By Brazil Stock Guide – Petrobras SA (B3: PETR3, PETR4; NYSE: PBR) signed a five-year operations and maintenance contract with Engeman to restart two nitrogen fertilizer plants in Brazil’s northeast. The deal, signed on Sept. 12 in Rio de Janeiro, signals Petrobras’s return to the fertilizer market, with production set to resume before year-end.
The plants, in Camaçari (Bahia) and Laranjeiras (Sergipe), will produce ammonia, prilled urea, granular urea and ARLA-32. The Bahia complex also covers maritime terminals for ammonia and urea at the Port of Aratu in Candeias. Petrobras expects the restart to create about 800 direct and indirect jobs, prioritizing local labor. The move also benefits Braskem SA (B3: BRKM5; NYSE: BAK), which supplies inputs to the fertilizer plants.
Petrobras said it is moving quickly to ensure fertilizer output resumes this year and to reduce Brazil’s reliance on imports, which account for roughly 85% of domestic demand.
Unigel steps aside
Petrobras will take back control of the assets in October, when Unigel SA (B3: UNIP6), through its subsidiary Proquigel, completes the demobilization of its workforce and ends the lease. Petrobras had leased the units to Unigel in 2019 as part of a broader divestment strategy.
The restart highlights Brazil’s push to strengthen food security by rebuilding domestic fertilizer production after global supply disruptions triggered by the war in Ukraine.
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