Pupuk Indonesia prepares Batam ammonia hub to tap Natuna and Grissik gas

Indonesian state-owned petrochemical company Pupuk Indonesia is preparing an ammonia hub in Batam that could make the island a source of alternative fuel in Southeast Asia.

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The hub would produce, store, distribute and trade ammonia. It would turn domestic natural gas from Natuna and Grissik into products for domestic and international buyers.

The group’s ammonia production capacity is 7.10 million mt/yr.

Pupuk Indonesia is weighing gas availability, infrastructure readiness and potential demand for ammonia as an alternative ship fuel. The company has not said when the hub could open or how much ammonia it could supply to ships.

Batam lies across the strait from Singapore, where ammonia bunkering is moving towards trials. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) introduced technical guidelines for ammonia bunkering in October, a year after it appointed a Keppel-led consortium to advance the country’s first ammonia bunkering project on Jurong Island. Japan’s Itochu plans a ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering trial in Singapore in the fourth quarter of 2027, subject to further approvals.

CMB.TECH chief technology officer Roy Campe told ENGINE in October that bunker infrastructure carries “location-specific” risks if demand builds more slowly than expected at a port. He said ammonia bunkering could start around a limited number of strategic hubs before 2030. The Belgian shipping group plans to have 21 ammonia-capable vessels by 2029.

By Tuhin Roy

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