Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) of Cairo plans to build a fertilizer plant in southeastern Iowa for wholly owned subsidiary Iowa Fertilizer Co. Construction is expected to be completed during 2015. The plant will cost an estimated $1.4 billion.
The plant will use production process technologies from Kellogg Brown & Root LLC (KBR), Stamicarbon BV (Maire Tecnimont Group), and ThyssenKrupp Uhde (Uhde) to produce 1.5-2 million tonnes/year of ammonia, urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), a fuel additive.
Maire Tecnimont will provide engineering and procurement services for the ammonia line while Uhde will provide EP services for the urea, UAN, and DEF lines.
OCI also is building a fertilizer plant in Egypt in cooperation with Marie Tecnimont and KBR.
OCI Fertilizer Group owns and operates nitrogen fertilizer plants in Egypt, the Netherlands, the US, and Algeria. The group ranks among the world’s top fertilizer producers with a production capacity that will exceed 7 million tpy.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and OCI Chief Executive Officer Nassef Sawiris announced OCI chose Iowa over Illinois for the plant’s location. Sawiris said OCI is evaluating other US opportunities and is expanding its investments abroad.
