Pakistan's urea fertilizer production issues maybe a global precursor of the future

Date:03-01-2012


BioNitrogen Corp., a developer of revolutionary patent-pending technology for converting renewable and abundant biomass waste into high-nitrogen urea and urea fertilizer is watching the developments in Pakistan and India with interest as both countries continue to work on managing their national food supplies and fertilizer production processes.

In Pakistan and India, food production and producing enough to keep both nations fed is a fierce topic of continuous debate. But with populations approaching 1,350,000,000 people, it's not just about having enough to go around, but making sure that what farmers produce makes it to market on time and, most importantly, it allows a reasonable rate of return. Thus the importance of managing all aspects of the entire food production cycle which includes the manufacturing of nitrogen based urea fertilizer.

As many of the governments around the world have learned during the past few decades, nitrogen based Urea Fertilizer production facilities are costly to build, require years to construct, and often require considerable resources to maintain.

In what may become a precursor of things to come in the Urea Fertilizer Industry, local fertilizer manufacturing plants in Pakistan were forced to shut last year for over six months. These shutdowns resulted in critical shortages of fertilizer which subsequently sent the costs of fertilizer rising one-hundred forty one (141) per cent in just 2 years.
Industry officials sighted the country's gas load management plan as a key component of the shutdowns. The urea production shutdowns were the result of natural gas shortages which severely hampered the manufacturing of urea thus dealing a severe blow to Country's Agriculture Sector which many believe is the backbone of the entire economy. In neighboring India, there are discussions that Urea prices will be linked directly to gas prices which would increase pressure on the farmers of India to maintain economic stability in the face of rising fertilizer prices.

Industry data and global production data charts for nitrogen based urea fertilizer, often correlate the price of nitrogen fertilizers is directly related to the price of natural gas (methane). Manufacturing one ton of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer requires 33,500 cubic feet of natural gas. In other words, natural gas is used to produce fertilizer which is used to grow crops. This relationship also has a direct impact on not just the agriculture economies of the world, but also the production of wheat, the main food staple in many countries throughout the world, which also plays a strong role in producing the feed for millions of livestock in not just Pakistan but Countries around the world.

What interests Dr. Terry R. Collins, the CEO of BioNitrogen, is the news accounts coming out of Pakistan often state for the record "It is a matter of fact that there is no alternative of gas for urea manufacturers as urea manufacturing process cannot be completed without gas supply." Dr. Collins offers this perspective, "There is in fact a viable alternative to using natural gas to produce to nitrogen based urea. BioNitrogen has developed a patent-pending process which specializes in the conversion of renewable agricultural waste biomass into urea fertilizer. Our small-format production facilities are designed for implementation in local farm communities, close to their required feedstock and abundant biomass."

Adds Dr. Mario Beruvides, BioNitrogen's CTO, "BioNitrogen is excited about introducing ourselves to the world as an extremely cost-effective and ecologically friendly alternative for producing extremely high quality nitrogen based urea fertilizer. If Pakistan were using our production methods and facilities, there likely would have been no closures in their country and no economic impact. This is part of BioNitrogen's corporate mandates of not only producing urea fertilizer, but we're absolutely committed to protecting the environment and contributing to local economic development while helping to feed to our planet."

As he continued to reflect on the events in India and Pakistan, Dr. Collins concluded, "Compared to traditional urea manufacturing facilities that use natural gas as a feedstock, our BioNitrogen plants will be much smaller and can be constructed and brought online for production much more quickly. Additionally, our design is far less expensive to build and maintain which is so important to all countries including India and Pakistan. The BioNitrogen plant designs are well suited for any location where there is as an adequate supply of biomass available. This flexibility allows the company to pursue expansion into numerous parts of the world."