The Azomureș chemical plant – the last “still standing” chemical fertilizer producer in Romania – has restarted one of its ammonia production facilities, an intermediate raw material used in the production of NPK fertilizers, ammonium nitrate, and nitrocalcareous fertilizer, according to the Rador news agency, citing Radio Târgu Mureș.
The Azomureș facility
The installations have been inspected and are allowed to resume production, for now, at reduced capacity. Azomureș CEO Josh Zacharias recently stated: "We took advantage of a temporary opportunity to buy gas for the coming period. It is not yet a sustainable situation, but at least it allows us to produce fertilizers for farmers for the autumn campaign."
New energy Minister Bogdan Ivan has recently visited the Azomureș facility and pointed out that Romanian farmers are constantly demanding Romanian fertilizers: "We still have huge demand on the Romanian market, which is not being met by imports. We have complaints from farmers that the quality of imported products is lower than that produced domestically by Azomureș."
Fertilizer production in Romania
Bogdan Ivan added that, in the long term, fertilizer production in Romania will have an impact on the domestic market as well as on the international market. "It is strategic for us to find a clear formula whereby part of this gas can be brought to Romania and used in our country's industry in such a way that the final price of chemical fertilizers is lower, in order to make our country's agricultural companies competitive, so that ultimately, people will find lower prices on the shelves than they do now, and our agricultural companies will be competitive in exports when it comes to the agricultural and food industry markets," said the minister.
The future of fertilizer production in Târgu Mureș is uncertain, given that producers in countries outside the European Union purchase gas up to ten times cheaper than in Romania, and environmental regulations are not as strict, allowing them to have much lower production costs.
Restarting production
It should be noted that the Azomureș fertilizer plant, the last one still operating in Romania, restarted production at its ammonia plant after several months of inactivity. Azomureș is the largest single consumer of gas. At full capacity, it can "burn" around 3.5 million cubic meters per day. At the moment, it has a daily consumption of 1 million cubic meters, meaning that the plant is operating at 30% of its capacity.
The plant is owned by the Swiss group Ameropa, which has expressed its intention to sell it. The state-owned gas producer Romgaz has already declared its firm intention to buy it and is currently in the process of selecting a consultant to assist it in this endeavor.
Opportunities
Apart from Azomureș, Romania no longer has any functioning fertilizer plants, from the many existing before 1990. Practically all Romanian agriculture is now dependent on fertilizer imports. As every challenge comes also with opportunities, this is probably a good moment to take a serious look at alternatives. And maybe also to pencil down in your agenda the forthcoming Dutch agri trade mission to Romania planned for the end of October 2025.