The Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden), Riyadh, said it has awarded Daelim with a Sar3.35 billion ($892 million) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build an ammonia plant at Ras Al-Khair on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. The new facility is the first plant to begin construction at the company’s planned third large-scale phosphate complex, ‘Phosphate 3.’

Upon completion of Phosphate 3, Ma’aden will increase its capacity to supply phosphate fertilizer to global markets by 3 million mt/y, with total production capacity of nearly 9 million mt/y, making Saudi Arabia the world’s third largest producer of phosphate fertilizer and the second largest exporter, the company said.

Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., South Korea, and Saudi Daelim Ltd. will jointly carry out the EPC for the construction of the 1.1 million mt/y ammonia plant, which will be implemented over 38 months.

The Phosphate 3 project is expected to cost Sar24 billion ($6.4 billion), and generate non-oil GDP growth of Sar25 billion ($ 6.7 billion) and approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Chile’s Constitutional Court on Oct. 22 postponed a decision on appeal to stop entry of China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp. from acquiring stake in SQM from Nutrien Ltd., according to Bloomberg. However, the Court is expected to take up the decision again on Oct. 25.

Both Nutrien and Tianqi Lithium expect to close the deal in the fourth quarter. Nutrien denied Chilean news reports that it has asked Indian authorities for an extension of its 18-month agreement to sell its SQM stake. The agreement ends in April 2019.

CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., and the J. R. Simplot Co., Boise, have entered into an agreement that allows CF to ship, store and distribute anhydrous ammonia from Simplot’s Rivergate Terminal in Portland, Ore., starting in 2019.

The arrangement will enable CF to meet growing demand for anhydrous ammonia in Pacific Rim countries, a region that imported over 4.1 million mt of the product in 2017. CF intends to supply the ammonia from its Medicine Hat, Alberta nitrogen complex, which has among the lowest production costs in the company’s manufacturing network. Additionally, CF anticipates selling to local customers from the terminal.

Simplot’s Rivergate Terminal is the largest deep water ammonia terminal on the U.S. West Coast, and has two 25,000 st ammonia storage tanks on site. The terminal is located on the Willamette River in Portland approximately 2.5 miles upstream from its confluence with the Columbia River.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, announced Oct. 21, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Energy, Chemicals and Resources (ECR) segment to WorleyParsons Ltd. for $3.3 billion, consisting of $2.6 billion in cash and $700 million in WorleyParsons ordinary shares. The transaction value represents a multiple of more than 11.5 times trailing twelve-month (TTM) adjusted EBITDA for the ECR business. Following the completion of the transaction, Jacobs will be focused solely on its two higher growth, higher margin lines of business – Aerospace, Technology, Environmental & Nuclear (ATEN) and Buildings, Infrastructure & Advanced Facilities (BIAF).

OCP SA, Casablanca, and Spain’s Fertinagro Biotech S.L., announced today they have completed the acquisition by OCP, via a subsidiary, of 20 percent of Fertinagro’s shares by way of a capital increase. The two companies reached an agreement for the deal in June.

All regulatory approvals have been secured and the capital increase has been approved by Fertinagro’s shareholders.

As part of the transaction, the two companies have signed an intellectual property and know-how license agreement as well as a co-development agreement. OCP said this is in line with its strategy to boost innovation and offer customised fertility solutions to meet famers’ specific needs.

Yara International ASA, Oslo, reported third-quarter net income after non-controlling interests of US$98 million (0.36 per share), compared with $90 million ($0.33 per share) a year earlier. Excluding currency effects and special items, the result was $0.57 per share compared with $0.41 per share in the third quarter 2017.

“Yara reports a 16 percent improvement in underlying EBITDA, as higher sales prices more than offset increased energy cost. Our NPK margins in particular were stronger than last year,” said Svein Tore Holsether, Yara president and CEO.

Total fertilizer deliveries were 9 percent higher compared to a year earlier, driven by the Babrala acquisition in India and the Cubatão acquisition in Brazil. Industrial deliveries were 13 percent higher than a year ago. Excluding the acquisitions, fertilizer and Industrial deliveries were respectively 3 percent lower and 6 percent higher.

SQM, Santiago, is also in talks to buy specialty fertilizer maker Haifa Chemicals, according to a report in the Calcalist. Earlier reports also have Israel Chemicals Ltd. as a contender.

Canpotex reported Oct. 17 that due to continued strong demand for potash and solid agricultural fundamentals in its offshore markets, it is fully committed on potash sales until January 2019.

The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, announced Oct. 15 that it has entered into a merger agreement with Lansing Trade Group LLC, its long-time affiliate, to acquire the 67.5 percent of Lansing equity that it does not already own for cash and stock currently valued at a total of approximately $305 million. Lansing will be integrated with The Andersons’ Grain Group, and the combined operation will be jointly led by Corey Jorgenson, president of The Andersons Grain Group, and Bill Krueger, president and CEO of Lansing Trade Group.