State-owned company resumes activities of subsidiary Ansa; movement is part of a plan to return to the fertilizer market
announced the resumption of operations at (Araucária Nitrogenados SA), in Araucária, Paraná. The state-owned company began this Thursday (April 30, 2026) the first production of urea since the resumption of the unit’s activities.
The factory had been idle since 2020. The reactivation is part of a plan to return to the fertilizer market, a segment
The Ansa reactivation operation involved investments of R$870 million. The state-owned company had been preparing the unit since 2024, when the resumption was announced. The process included maintenance, technical inspections, operational tests, team recomposition and contracting of services.
According to the company, the mobilization phase created more than 2,000 jobs in addition to maintaining around 700 direct jobs in the regular operation of the factory. The resumption of the unit’s operations will be carried out gradually.
“We are resuming a strategic operation. Ansa returns to producing urea at a time when expanding the internal capacity of this input is increasingly relevant for Brazil”said the interim president of Ansa, Marcelo dos Santos Faria.
PETROBRAS & FERTILIZERS
The reactivation of Ansa is part of the company’s plan to advance in , an essential product for agribusiness and which accounts for a considerable portion of the sector’s investment.
The state-owned company had already restarted production at the Fafen-BA (Nitrogen Fertilizer Factories) units, in Bahia, in January 2026, and Fafen-SE, in Sergipe, in December 2025. With the return of Ansa, the company hopes to reach a 20% share in the domestic urea market – one of the main nitrogen fertilizers used in Brazil.
Petrobras’ plan also includes the completion of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Unit III (UFN-III), in Três Lagoas (MS), which should begin commercial operation in 2029. With the new plant, the state-owned company plans to serve around 35% of the national urea market in the coming years.
“With Fafens and, now, Ansa in full operation, we have reduced external dependence on urea and strengthened the production chain of agribusiness and national industry. The fertilizer sector is strategic for Petrobras, and we are resuming investments based on technical and economic feasibility studies”said in a statement the director of Industrial Processes at the state-owned company, William França.
Petrobras subsidiary, Ansa has a production capacity of 720 thousand tons/year of urea, equivalent to around 8% of the national urea market; 475 thousand tons/year of ammonia; in addition to 450 thousand m³/year of Automotive Liquid Reducing Agent (Arla 32).
IMPACT OF THE WAR
Petrobras’ return to the fertilizer market comes at a time when it is around 60% more expensive due to the war in the Middle East. The region is one of the main fertilizer producers in the world and the flow is almost entirely through the Strait of Hormuz, which has traffic affected by the conflict.
Practically all fertilizers used in Brazil come from outside the country. In 2025, the country imported almost 90% of the material used in plantations, becoming the largest importer of the raw material in the world. Petrobras’ advancement in the sector can help the country reduce external dependence on this type of merchandise.
