Ma'aden today finalised the contracts for three plants which paves the way for the start of construction of what will be the world's largest fully integrated fertiliser production operation. Following the recent strategic partnership agreement between Ma'aden and SABIC to produce three million tonnes per year of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, Dr Abdullah Dabbagh, President and CEO of Ma'aden today signed contracts for three plants – a DAP granulation plant, a phosphoric acid plant and a sulphuric acid plant. The lead contractors signing with Ma'aden were Dragados of Spain, Litwin of France and Outotec of Finland, for the DAP granulation, phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid plants respectively. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr. Dabbagh said, “We will break ground on all three projects in the fourth quarter of 2007 at the minerals industrial city at Ras Az Zawr and each will be completed in 2010. The plants will utilise best available technology and each will be the largest of its kind in the world. When completed, this Saudi phosphate project will be the largest fully integrated mine to product di-ammonium phosphate project in operation, with the lowest cash operating costs. “The signing of contracts for these lump sum turnkey projects is significant as it means we have a fixed price in a market where prices are on the rise. The agreed total costs for each plant apply to the whole development through to completion. With a combined total of around SR5.6 billion, these contracts are a real step forward in the development of one of the world's largest single phosphate fertiliser complexes.” The sulphuric acid plant, which will comprise of three plants each with a capacity of 4,500 tons/day, will supply chemical grade sulphuric acid to the phosphoric acid plant. The phosphoric acid plant, consisting of three individual reaction and filtration lines, will produce phosphoric acid at a rate of 1.371 million tons/year, which will finally be used in the DAP granulation plant. The four equally sized production lines in the granulation plant will produce the final DAP product in a capacity of 2.92 million tons/year. After primary processing at the mine site, the raw materials will be transported to Ras Az Zawr by the new North South Railway for further processing. Ultimately, the DAP produced will be exported to key markets where its use as a fertiliser will be essential to growing crops to feed the world for decades to come. Approximately 1,400 new long term direct jobs will be created by the project with significant numbers of additional indirect jobs being created in supporting industries.
