Yara eyes the US, but no site announcement

The US is an obvious location for new ammonia production, said Yara chief executive Svein Tore Holsether. But the Norwegian fertiliser producer is not making any announcements yet.

Holsether admits his company has had offers to relocate to the US due to Europe's high energy prices.

"We already have ammonia production in Freeport, Texas. We are evaluating further production opportunities in the US through Yara Clean Ammonia. But we're not yet at a point where we are announcing a specific investment with a location", said Holsether.

"It would be a natural place. I see this happening in our industry. Look at announcements on where new ammonia production is being considered. For sure it's the US. That's a direct result of the incentives [Inflation Reduction Act] being put in place to build this industry", Holsether told Argus.

Earlier in January, Yara announced plans to modify ammonia terminals in Germany to enable imports of up to 3mn t, equating to some 530,000 t of hydrogen.

Yara has also lobbied the EU to remove bureaucratic hurdles hindering expansion of renewables. And the firm has joined other industries in criticising "unnecessary complexities" to certify green hydrogen in the forthcoming delegated act on renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs).

"We're the world's largest ammonia trader. And we have 12 ammonia ships, terminals and production across the world. We've been using that flexibility to bring ammonia in to compensate. Our organisation has been able to maintain production at a much higher level. We've tested our production model to the extreme", he said.

Holsether wants a massive buildup of renewables. "It's not happening fast enough. Too much bureaucracy, red tape. We have to be prepared for a situation where we need to bring in hydrogen from the outside. Here Yara can play a role using ammonia as the hydrogen carrier", he said.

"Hydrogen is only an energy carrier. We need massive amounts of renewable energy to produce hydrogen", Holsether added, pointing to Norway as the "natural place" for that to happen thanks to hydropower. "But it is not happening fast enough", he said.

Holsether noted that the energy situation in Europe is currently much better than expected. "A lot of this is down to weather", he said. But he sees a "good response", from industry and households, to reduce consumption as well as new routes bringing natural gas into Europe.

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