Industrial gas firm Air Products has finalised an agreement with Scandinavian fertilizer producer Yara International regarding the sale of renewable ammonia from the Neom plant in Saudi Arabia, as reported by Argus Media.
Yara will market the renewable ammonia that Air Products does not sell as hydrogen. The US-based firm announced in its 2Q26 results. Both companies stated in December 2025 that they were in discussions regarding a ‘marketing and distribution agreement’ for NEOM.
Air Products is the sole offtaker for the 1.2 million tpy NEOM plant under a 30-year contract. It plans to crack ammonia back into hydrogen for sale in Europe, including under a deal with TotalEnergies.
The agreement allows some of the NEOM supply to be sold directly as ammonia instead of being cracked back into hydrogen. The volumes will be, "sold and delivered to Yara's existing global supply chain", according to Air Products CEO Eduardo Menezes. Yara will be, "compensated on a commission basis" for the sales.
Air products stated that the agreement reduces its "need for green hydrogen downstream investment", potentially lowering its requirement for ammonia cracking capacity. Air Products previously announced plans for ammonia cracking plants at several locations in northwest Europe, but it has yet to take a final investment decision (FID) on any facility.
The arrangement could help Air Products market early NEOM volumes before any ammonia cracking facility starts operating.
NEOM could produce its first ammonia in 2027, the project developers said in March. But Air Products expects "a long commissioning process" and that "it will take some time for the facility to get to full production", as suggested by Menezes.
Air Products expects," no gain or loss" related to the Neom project in 2027.
In July 2026, the company called off plans to continue development of the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex (LCEC), which was slated to produce around 600 000 tpy of hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and storage.
Air Products is now looking to deploy assets purchased for the facility in other projects or sell them to other companies. Equipment such as air separation units could be used at other Air Products plants, while the company intends to commercialise the ammonia loop as a complete unit.
Read the original article by Stefan Krumpelmann on Argus Media.