RIYADH, 9 July 2007 -- Maaden and Samsung Engineering signed yesterday a contract to build the world's largest ammonia plant. The plant is the final major infrastructure project in Maaden's phosphate production project, which will make the Kingdom a world leader in phosphate production. The output of the completed project will supply 10 percent of the world's annual requirement for phosphates.

The SR3.6-billion contract with Samsung Engineering will deliver an ammonia production plant with a production capacity of 3,300 tons per day. The contract was signed by Abdallah Dabbagh, president and CEO of Maaden, Yeon-Joo Jung, president & CEO of Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd., and Jae Seop Jeong, managing director of Samsung Saudi Arabia.

"With the signing of this contract, Maaden has taken another major step toward the realization of the world's largest fully integrated mine to product di-ammonium phosphate," said Dabbagh at the signing.

Dabbagh said that Maaden chose Samsung Engineering as their partner in the project because the South Korean giant had, through the German company Udhe, the world's leading technology in the field and a strong track record both in Saudi Arabia and internationally.

"They have already worked closely with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), and this has contributed to the development of a strong working relationship between us," he said.

In March this year Maaden signed an multi-billion-riyal deal with SABIC as part of the phosphate project.

The contract with Samsung Engineering covers the engineering, procurement, construction commissioning and start-up of the plant to be located at the Minerals Industry City at Ras Az-Zour.

Work will start in the final quarter of this year and is scheduled for completion in December 2010. Dabbagh said that there were other, smaller supporting infrastructure projects to complete, but the major pieces of this immense were now secured.

The primary purpose of the ammonia plant is to supply liquid ammonia to the di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) plant, for the production of DAP/MAP fertilizer. An important co-product is steam for the generation of power, and more than 400,000 metric tons will be exported to international markets using Ras Az-Zour port.

The plant is based on Uhde technology, Germany, and will comprise several different units: natural gas compression and desulfurization; reforming; waste heat recovery and boilers, CO shift conversion; CO2 removal and methanation; syngas compression; ammonia synthesis; refrigeration; ammonia and hydrogen recovery; ammonia storage and shipping facilities and associated utilities.

"Samsung Engineering has secured comparative advantage through ahead-of-schedule delivery and outstanding quality since it first entered Saudi Arabia in 2001," said Yeon-Joo Jung. "With our new partners, we are bringing the DAP industry into a new generation of technology and innovation. This plant will be second to none in the world with its size and capacity". Asked about the environmental impact of the DAP project, Dabbagh said that ten years ago, Maaden, realizing the importance of environmental protection in the mining industry submitted a series of proposals to the government. "The project is being built to meet the Saudi national environmental standards, those of the Royal Commission -- often tougher -- and international standards," he said, "and we are very proud of that."

The output of Maaden's phosphate project will represent around ten percent of the world's global traded supply of DAP fertilizer and will be essential for growing crops to feed the world for decades to come. As an integrated project it will create a significant number of new direct and indirect jobs for Saudis, especially in the northern and eastern regions of the Kingdom.

After mining and beneficiation at the Al-Jalamid mine site, the phosphate raw material will be transported to Ras Az-Zour by the new north-south railway for further processing. The phosphate ore reserves in the north of the Kingdom will be surface mined and have estimated recoverable resources of 1.6 billion tons with further resources of 1.5 billion tones in reserve.

By Roger Harrison

© Arab News 2007