Vietnam’s leading fertilizer firm achieves urea output target a year early

Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo), a subsidiary of state-owned Petrovietnam, achieved a urea output milestone of 15 million tons a year ahead of schedule.

The milestone was reached on October 10, nearly 20 years of operation, at 5% above designed capacity.

The firm, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as DPM, began producing urea on June 15, 2004 with a designed capacity of 740,000 tons a year.

Nguyen Van Nhung, PVFCCo’s deputy director of production and science-technology, said the 15-million-ton milestone marked employees’ dedication and diligence in operations, maintenance and application of innovations to ensure consistent and stable production.

Although the factory has reached 80% of its lifecycle per its feasibility study, it has set many records, Nhung said. In 2022, its ammonia production line recorded 678 operational days in a row with an output of 900,000 tons, 15% above the designed capacity.

In August 2023, Danish chemicals firm Haldar Topsoe granted an “Outstanding Operation” certificate to the company for the third time in a row, recognizing PVFCCo as one of the best utilizers of Haldar Topsoe’s technology.

Factory maintenance has been special focus of the company, ensuring safe, stable and continuous operations. Currently, it conducts biannual maintenance without halting its operations and carries out general maintenance every other year.

The company carefully prepares for each maintenance work and has fully mastered the complicated procedures involved. The latest general maintenance for 2023 was completed ahead of schedule, meeting all targets of optimal safety, quality, savings and progress, Nhung said.

In recent years, the factory has shifted from equipment condition based maintenance to preventive maintenance so as to avoid unforeseen incidents. This has helped ensure equipment in the best condition and their most efficient operation, thereby prolonging the project’s life cycle.

The professionalism and innovation talent of employees has been key in all these achievements, Nhung stressed.

As of 2022, PVFCCo had recorded 1,608 innovations with benefits valued at VND300 billion ($12.21 million), 20 of which have been recognized as “huge innovations” by Petrovietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC).

Several other innovations are in their pilot phases, creating massive potential for the company’s sustainable development.

Senior company officials acknowledged that the achievements were made possible by stable gas input from Petrovietnam.

They also said that the production milestones were a gift from "previous generations" of employees who had laid the foundations for the modern factory.