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EnergyMin Burduja, on a visit to Azomures: I am glad restarting of this strategic plant happens today
The Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, on Thursday stated, following his visit to Azomures, that the management team of the company decided to restart the Ammonia III plant and resume the production of NPK complex fertilizers, Ammonium Nitrate and Nitrolime, at about 55% of capacity.
"This is the third meeting I have had in three months since taking over the mandate with the team from Azomures and, of course, every time I have asked 'when do you start.' And I am very glad that today the Azomures team announced the restart of this strategic plant for the country. I know that the market conditions are not easy, I know that the Azomures management team also takes risks, even more so in a complicated economic context, with fiscal-budgetary reforms, even more so before the coming of winter, when, in general, gas prices rise, especially towards the end of the cold season, in February, for example. And I appreciate very much that Azomures responded to this call that the Romanian Government made repeatedly, the local authorities, to restart the activity of the plant," stated Minister Sebastian Burduja, in a press conference held in Targu Mures.
The minister of energy specified that the installations on the platform will be restarted at a capacity of about 50-55% and that this will ensure an important source of fertilizer supply for Romanian farmers.
The general director of Azomures, Josh Zacharias, showed that the company recently concluded contracts for the purchase of natural gas, which allow the resumption of fertilizer production at 50% of the factory's total capacity, starting October 2023.
According to the management, the Azomures platform produces ammonia (intermediate product for making fertilizers) in two similar facilities, coded III and IV. The restart of Ammonia III and related facilities will allow the manufacture of a significant amount of fertilizers for Romanian farmers who are preparing crops for the new agricultural season.
Azomures announced in the summer and autumn of last year several stages of adjusting the production of ammonia and its other products, in the context of the high price of natural gas.
The total production capacity of the platform is 1.6 million tons, of which 80-85% are intended for the Romanian agricultural market.
