Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Company (Safco), an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), has signed a contract with the German engineering company, UHDE GmbH, for the engineering, procurement and construction of one of the world’s largest ammonia and urea plant complexes - Safco 4.

The facility will be constructed at Al Jubail Industrial City on the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia, and is scheduled for completion by late 2005.  Plant capacity will be 1.1 million tonnes per year (tpy) of ammonia, and 1.1 million tpy of urea.

Vice chairman and CEO of Sabic Mohamed Al Mady, who is also chairman and managing director of Safco, said:  “This expansion will make Safco one of the largest ammonia and urea plants in the world, and will advance Sabic’s position in the global fertiliser market.”

Commercial production at Safco 4 is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2006, which should tie in with an expected increase in demand for urea throughout international markets.

Following the expansion project, Safco’s total annual capacity will increase to 2.6 million tpy of urea, and 2.3 million tpy of ammonia.