The new urea plant will have a capacity of 3,250 tonnes a day, with technology understood to have been licensed from Stamicarbon of The Netherlands. It will use ammonia feedstock produced at the complex that is currently destined for export.

Due to technology licensing restrictions, bidding for the estimated $500m engineering, procurement and construction contract will be limited to only eight international companies which have licensing agreements with Stamicarbon.

The firms are Ceamag of France, Chemoprojekt of the Czech Republic, China’s Chengda Engineering Corporation, Chiyoda Corporation and Kawasaki Plant Systems, both of Japan, the US’ KBR, Italy’s Tecnimont and Germany’s Uhde. Not all the licensed contractors are expected to bid.

Safco originally postponed plans for the project last year because of rising costs, according to Ahmed al-Qahtani, general manager of operations and planning at the fertiliser strategic business unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Safco’s main shareholder (MEED 7:12:08).

However, the rising price of urea fertiliser on the international market made a compelling business case for going ahead with the urea train.

Safco is the kingdom’s only world-scale fertiliser complex, although Sabic and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) are building a multi-billion-dollar phosphate-based fertiliser complex at Ras al-Zour.