Cairo-Sorfert Algerie (Sorfert), a new joint venture of Orascom Construction Industries, (OCI) Cairo, and Algerian state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach, has been formed to construct a greenfield ammonia/urea fertilizer plant with an annual capacity of 1 million mt in addition to an ammonia plant with an annual capacity of 0.7 million mt. OCI has 51 percent in the jv and Sonatrach 49 percent. The plants will be located in the industrial zone of Arzew in Wahran province near the Mediterranean coastline to facilitate export operations. Sonatrach has committed to enter into a 20-year gas supply agreement with Sorfert. OCI is acting as the lead developer of the project. White & Case (London) is the appointed legal counsel, and Societe Generale is the appointed financial advisor to the Sorfert project. Initial equity payments will be immediately used to complete engineering plans for the new plants and secure critical components of the plant’s equipment, which are considered long lead items. The negotiation of all other project agreements is well underway and is nearing completion, according to OCI. OCI expects 70 percent of the total investment cost to be solicited from Algerian and international banks as project finance debt in a limited recourse structure. OCI targets to commission the production lines during 2010.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain