AdvanSix has been selected for $47.4 million in proposed USDA funding to modernize and expand ammonia manufacturing at its Hopewell, Virginia facility, a plant that has supplied nitrogen-based fertilizer for nearly 100 years. The initiative, dubbed Project CENTURY, is expected to add roughly 84,000 tons of annual ammonia production capacity once complete, and it comes paired with a planned $98.1 million multi-year investment from the company itself.
The funding was announced through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fertilizer Investment and Expansion for Long-Term Domestic Supply program, known as FIELDS, according to br.investing.com. AdvanSix plans to invest $98.1 million alongside the proposed federal funding of $47.4 million, and the overall selection remains contingent on the completion of USDA administrative and risk reviews. AdvanSix, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker ASIX, describes itself as a vertically integrated chemistry company that produces materials for fertilizers, agrochemicals, plastics, solvents, packaging, paints, coatings, adhesives and electronics, per the Business Wire announcement.
Erin Kane, president and CEO of AdvanSix, framed the selection as part of a broader push to invest in American manufacturing. Kane said the company would invest in American manufacturing, support American jobs and expand domestic fertilizer production, according to the same announcement. Project CENTURY itself is designed to improve ammonia manufacturing capacity, reliability, logistics and supporting infrastructure across the domestic fertilizer supply chain, the release states.
Why Hopewell, and Why Now
The Hopewell facility is AdvanSix's largest manufacturing site and one of the world's largest single manufacturing sites for ammonium sulfate, according to AdvanSix's own site description. The company says it is one of the largest employers in Hopewell and spends approximately $11 million per year in the local community. AdvanSix operates five U.S.-based manufacturing facilities in total, and Hopewell operations support approximately 1,000 skilled American manufacturing employees, per the Business Wire release.
Local officials welcomed the news. Kyle English, business retention and expansion specialist for the City of Hopewell, said the investment would strengthen the facility's competitiveness and position it for continued operation and future growth. Virginia lawmakers echoed that sentiment: Senator Emily M. Jordan, who represents the 17th Virginia Senate District, said the project would expand U.S.-made fertilizer production, provide farmers more dependable domestic supply options and reduce exposure to unstable foreign suppliers. Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan said the proposed grant could improve domestic manufacturing, promote economic development and support working families.
Farmers Watching the Outcome
Agricultural groups also weighed in on what the expansion could mean for growers. Scott Sink, president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, said expanding U.S.-made fertilizer production would strengthen domestic supply and give farmers more predictable access to a significant input cost. Rachel Gresham, executive director of the Virginia Soybean Association, said the project could benefit soybean producers and farm families, reduce supply volatility, support predictable farm input costs and contribute to a secure food supply.
The Hopewell award is one piece of a much larger federal push. The Trump administration announced eight fertilizer manufacturing projects selected to advance through the FIELDS funding process, representing more than $1.34 billion in proposed investment and about $573 million in proposed federal funding, as reported by ConstructConnect. A separate account from Agrilinkage put the package at $1.3442 billion in proposed investment, including $573.2 million in proposed federal support — figures broadly consistent with the ConstructConnect tally. USDA has said the program is meant to strengthen domestic fertilizer manufacturing, reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and increase long-term fertilizer availability for American farmers, and the agency estimates the full slate of eight projects could support roughly 1.08 million tons of annual fertilizer production capacity once operational.
Part of a Broader Industry Build-Out
Agrilinkage's reporting notes that AdvanSix is among the projects that would add or modernize conventional industrial nutrient capacity, grouping it alongside projects like PCI Nitrogen and SUL4R-PLUS within the broader FIELDS portfolio. ConstructConnect's coverage describes that portfolio as including new facilities, modular ammonia units, plant expansions and upgrades spread across multiple states. The build-out follows a period of industry expansion nationally — nineteen new or expanded chemical fertilizer or ammonia plants have been built in the United States since 2012, with 33 more proposed or under construction, according to Oil & Gas Watch, which also reported that fertilizer prices more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, citing USDA figures.
Project CENTURY is not AdvanSix's only ammonia-related move at Hopewell. Earlier this year, the company selected Stamicarbon, the nitrogen technology licensor of Nextchem, to provide process design and licensed technology for a separate, proposed expansion of its integrated ammonia platform aimed at supplying the growing regional diesel exhaust fluid market, according to AdvanSix's own announcement. That DEF-focused expansion, which the company says would pair a urea melt plant with a production unit designed to convert all of the urea melt into DEF, is targeting a final investment decision in the first half of 2027. Demand for diesel exhaust fluid is growing as regulatory requirements expand while domestic supply remains constrained, AdvanSix has said.
Taken together, the moves point to a company betting heavily on expanded nitrogen production at a single Virginia site with nearly a century of fertilizer-making history behind it. For now, though, the $47.4 million Project CENTURY grant remains a proposed selection, subject to the USDA's administrative and risk reviews before it becomes final.
