Jordan Phosphate Mines Co. (JPMC) and Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, have held talks about the further potential of Jordan supplying Indonesia with phosphate rock and fertilizers. They have also agreed to explore the potential of setting up a joint-venture plant for the production of NPK fertilizers in Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba, according to Petra, Jordan’s state news agency, citing JPMC.
The two parties held the talks at a May 30 meeting on the sidelines of the International Fertilizer Association’s annual conference in Vienna.
The two sides are looking at a potential production capacity of between 300,000 mt/y to 500,000 mt/y for the jv, with the entire output to be exported to the Indonesian partner.
JPMC and Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture have agreed to meet in Amman in two months time to discuss the legal framework for the proposed partnership, according to the Petra report.
The Jordanian producer already has a jv in Indonesia, in partnership with PT Petrokimia Gresik. Set up in 2010, the “PT Petro Jordan Abadi” jv produces phosphoric acid and consumes about 800,000 mt/y of phosphate rock from JPMC. The jv is a 50:50 partnership between the two companies.
A second jv, established in 2014 in partnership with PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (PKT) and also for the production of phosphoric acid, however, was liquidated due to the jv’s inability to secure licenses. JPMC held a 40% stake in the jv.