Bids for the turnkey contract to build a fertiliser complex at Port Qasim are due by 16 May (MEED 12:11:93).

Prequalifiers are understood to include Italy's Snamprogetti, Uhde of Germany, Technip and Krebs, both of France, and Canada's SNC Lavalin. The contract will involve engineering, procuring and installing a urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant, Pakistan's first, in Port Qasim. It also involves moving an ammonia plant to the site from the US.

The complex will produce 1,670 tonnes a day (t/d) of urea and 1,350 t/d of DAP, using the ammonia as feedstock. Its estimated cost is $400 million.

A power generation unit, water treatment plant and storage tanks will also be part of the project. Contractors have been asked to bid for three different fuel options for power generation, using natural gas, crude oil or naphtha.

The client is the local Fauji Fertiliser Company. It is seeking export credit financing and has asked bidders to include financing arrangements in their offers. The World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) is looking at the possibility of participating in the scheme.