Sonatrach and Chinese Partners Plan Algerian Phosphates Project
Algerian firms Asmidal, a subsidiary of state-owned oil group Sonatrach, and Manal have signed an agreement with Chinese firms Wuhuan Engineering and Yunnan Tain'An Chemical to form a joint venture for an integrated phosphates project. The new company – Algerian Chinese Fertilizers – will be owned 56% by the Algerian partners and 44% by the Chinese.
About $7 billion will be invested in the complex, which will produce 5.4 million t/y of fertilizer. The project will include the development and exploitation of a phosphate deposit at Bled El Hadba, Djebel Onk in Tebessa, chemical conversion of the phosphates in Oued Kébérit, Souk Ahras, then fertilizer manufacture in Hadjar Soud, Skikda.
Plans also include setting up dedicated facilities at the port of Annaba. Once operational, the complex will create about 6,000 direct and 24,000 indirect jobs. A timescale for the project was not revealed.
The selection of the Chinese firms was the result of an open call for expressions of interest launched by the Algerian companies last May. Wuhuan is an international R&D and engineering technology and services company, while Yunnan Tian’An Chemical is a nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer producer with a marketing network that stretches across China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the US.
