Petrobras Suspends Fertilizer Production at Two Brazilian Nitrogen Plants

Petrobras has suspended fertilizer production at two of its nitrogen plants in Brazil following separate operational incidents, raising fresh doubts about the reliability of the country's effort to rebuild domestic fertilizer manufacturing.

The Araucaria Nitrogenados (Ansa) complex in Araucaria, Parana state, has been offline since April 30, 2026, after an incident in its compressor room. As of mid-May, the unit remains shut down and Petrobras has not given a firm date for restarting fertilizer output, saying only that a timeline will be communicated later. The plant had resumed operations on the same day it was halted, after sitting idle since 2020, which makes the disruption an especially early setback for the restart. Ammonia sales from the site have continued without interruption.

The second unit, Fabrica de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados (Fafen) in Sergipe state, halted production after a power supply failure damaged its operational systems. Petrobras expects this plant to come back online before the end of May 2026 and has said that existing inventories have so far prevented any shortfall in deliveries. Fafen Sergipe had only restarted ammonia production at the end of 2025 following a long idle period under its former operator, Unigel. In early March 2026 the plant was running at roughly 90 percent of its urea capacity, equal to about 1,800 metric tons per day.

Together the two units represent a significant share of Brazil's domestic nitrogen capacity. Ansa can produce up to 720,000 metric tons of urea, 475,000 metric tons of ammonia, and 450,000 cubic meters of Arla 32 diesel additive each year. Fafen Sergipe has annual capacity for 650,000 metric tons of urea, 450,000 metric tons of ammonia, and 320,000 metric tons of ammonium sulfate.

A third plant, Fafen Bahia, recently cut output to allow maintenance on its pumping system. Petrobras has said production there has since recovered, although it has not disclosed the current operating rate. The company stated that bringing the Bahia and Sergipe units back into service allowed it to cover about 10 percent of Brazil's urea demand in the first quarter of 2026.

Petrobras has acknowledged that all three plants went through extended periods of dormancy that left equipment degraded and increased maintenance needs once operations resumed. Industry observers point to this as a core risk of recommissioning long-idled industrial assets, where compressors, pumps, and rotating equipment are prone to wear and unexpected failure.

The disruptions land at a sensitive moment for Brazil, which remains heavily dependent on imported fertilizer. According to the national fertilizer distributors association Anda, Brazil consumed more than 49.1 million metric tons of fertilizer in 2025, with close to 88 percent of that volume sourced from abroad. Petrobras has tied the restart of its fertilizer plants to Brazil's national fertilizer plan, which aims to reduce the country's reliance on foreign suppliers and protect its large agricultural sector from price swings and supply risks.

For now, Petrobras maintains that domestic supply is not affected, supported by inventories and continued ammonia sales. The key question is how quickly the company can return both units to stable operation and whether further technical problems emerge as it pushes its recently revived fertilizer assets back toward full output.