Saudi Ma’aden provides construction update on $7bn phosphate plant

LONDON (ICIS)–Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) on Tuesday provided an update on the construction of its $7bn Waad Al Shamal Phosphate project in the kingdom, with the facility’s ammonia plant and sulphuric acid plant nearly 40% completed.

As of 31 December 2014, project chiefs had completed 37.7% of the ammonia plant construction compared to 14.6% on 30 August of last year, while the sulphuric acid unit was 36.4% completed, versus 25.7% four months earlier, Ma’aden said in a short statement to the Saudi stock exchange.

The company announced work on the diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant was 18% completed entering 2015, versus 8% on 30 August, while progress on the phosphoric acid meant it was 24.1% completed at the end of 2014, double that of late August.

The ore beneficiation plant at the Ras Al-Khair site on the kingdom’s coast was 14.4% completed heading into 2015, compared to 9.2% on 30 August, Ma’aden added.

The construction update came in a regulatory filing that revealed none of the proceeds of a late 2014 rights issue were contributed by Maaden to the Maaden Waad Al Shamal Phosphate Company last year.

The Waad Al Shamal phosphate project, which is planned to be commissioned in 2016, is a joint venture of Ma’aden (60%), US fertilizer major Mosaic Company (25%) and Saudi petrochemical giant SABIC (15% ).