OCI to expand ammonia import capabilities at Rotterdam

By Julian Atchison on June 22, 2022

Tripling of throughput capacity by 2023

OCI’s ammonia import terminal at the Port of Rotterdam (bordered by yellow line), which will see throughput capacities tripled by 2023. Source: Port of Rotterdam/Aeroview.
Click to learn more. OCI’s ammonia import terminal at the Port of Rotterdam (bordered by yellow line), which will see throughput capacities tripled by 2023. Source: Port of Rotterdam/Aeroview.

OCI has reached FID for an expansion of its ammonia import terminal at the Port of Rotterdam. $20 million will be invested to increase capacity from 400,000 tonnes per year to 1.2 million tonnes per year, to be completed by 2023. A second phase of expansion is planned, and will involve construction of a new, “world-scale” ammonia storage tank to bring throughput capacities above 3 million tonnes per year. At this stage, no further details are provided for this second expansion phase. The existing terminal is ideally located to service demand for bunkering and ocean-going vessels, and to receive import of low-carbon and renewable ammonia OCI plans to produce in the Middle East and Africa (via subsidiary Fertiglobe), and the US.

As a global leader in ammonia production, trading and distribution, this project is a very logical step to leverage our incumbency status in Rotterdam to enhance our ammonia value chain: never has this been as vital as it is now. We are pleased to announce this milestone, enhancing a key ammonia import and future bunkering hub and aggregation point for low-carbon ammonia at a world-scale port, which will serve as an important avenue for clean ammonia imports from our global facilities and addresses current and future European hydrogen deficit needs.

This vital piece of the global value chain will provide essential ammonia to keep downstream fertilizer plants running today in this volatile global natural gas environment, and in the future will also offer low carbon ammonia to feed the Dutch and wider European hydrogen needs in power generation, marine fuels, and broader industrial value chains, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

OCI NV CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy in his organisation’s official press release, 15 June 2021

Port of Rotterdam

OCI’s announcement is the latest in a surge of hydrogen & ammonia interest at the Port. Last month, the Port of Rotterdam announced a hydrogen import target of 4.6 million tonnes per year from 2030. A series of ammonia import agreements have been signed, including MoUs between the Port and the state government of Queensland (Australia), the Port and Horisont Energi, and between the governments of the UAE and the Netherlands. And there’s even a new player setting up in Rotterdam, with ACE Terminal to begin low-carbon and renewable ammonia imports from 2026.