The Argentinian Port of Bahía Blanca has reserved for six months an area of land - previously allocated for the construction of a proposed LNG terminal - to Pampa Energía, which aims to build a large fertiliser plant there. This will ultimately produce urea for export. In total, $1 billion is expected to be invested in the project. Nevertheless, Pampa Energía anticipates that the eventual investment could be within the $1.5 billion to $2 billion band. The exact level will depend on the plant’s maximum capacity, which could be anything between 1.5 million tonnes and 2 million tonnes of fertiliser annually.
Originally, YPF’s proposed LNG plant, which will now be built in Punta Colorada, Rio Negro, would have covered a total area of 1,200 hectares.
Interestingly, there was a an even earlier terminated project, which was put forward by Vale. This Brazilian company wanted to extract potassium chloride in the south of Mendoza and export it through the port of Bahia Blanca from a site now taken by Pampa Energía.
Bahía Blanca already has an established fertiliser plant of the same type proposed by Pampa Energía. This has been operated by Profertil in the port’s industrial area since 2000. Profertil is also planning to build a granulated urea plant adjacent to its existing facility, which would export urea mainly to Brazil.
However, the new plant is not yet a done deal, since a second site is also under consideration by the developper in the province of Santa Fe, with studies being undertaken that are expected to be completed within 12 months.
Of note is that, at the end of 2023, the Chinese firm Potassium Chemical Group announced construction of a urea plant and another NPK fertiliser plant in the port area of Bahía Blanca. This consisted of $1.25 billion in investment, and could produce annual exports worth $450 million.