AdvanSix selected for $47.4 million USDA funding for ammonia expansion

AdvanSix has been selected to receive $47.4 million in proposed funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture under its Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long-Term Domestic Supply (FIELDS) program, the company said.

The money would support Project CENTURY, a planned $98.1 million multi-year investment to modernize and expand ammonia manufacturing at AdvanSix’s Hopewell, Virginia, facility. The company expects the project to add about 84,000 tons of annual ammonia capacity. Hopewell has produced nitrogen-based fertilizers for nearly a century.

The U.S. government selected eight projects under the FIELDS program, representing more than $1.34 billion in total proposed investment and about $573 million in proposed USDA funding.

Erin Kane, president and chief executive of AdvanSix, said the company is “proud to invest in American manufacturing” and to “expand domestic fertilizer production for farmers across the country.” The announced figures are for proposed funding, which is not yet final. The stated goal is to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and increase long-term fertilizer availability for U.S. farmers.

The AdvanSix award is one piece of a wider federal push to build domestic supply, as USDA picked a slate of fertilizer projects intended to add new U.S. production capacity.

Source: Chemical Engineering