Abu Dhabi-based Ruwais Fertilisers Industries Company (Fertil) has awarded a German/South Korean consortium the $1.2bn contract to expand its fertilisers complex at Ruwais.

Fertil sent Germany’s Uhde and South Korea’s Samsung Engineering a letter on 27 October confirming they had won the engineering, procurement and construction and technology contract, say sources close to the deal.

MEED reported in September that the consortium had submitted the lowest price of about $1.2bn for the deal in a competitive bidding round.

In October, it emerged that France’s Total, a minority shareholder in Fertil, had yet to approve the deal (MEED 13:10:09).

“Total has now approved the deal and a letter of award has been sent out,” says one senior source close to the companies. “Samsung will start mobilising soon.”

The consortium will build a 2,000-tonne-a-day (t/d) ammonia plant and a 3,500-t/d urea train next to Fertil’s existing complex at Ruwais on Abu Dhabi’s Gulf coast.

The consortium will use Uhde’s technology to run the ammonia plant and licence technology from Holland’s Stamicarobon to run the urea train.

The deal is the second contract to build major new fertiliser production capacity in the region this year. In early October, Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) awarded a $610m contract to Italy’s Saipem and South Korea’s Engineering & Construction to expand its fertiliser complex at Mesaieed.

At the beginning of this year, contractors feared Fertil and Qafco might put their schemes on hold as global demand for fertilisers plunged.