Brea's ammonium nitrate plant is sche-duled to go into operation this fall at Brea, Calif. In the background is the company's $13 million ammonia plant which opened last spring

Fertilizer Capacity Grows Rapidly Although a theoretical surplus fertilizer capacity

exists, plants keep springing up to meet new demands

QURPLUS, SHORTAGE, LIQUID, GRA.NU-*^ LAB-a l l of these terms are rife in the fertilizer industry this year. Wtiich ones you heai depend on where you are and who is talking, according to a staff survey in the June issue of Ag and Food.

The Cinderella of fertilizers, am­monia, comes in for the major amount of discussion. At present annual ca­pacity is in excess of demand by some 500,000 tons. However, annual ca­pacity has little relationship to seasonal needs. Although anhydrous ammonia storage facilities are being expanded constantly, the amount of ammonia available for agricultural uses is limited to this and to the amount that can be produced during the season. For this reason a surplus capacity can exist on an annual basis, while farmers are un­able to meet their needs during the height of the season. Some of this year's surplus capacity is credited to lower farm prices and acreage restric­tions.

Nevertheless, in face of surplus and decreasing prices (from $10 to $25 a ton in the South and $40 a ton in the West ) , new producers keep entering the field. Most dramatic is the rasri of new producers in the West. Indica­tions were that when Shell and Brea completed their ammonia plants, the

area would reach a balance between supply and demand. That was last year. There actually were recurrent surpluses during late summer and fall of 1954.

By this year that satisfied feeling had left. Jumping in to serve the fer­tilizer market of the West were 10 new or expanded suppliers.

Dotted around the area are plants of Consolidated Mining & Smelting at Calgary, Pennsalt at Portland, Sher-ritt-Gordon at Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Brea Chemicals at Brea, Calif., Stauffer at Vernon, Calif., Western Phosphates a t Garfield, Utah, Colorado Fuel & Iron at Pueblo, Colo., Hughes-Johnson at Portland, Calspray at Rich­mond, Calif., and U. S. Steel at Geneva, Utah. Some of these plants went into operation by the beginning of the 1955 fertilizer season. Others will come into operation this summer. And still others will not be in operation until next year. Among still other plants in the planning stage are ones of Ammonia Chemical in California and Northwest Nitro-Chemicals in Alberta.

300,000 Additional Tons of NH3. These new and projected plans should add about 300,000 tons to the annual ammonia capacity of the area, plus increased tonnage of superphosphate, diammonium phosphate, and ammo­

nium nitrate. Although the West did show increased fertilizer use in the 1953-54 fertilizer season while most uiliei areas showed deollxies, the addi­tional capacity i n the area by next year will probably cause certain imbalances in the supply-demand picture, particu­larly for nitrogen products. Phosphor­us-wise the area seems t o have a fair balance between supply and demand. Single superphosphate continues to lose ground in the area to triple superphos­phate, and nitrogen-phosphorus prod­ucts seem to b e finding increasing in­terest. Newest product is Colorado Fuel & Iron's diammonium phosphate.

With a nationwide surplus of am­monia capacity, particularly in the South and West, where will t he excess go? Part will b>e exported. A consid­erable market is seen i n Baja Cali­fornia, south of California's Imperial Valley, and in Hawaii. Major hopes, however, lie in opening new domestic markets. The Pacific Northwest has perhaps the greatest sales potential, but the East a n d Midwest are not yet utilizing their potential. Main reason given: Few farmers own equipment for direct application. However, solu­tions, with easier methods of applica­tion, are becoming more and more pop­ular, even in the cities. Some heating oil companies a r e getting summer use out of their tank trucks b y the simple addition of pumps and different hoses. They then sell the home owner lawn fertilizing services: solutions (usu­ally 21-15-7) a t an application rate of about 60 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Cost runs from about $6 for the first 2000 square feet to around $65 an acre. In other areas application of anhydrous ammonia is available to the city dweller as well as the farmer.

Higher Analysis Use Grows . Since relatively little ammonia is used in the East and Midwest, farmers turn to granular goods and solutions. There was a slight decrease in fertilizer ton­nages in the past couple of years. However there is an increasing tend­ency toward higher analysis materials. Consequently, o n the basis of plant food content, there is probably no ac­tual decline in use. When urea solu­tions become more readily available, they are expected to get a larger share of the fertilizer market in the East.

A similar trend toward higher analy­sis materials is continuing in the Mid­west. The market served by complete liquid fertilizers is small. After con­siderable sales pressure, anhydrous am­monia use has increased greatly. How­ever nitrogen solutions will probably get the final nod in the area.

Solutions Gaining Fast. In the South and Southwest anhydrous am­monia still holds the lead but nitrogen solutions are making rapid strides. Particularly in the Southwest, granu-

2 4 7 8 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

lated materials hold a special advan­tage by being well adapted to airplane application. In that locale, triple superphosphate is encroaching on mar­kets previously held by single super since it has lower plant food cost on a unit basis. In the Southeast, triple super had practically n o freight ad­vantage. Consequently in this area single super continues in popularity.

Ammonium Nit ra te Tight. On the domestic market ammonium nitrate re­mains in short supply during the fer­tilizer season. Demand for it contin­ues to increase because of its com­bined short and long-term effects. Im­ports are limited by regulations govern­ing unloading at Gulf and Pacific ports. Shortages may continue for some time, although the supply picture in the West will b e improved later this year when Brea's 50,000 tons a year expan­sion is completed. Next year U. S. Steel and Calspray will bring plants into operation, helping still more.

Urea Attracts Attention. There is an air of hopeful waiting when it comes to urea supplies. Most areas agree that when solutions are more readily available, they will take advantage of them. Particularly this is t rue in the East. Among other things, larger urea supplies will mean more competition. VIore competition may mean lower prices. This will increase consumption in the Southwest, where the price is considered too high—about the same as ammonium sulfate, but more than am­monium nitrate.

Potash Views Differ. If you are in Carlsbad, you hear that potash pro­ducers are being troubled by imports. If you are in the East you hear that imports are less than 2 % of supply and that domestic producers need not feel troubled. In either case supplies seem t o be adequate in most areas. Whereas potash production is being expanded i n the West, the area's fertilizer con­sumption will not be affected—it uses very little potash. However demand in the Midwest has been increasing rapidly in the past few years, although it is expected to level off this year. Thus, all domestic producers have to worry about are imports and how to meet prices at ports, and discounts for eariy delivery.

Insecticide-Fertilizer Mixtures. Dis­agreement and disappointments have marked the somewhat brief history of insecticide-fertilizer mixtures. Op­position comes from makers who find difficulty in getting uniform distri­bution of insecticide in the product; safety measures needed in their plants also are involved. Some opposition comes from experiment stations where researchers believe that combinations do not give adequate control of soil insects. Some opposition is being evi­

denced by farmers too. Sales are not doing as well as expected when the products were first offered. Aldrin is being used in such mixtures. How­ever, the idea is hampered by confus­ing regulations. Some officials are hesitant in approving application of mixtures on food crops. The only area where demand for the mixtures con­tinues to grow is the South. There the original rash of insecticides is nar­rowing, the practice is increasing, and the number of states allowing it is growing.

Distribution Problems. Notwith­standing the great advances in ferti­lizer technology during the past few years, plus advances in farm equip­ment, the industry's major problem re­mains the same: Distribution. In fact improvements in equipment have made

it worse. With less efficient equip­ment, the fertilizer season used to last three or four months. Now with more rapid implements it lasts only two to three months. This puts an even greater burden of storage on the pro­ducer. Neither discount nor educa­tion seems to entourage the farmer to buy early or to fertilize in the fall rather than spring. The only answer seen by industry is additional storage. This seems the only possibility until industry's education of the farmer has progressed further.

This program is being aided by in­dustrial technical service departments and by university and state experiment station personnel. They are meeting with little success, particularly in the East, although things are more encour­aging in the Middle Atlantic states.

PERCENT OF INCREASE OR DECREASE IN CONSUMPTION OF PLANT NUTRIENTS

IN 1953-54 FROM 1952-53

PUERTO R I C O 2

Avoi loble P20s

KjO , V Less rhon 0 . 5 percent

•2479 V O L U M E 3 3, N O . 24 · · · J U N E 13, 1 9 5 5