{"id":553893,"date":"2026-03-21T00:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/553893\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T00:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:51:09","slug":"australias-top-fertiliser-input-plant-shuts-for-2-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/553893\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s top fertiliser input plant shuts for 2 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s largest ammonia plant will be shut for two months to repair damage caused by a power outage, amidst a global supply crunch for the vital fertiliser and explosives ingredient.<\/p>\n

More than a quarter of the world’s traded ammonia flows through the Strait of Hormuz, as do 43 per cent of urea shipments<\/a> – the fertiliser made from ammonia.<\/p>\n

That flow has been cut to a trickle since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, as have vital gas supplies, causing fertiliser plants in India to shut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yara’s Pilbara plant, which uses gas to produce 850,000 tonnes of ammonia a year, suffered a power outage last week, damaging equipment.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Norwegian company said workers and the environment were unaffected, and initial assessments indicated repairs could take about two months.<\/p>\n

“Yara well understands the importance of its products to customers and will work to bring the operations back online as soon as practical,” he said.<\/p>\n

An adjacent plant, half-owned by Australia’s Orica, uses 140,000 tonnes of the ammonia to make the explosive technical ammonium nitrate (TAN) for WA’s mining sector. <\/p>\n

The remaining ammonia is shipped to Australian and international customers, and much of it is used to make urea fertiliser.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Alcoa lied about jarrah forest rehabilitation: ad watchdog<\/p>\n

The Ad Standards decision has demolished a key plank of the US miner\u2019s expensive campaign to win public support for expanded mining in WA.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The shutdown could not have come at a worse time for Australia’s farmers, who last year imported 1.2 million tonnes<\/a> of urea in April and May for use before or shortly after seeding. Three-quarters came from the Gulf nations, where shipping is now severely curtailed after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.<\/p>\n

Mining relies on explosives<\/p>\n

Australia’s largest export could also be affected. <\/p>\n

For the next two months, WA’s iron ore miners no longer have 330,000 tonnes a year of TAN produced on their doorstep. The explosive is used in vast quantities to blast rock so it can be collected, crushed and shipped to port.<\/p>\n

The degree of disruption to production, if any, will depend on the stocks of TAN the miners hold and whether they can source other supplies at short notice.<\/p>\n

Wesfarmers subsidiary CSBP runs WA’s second-largest ammonia plant in Kwinana near Perth. CSBP uses Kwinana’s 255,000 tonnes a year output and additional imported ammonia to make ammonium nitrate for fertilisers and explosives.<\/p>\n

CSBP would not say if any of its imported ammonia came from Yara.<\/p>\n

“It is standard business practice for us to continually monitor and manage our supply chain to ensure we meet customer demand,” a company spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

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