Norwegian chemical and fertiliser company Yara has announced the postponement of the partial sale of its Yara Clean Ammonia subsidiary.
On its annual capital markets day, the company revealed that the sale of a minority shareholding in the clean ammonia business had been postponed as the portfolio’s attractiveness “surpasses its project valuation”. The company added that “major capital outlays” are slated for 2025 and beyond.
“Yara Clean Ammonia is uniquely positioned for growth,” said Yara CEO and president Svein Tore Holsether, speaking on the company’s capital markets day. “Today it is the number one global midstream player in the ammonia market, and this gives it a competitive advantage in developing profitable upstream growth, creating demand pull from new applications and integrating the value chain to scale up the clean ammonia business.”
In the capital markets report, Yara reaffirmed its aim of being a world leader in green, blue and grey ammonia. The revelation of the portfolio’s value comes after last week’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing with Bunker Holdings. The MoU will see the two companies collaborate on the proliferation of green ammonia as a shipping fuel.
The company will also set up a new blue hydrogen plant in the US at one of two locations it is yet to decide on. The prospective large-scale plant will capitalise on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US, which awards subsidies and tax credits to renewable industries that set up operations in the country.
Holsether commented on the prospective plant: “The Inflation Reduction Act makes the US a highly attractive location to produce decarbonised ammonia. Exporting this decarbonised ammonia from US to the European market, matched with the flexibility of Yara’s European production assets, enables cost effective decarbonisation of fertiliser production.”
The company added in the capital markets presentation that grey ammonia would “remain key” in ensuring the continuation of the company’s ammonia supply to various markets, as blue and green ammonia is not yet competitive with the production cost of the dirty chemical.
