Dec 20, 2016
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has announced plans to expand its phosphate based business with the addition of a third project to manufacture phosphate fertilizers which will be executed gradually over the coming seven years. Upon completion of this third project, Saudi Arabia will increase its potential supply to global markets by 3 million tonnes, reaching a total of nearly 9 million tonnes per year of phosphate fertilizer products. Already marketing its fertilizer products to over 15 global markets, Ma’aden and its phosphate business is set to become an even bigger contributor to the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of economic diversification.
“Ma’aden will continue to develop global partnerships and grow its presence across the phosphate value chain to ensure that a variety of high quality Saudi phosphate fertilizer products are delivered to international markets” said Ma’aden President and CEO Khalid Al-Mudaifer. “We intend to reinforce Ma’aden’s position as a reliable contributor to the world’s food security, meeting farmers’ growing demand for high quality soil nutrients at the right time and place”, Al-Mudaifer added.
Ma’aden’s phosphate business is based on an extensive resource base; the Kingdom’s phosphate resources in the northern region of the country amount to 7% of the global total. Ma’aden is already a significant supplier of phosphate fertilizers to global markets through its first project, the Ma’aden Phosphate Company (MPC) a joint venture between Ma’aden and SABIC. MPC is a SAR 21 billion ($5.6 bn) vertically integrated project from mine to fertilizers, that began operations in 2011 and currently has the capacity to produce 2.9 million tonnes per year.
Ma’aden’s second world-class phosphate project is now completing construction. The SAR 30 billion ($8 bn) Ma’aden Wa’ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company is a joint venture between Ma’aden, SABIC and the Mosaic Company. The joint venture has already started producing ammonia, while its remaining plants, including DAP and MAP, are expected to start production in 2017, reaching a capacity of 2.9 million tonnes of phosphate per year.
The recently announced Ma’aden third phosphate project is expected to add a further 3 million tonnes per year of production capacity by 2024. While the project is still subject to completion of feasibility studies and consents, costs are estimated to be SAR 24 billion ($6.4 billion).