Ubben’s Inclusive sees opportunity to boost value at Dutch chemical maker and help the environment

The majority of OCI’s business relates to fertilizer for agricultural purposes and other nitrogen products with approximately 12% of revenue generated through methanol fuel products. This business does $9.7 billion in revenue and $3.6 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. However, the opportunity here is what the future brings.

OCI is presently embarking on a $1 billion development of the largest blue ammonia facility in the United States located in Beaumont, Texas. It will be a state-of-the-art facility at the forefront of blue ammonia production and is expected to come online in 2025 and produce 1.1 million tons of blue ammonia annually. This facility will combine nitrogen with blue hydrogen to create blue ammonia. It is considered “blue” ammonia because the carbon emissions produced from the hydrogen production process are captured and stored. Blue ammonia has a number of product applications in OCI’s existing product lines as a sustainable and low carbon input for fertilizer, fuel and feed. Moreover, liquefied blue ammonia can be sold domestically or shipped to OCI’s ammonia import terminal in the port of Rotterdam, as they see European demand for hydrogen and ammonia as a major growth area fueled by the energy transition and decarbonization.

Because of the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. and carbon taxes in Europe, the production of blue ammonia will have several financial benefits. First, the IRA increased the tax credit for each ton of carbon stored to $85 per ton, up from $50. OCI’s plan will produce 1.1 million tons of ammonia that generates 1.7 million tons of carbon, virtually all of which is captured and stored. Second, this blue ammonia will be sold through an ammonia terminal at the port of Rotterdam that OCI owns and operates. Because it is low-carbon fuel, it will not be subject to the $100 per ton carbon tax on competing products, allowing OCI to sell at a market price and reap an additional $100 per ton of margin. This is expected to lead to $350 million of annual EBITDA from the $1 billion of capex required. Moreover, ammonia is easier to ship than hydrogen because it can be transported at a temperature of  -33°C versus -253°C for hydrogen. For these reasons, blue ammonia can serve as an important source of decarbonized hydrogen, is poised to be a large part of a green energy future, and it has several secular tailwinds.