South Korea's construction giant Daelim Industrial Company has been awarded a SR3.4-billion ($892 million) contract by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) to build the first plant in the company’s third large-scale phosphate complex (Phosphate 3) in the kingdom.

As per the deal, Daelim Industrial Company and Saudi Daelim will jointly carry out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the development of the 1.1-million tonne per annum ammonia plant in Ras Al Khair area on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, said a statement from Saudi Ma'aden.

The project will be implemented over the next 38 months, it stated.

The move is aimed at boosting Ma’aden’s phosphate production capacity to nine million tonnes, thus securing the kingdom’s global position as a top phosphate producer and exporter, remarked Ma’aden president and CEO Darren Davis after signing the agreement with Daelim Senior Executive vice-president and CEO Heon Jae Yim at the Ma’aden headquarters in Riyadh.

This is the first of the Phosphate 3 plants to begin construction. The entire project is expected to cost SR24 billion ($6.4 billion).

The project will generate non-oil GDP growth of SR25 billion ($6.7 billion) and approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.

"Today’s announcement is the next step in securing Ma’aden’s leadership position in the global phosphate fertilizer market," stated Davis.

“With today’s award and the launch of Phosphate 3, we are building on our existing world-class phosphate business, ensuring that the phosphate resources of the kingdom are developed efficiently, and delivering a meaningful contribution to the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of economic diversification for the kingdom,” he added.

Heon Jae Yim said: "As a leader in global EPC, it is our pleasure to have another opportunity to work for Ma’aden. With Ma’aden’s superb leadership and our accumulated expertise and know-how in project management, we recently successfully completed the ammonia plant for the Ma’aden Waad Al Shamal Phosphate Company."

"We are very proud to once again serve Ma’aden and the kingdom, and are committed to the success of this new project for Phosphate 3," he added.

According to Davis, upon completion of Phosphate 3, Ma’aden will increase its capacity to supply phosphate fertiliser to global markets by three million tonnes per year, with a total production capacity of nearly nine million tonnes.

This will make Saudi Arabia the world’s third largest producer of phosphate fertiliser and the second largest exporter, he added.-TradeArabia News Service