Oman’s Salalah Methanol Company (SMC) is expected to seek a loan of more than $300m for its ammonia plant, banking sources have told MEED.

Work on the syndicated loan is expected to begin in the second half of 2016.

Technical bids for the 1000 tonnes a-day plant were submitted in May.

The bidders for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract are understood to be:

• CTCI Corporation (Taiwan)
• GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Hanwha Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Larsen & Toubro (India)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• SNC Lavalin (Canada)

SMC is co-owned by state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Takamul Investment Company.

OOC should be able to secure good pricing on its borrowing. However, the continuing tight liquidity in the Omani banking sector means that their participation in the syndication will be limited. Regional and international banks are expected to be more competitive on price.

The Omani interbank overnight rate was at around 0.4 per cent in May 2016, compared to 0.15 in May 2015, pushing up loan pricing.