Uhde pockets huge order from Saudi Arabia

Uhde Group from Dortmund, Germany, which is part of ThyssenKrupp, has been awarded a major contract at Jubail Industry City, Saudi Arabia, for the turnkey construction of a fertiliser production complex against fierce competition of Italian and Japanese bidders.

The client is the Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company, an affiliate of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation, one of the world's largest petrochemical groups.

The overall complex will consist of a single train ammonia plant with a capacity of 3,300 tonnes per day (the largest ever world-wide) and a 3,250 tonne-per-day urea plant as well as various other facilities. Natural gas extracted in Saudi Arabia will be used as feedstock.

The Uhde group will be responsible for the entire basic and detailed engineering and procurement process as well as the project management, construction, plant commissioning and training of the operating personnel. The end product will be marketed world-wide by SABIC, the largest international fertiliser exporter (5.5 million tonnes per year).

For Uhde, this is the fourth contract for a large fertiliser complex in the past 24 months, the other three having been awarded by Qatar, Turkmenistan and Qatar.

Dr. Wolfgang Essig, Chairman of Uhde's Executive Board, told the AME Info German Trade Review: 'With this contract we have now become a world leader in the field of high-capacity ammonia plants, and this constitutes a major step into the future of Uhde's ammonia technology.' The completion of the plant is scheduled for February 2006.