenkrupp said in a press release.
A timeline for the project was not provided.
BFI's integrated ammonia and urea unit came on line in 2021, ramping up to full capacity the following year. The producer typically exports 1-2 lots of 30,000 t/month of granular urea to global markets from Muara port. BFI also has a jetty at the Sungai Liang site from which it loads small cargoes of granular urea, typically up to 6,000t.
Trading activity for smaller 4,000-6,000t ammonia shipments has increased in east Asia over the past few years and any additional supply from Brunei could potentially deliver to import regions such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea.
