Nitrogen – Uses, Prices, and Production

This blog highlights information and data I have found on the Internet related to nitrogen uses, prices, and production.  The information and data only pertains to the elemental and molecular forms of nitrogen.

Uses.   Elemental nitrogen is essential for life, being found in many biochemical molecules.  This need for nitrogen in living organisms accounts for the application of nitrogen-containing compounds in agriculture.   Also, many nitrogen-containing compounds have industrial uses other than in agriculture and molecular nitrogen serves as a raw material in producing these compounds.   This nitrogen molecule use is based on the molecule’s property of being inert and a gas at room temperature and its low temperature as a liquid.   As an inert gas, nitrogen has such uses as providing inert atmospheres, cleaning/flushing closed environments, retarding fire, and providing a barrier.  Liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant or a refrigerant.   Numerous industries find many ways of using nitrogen for such uses.

Prices.  Internet data indicates 2018 prices for delivered nitrogen in the range $100 to $500 per metric ton (mt), with $300 per mt perhaps a most likely price.   Liquid nitrogen costs more.

Production.   Since nitrogen is more than 70% of the composition of air, primary nitrogen production methods are based on extracting nitrogen from air, either by distillation (click here for details) or by adsorption (click here for details).  Internet sources indicate that the 2018 global market for delivered molecular nitrogen (presumably both gas and liquid forms) was approximately $16 billion.   Assuming that the average 2018 price for nitrogen was about $300 per mt, this gives an approximate production amount of delivered nitrogen at 53 million mt ($19 billion divided by $300 per mt).

As indicated in the last paragraph, the production data is for delivered nitrogen.  Nitrogen generator technology exists such that generators can be purchased for use by companies to generate nitrogen at company locations.  (Click here for more on this.).   So, the amount of nitrogen used globally is higher than the 53 million mt indicated above.