Maaden could double Saudi DAP in second phase

07 February 2007 04:05  [Source: ICIS news]

By Antonella Harrison

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT (ICIS news)--The Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) could double the capacity of its diammonium phosphate (DAP) project to 6m tonnes/year in a second phase, a senior company official said late on Tuesday.

The company has allocated land and infrastructure for the second phase while working on the design for the first stage, Raed Al-Saouri, the company’s director of marketing and business development, said on the sidelines of the Arab Fertilizer Association conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Maaden’s board, headed by the Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has also approved the first phase, estimated to cost $3.4bn, he added.

"The Maaden project is in the stage of execution. We will start selling phoshates sometime in 2010," Raed said.

The company earlier awarded a project management contract award to Worley Parsons and a construction contract to Dragados Industrial. It has also completed site preparation and received industrial and mining licences.

Maaden will mine phosphate from Al Jalamid in northern Saudi Arabia and build a fertilizer complex at Ras Az Zawr on the Arabian Gulf, about 80 kilometres north of Al Jubail.

The complex will include three 4,500 tonnes/day (1.49m tonnes/year) sulphuric acid plants, three 1,460 tonnes/day phosphoric acid plants, a 3,300 tonnes/day ammonia plant and four 2,250 tonnes/day diammonium phosphate (DAP) plants.

Technology licensors and engineering companies involved in the project include Outokumpo for sulphuric acid Yara and Litwin for phosphoric acid, Incro and Dragados for DAP. These will start up in 2010.

The DAP output will be exported to India, Australia, southeast Asia and South America at a later stage, Raed said.

Ammonia production could start in late 2019, with 450,000 tonnes/year available for export, he added. Uhde and Technip were bidding for the ammonia contract, he said.

Maaden was also in the final stage of negotiations with strategic partners, Raed said, but declined to name the potential firms.

By: Antonella Harrison
+44 20 8652 3214

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