Argentina Plans to Expand 1.62 Million Tons per Year Urea Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Italian engineering group Saipem has been awarded an engineering and technical services contract by Argentine fertilizer producer Profertil to participate in the evaluation of the expansion project of the fertilizer complex in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The project plans to build a new urea plant with a daily capacity of 4,450 tons, which, calculated on the basis of 365 days per year, gives a theoretical annual capacity of approximately 1.62 million tons. The engineering and technical services contract is expected to run for 11 months.

Saipem will implement the contract in cooperation with Techint Engineering & Construction, providing engineering and technical services, preparing the technology licensor's design document package, and formulating the implementation plan for subsequent development phases of the project. The scope of this contract is limited to engineering evaluation and design preparation for the expansion project and does not yet involve full-scale construction of the new plant.

The proposed plant will integrate ammonia synthesis technology from Denmark's Topsoe, Saipem's proprietary urea production process, and urea granulation technology from Germany's thyssenkrupp Uhde, covering production stages including ammonia synthesis, urea synthesis, and finished product granulation.

Profertil's existing production base is located in the Ingeniero White industrial area of Bahía Blanca. According to the company's 2026 financing documents, the existing plant has a nominal annual urea capacity of 1.44 million tons and a nominal annual ammonia capacity of 790,000 tons, with storage facilities for 150,000 tons of urea and 20,000 tons of ammonia. The site has a dedicated jetty and is connected to road and rail transport networks.