Houston, 1 May (Argus) — OCI's long-delayed Sorfert project in Algeria may finally be nearing start-up.
The Netherlands-based Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), which owns 51pc of Sorfert, announced today that it expects to receive final regulatory approvals from the Algerian government to commence testing on the plants during the second quarter. It added that it expects to start commercial production and exports “within the coming weeks.”
Sorfert is expected to contribute to OCI's consolidated earnings during the second half of 2013. The plants, which are part of a joint venture with Algeria's Sonatrach, were scheduled to start up in Q3 2012. Sorfert has an intended production capacity of 1.6mn t/yr ammonia and 1.26mn t/yr urea, with the urea intended for export.
OCI also announced that it will spend $100mn at its Beaumont, Texas, complex to complete debottlenecking on its methanol and ammonia plants. This will increase methanol production capacity by 25pc to 875,000 t/yr and ammonia by 15pc to 292,000 t/yr. The work will be completed during the second half of 2014.
Also in the US, OCI has received all critical permits for its fertilizer project at Wever, Iowa, and concluded a roadshow in April to attract third party investors. OCI's Iowa Fertilizer is in the process of placing $1.194bn of bonds and seeking an additional $600mn of equity financing. The bonds were given a credit rating of BB- by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch, meaning “less vulnerable in the near-term” with some major ongoing uncertainties.
Iowa Fertilizer plans to produce 1.5mn-2mn t/yr of urea, UAN and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Total project cost is estimated is $1.8bn with an intended start date at the end of 2015.
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