Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited (IEFCL) has signed a financing package in Dubai to construct a greenfield $1.2 billion urea fertilizer project in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The financing for the project includes $800 million in debt and $400 million in equity, said a statement from the company.

The IEFCL project will play a large role in addressing critical Nigerian and West African requirement for economically priced fertilizers.

Developed by Indorama Corporation, a leading global producer of petrochemicals and Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, the second largest polyolefins producer in Africa, IEFCL will substitute fertilizer imports to address Nigeria and West Africa’s growing demand for fertilizer by utilizing Nigeria’s vast hydrocarbon reserves.

Given its highly competitive cost and logistical position, IEFCL will also export urea to North American and Latin American markets.

The hitech facility will produce over 4000 MT per day of high-quality, granulated urea, an amount capable of meeting the entire domestic Nigerian demand.

“We continue to see significant growth prospects in Africa and Middle East. After investing more than $500 million over the past several years, Indorama is now setting up the world’s largest Urea plant at its petrochemical complex in Nigeria., said Amit Lohia, Group managing director for Indorama Corp.

"The investment of more than $1.2 billion includes a port and gas pipeline. With a rich pipeline of projects, Indorama is aiming to create Africa’s largest petrochemical hub in Nigeria," he stated.

“IEFCL will play a key role in boosting Nigeria’s crop yields going forward,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service