FERTILISER and explosives maker Incitec Pivot has been lobbying federal and state governments to reserve natural gas for local manufacturers because LNG-inspired price hikes are making a new ammonia plant in Australia uneconomic.
Chief executive James Fazzino said the situation had led Incitec to shelve a potential $500 million east coast ammonia plant -- which needs natural gas for feed -- while a similar plant in the US might go ahead.
"As an Australian, it irks me that potentially we are going to do stuff in the US and not in Australia, which has the same (natural gas) resources base," Mr Fazzino told The Australian.
The US project, which has not been announced to the market, is at pre-feasibility stage, while the Australian ammonia plant, which could potentially feed an explosives plant now in the planning stages at Newcastle, is not being considered under current conditions.
"The development in the US may happen, the development in Australia won't," the Incitec chief said.
The Australian
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