Togliattiazot boosts production of urea 1.8-fold, ammonia 13% in 2023

SAMARA. June 28 (Interfax) - JSC Togliattiazot (TOAZ) ramped up production of urea 1.8-fold year-on-year to 1.64 million tonnes in 2023, the company said in a report.

Ammonia production increased 13.4% year-on-year to 1.601 million tonnes in 2023. The production of urea-formaldehyde concentrate (UFC) grew 1.7-fold year-on-year to 63,700 tonnes, while output of ammonia water dropped 40% year-on-year to 21,200 tonnes.

TOAZ produced 913,000 tonnes of urea and 3.051 million tonnes of ammonia in 2021. The year's figure for ammonia production was a record for the entire operation of the plant and was the second highest figure for urea output following production of 915,000 tonnes in 1990. The figures for 2022 have not been disclosed in due time.

TOAZ reported that urea unit No. 3, with capacity of 2,200 tonnes per day, was launched in December last year. An ammonia transshipment terminal at the Taman seaport is currently under construction.

"Developing production capacities has rendered it possible to expand the geography of product shipment, create additional logistics routes, and optimize the transportation system," the company said in the materials.

TOAZ shipped 1.191 million tonnes of urea, 69,000 tonnes of ammonia and 4,000 tonnes of UFC were to the international market in 2023, and shipped 575,000 tonnes of ammonia, 403,000 tonnes of urea, 55,000 tonnes of UFC, and 22,000 tonnes of ammonia water to the domestic market.

The structure of the supply distribution last year was 74% by railway, 17% by the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, and 9% by roadway.

The company previously exported 64% of ammonia via this pipeline. Given the suspension of transit through this route on February 24, 2022, the company plans to increase the fleet of railway tank cars for transporting ammonia. TOAZ has obtained more than 1,000 of these tanks over the past few years for transporting ammonia, and more than 600 mineral carriers. The company in the summer of 2022 began modernizing the loading rails of the loading and unloading rack to increase the shipment of ammonia by railway.

Togliattiazot is one of the world's largest ammonia producers. The plant has production capacity of over 3.5 million tonnes of ammonia at seven large-capacity units and 1.76 million tonnes of urea per year at three units.