SR26bn phosphate plant to shore up KSA exports

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) on Monday announced the signing of a shareholders agreement to jointly develop an SR26 billion fully integrated phosphate production facility in Saudi Arabia with partners — The Mosaic Company and the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
“Maaden, Mosaic and SABIC will own 60 percent, 25 percent and 15 percent of the project respectively,” Maaden officials said. It will make Saudi Arabia one of the world’s largest phosphate exporters.
The new complex will act as the anchor project at Waad Al-Shammal and will deliver significant value to Maaden shareholders. As one of the largest integrated phosphate fertilizer facilities in the world, it will double Maaden’s cost effective phosphate production and improve Ma’aden’s access to key global markets.
In addition, the projects will provide development of local communities in the Northern region, which is considered a key benefit, expecting to bring more than 1,500 direct job opportunities. The estimated cost of the project is approximately SR26 billion ($7 billion), and production at the new facility is expected to commence in late 2016 with a total capacity of approximately 16 million tons per year.
The facilities will produce, as finished product, approximately 3 million tons of fertilizer products, as well as approximately 440,000 tons of downstream products including purified phosphoric acid used in food industries, sodium tripolyphosphate used in detergent manufacturing, and Dicalcium Phosphate & Monocalcium Phosphate used in the manufacturing of animal feed.
Khalid Al-Mudaifer, Maaden president and CEO, told Arab News that “the partnership is a crucial step in the execution of King Abdullah Project for the Development of Wa’ad Al-Shammal Mineral Industrial City. Ma’aden was entrusted in 2012 to develop a world-class industrial city in Wa’ad Al Shammal.”
He also said: “This agreement has already attracted global expertise to the project which will ensure global competitiveness and in just one year we have engaged local and international contractors from the US, Europe and Asia. We expect to finalize all engineering, procurement and construction contracts before the end of the 2013 and begin construction in 2014.”