SABIC shuts down ammonia plant for maintenance

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has shut down its largest ammonia plant in Jubail for a 40-day period as it carries out scheduled maintenance, ICIS reported.

The chemical news website quoted a statement from the petrochemical producer on Thursday which said that the closure would begin with 72 hours.

No ammonia cargoes are expected to load at the port until October, while spot ammonia is said to only become available by late September.

Supply in the GCC region is set to see a  negatively impact as Ma'aden Phosphate Co.’s (MPC) ammonia plant in Ras Al-Khair is currently offline until early September.

SABIC normally loads around 130,000 tonnes per month of ammonia for discharge in India, Taiwan and South Korea.

The company also regularly sells spot cargoes on a free on board (FOB) basis to leading traders such as Trammo and Mitsui.