CF Industries Holdings Inc., an Illinois-based company specializing in nitrogen fertilizer production, announced today that its nitrogen complex in Donaldsonville has achieved consistent operation after a multi-year, $2.1 billion expansion.
According to a news release, CF Industries fired up the plant in early March and it has produced more than 80,000 tons of urea ammonium nitrate since it started.
The Donaldsonville plant is the largest urea ammonium nitrate plant in the world and is the second plant built by CF Industries as part of the company’s capacity expansion projects in North America.
“The finish line for our Donaldsonville capacity expansion project is now in sight,” says Tony Will, president and chief executive officer at CF Industries, in a statement. “The new UAN and granular urea plants are running consistently at or above nameplate capacities, and the new ammonia plant is within a few weeks of being mechanically complete.”
The company announced the project in 2012 surrounded by state and local leaders who touted the expansion and estimated it would create 93 new jobs at an annual salary of more than $56,000.
The total annual urea ammonium nitrate capacity in Donaldsonville is now 4.2 million product tons, up from 2.4 million tons. The complex also has the ability to switch urea ammonium nitrate and other urea products depending on market conditions.
