THE ECHO - Ferrostaal

30 THE ECHO August 2007
31
ProjECtS
Products and Markets
Distillation columns of a methanol plant
The demand for fertilisers is developing disproportionately
to the growth in population. The faster the population
grows (currently approximately 1% per year), the greater the
demand for food and the more that has to be grown. On top
of this, there is the increasing prosperity that, in many
countries, leads to an increased consumption of meat and
so to more intensive cultivation of feed crops. The rule of
thumb here is that the consumption of meat takes ten times
as many plants for feeding the animals as the consumption
of a vegetarian diet. Both these developments taken together
result in a sharp rise in the demand for fertilisers. In many
countries, the effect of state support for the production of
biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol is also an increase
in demand in the fertiliser market.
UAN currently has a share of about 15% of the market for nitrogen
fertilisers. The reason why the share is still relatively
small is that UAN is a liquid and, in most cases, can therefore
only be applied where irrigation systems already exist.
Urea, on the other hand, an intermediate product of the
plant and also a fertiliser, is a solid and can be applied without
an irrigation system. In the long term, it may be anticipated
that the market share of UAN will grow as the modernisation
of agricultural production processes in emerging
and developing countries increases, for liquid fertilisers can
also be mixed with other substances, such as pesticides,
thus reducing the number of applications required. Climate
change is also leading to an increase in the use of irrigation
systems, as many areas are suffering from reduced rainfall
in the summer.
Over three-quarters of the worldwide production of UAN (16
million tonnes per year) are sold in the USA and France. The
largest buyer is the USA. But the demand from Australia and
Argentina is currently growing very quickly, even if from a
low base level. The largest exporter of UAN is Russia. There,
the gas price has up to now been relatively low, so the manufacture
of UAN is cheap. In the USA itself, the supply can
be expected to fall in the years to come. Some of the production
plants are being closed due to their age, and the construction
of new plants is unlikely because of the high
price of gas. Part of this gap is to be filled by the new plant
in Trinidad.
ProjECtS
Versatile in use
Melamine resins are resistant to UV light, fire, water, impact
and scratches and are therefore suitable for a wide range of
surface finishes. Melamine resins are important for the
wood and furniture industry. In the production of laminate
flooring, for example, the actual floor surface is melamine
resin. It is also frequently used in the wood industry as an
adhesive. Melamine resins also have high electrical resistance,
so they are used as insulating elements in the electrical
industry. The textile industry also makes use of resins to
make textiles resistant to water and creasing. In the automobile
industry, the resistance of melamine to water, scratches
and impacts is valued, especially in the paints sector.
Melamine is used for surface finishing.
The demand for melamine is currently a little over a million
tonnes per year and is rising, on average, at an annual
rate of about six per cent. Against this background, the demand
is expected to double by the year 2020. The plant in
Trinidad is intended to serve both the US American and the
European markets. For the US market, melamine from
Trinidad is attractive because US production plants have
had to be closed because of the high price of natural gas.
The low manufacturing costs in Trinidad also make the
product interesting for the European market. Neither does
the construction of new melamine plants in China (some
on the basis of a licence from Eurotecnica), the United Arab
Emirates or Qatar make much difference here. While the
gas prices are also low there, export from Asia or the Near
East is less attractive because of the high transport costs.