Azerbaijan, Baku, March 9 / Trend I. Khalilova /
Korean company Samsung ENg. / Construction has been chosen as the general contractor for the turnkey construction of a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Sumgait, the government's report, presented to the parliament, said today.
"Samsung ENg. / Construction won the tender for the carbamide plant construction," the report says.
The plant will be on the balance sheet at "Azerikimya" production association. It is part of SOCAR.
The new plant will be located in Azerikimya's industrial area in Sumgait. The annual design capacity of the plant will be about 600,000 carbamide per year (2,000 tons per day) and 1,200 tons of ammonia per day.
The plant is to be commissioned in late 2014 - early 2015. Around 3,000 seasonal workers are expected to be provided with jobs during the construction work. After the plant is commissioned, around 500 people will get jobs.
The funds for the plant construction will be allocated from the state budget, as it will be built within the State Programme on Reliable Food Supplies for the Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2008-2015.
SOCAR has been doing research in this field for three years to implement this project. In this regard, SOCAR experts studied the experience of other countries that have already created carbamide production. In particular, SOCAR specialists visited such countries as Egypt, Iran, and Amman while preparing the project.
At present, these companies are more common in the countries with large reserves of natural gas, as this production is based on natural gas. In particular, they are widely used in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
The plant construction project is cost-effective because it has relation to the production related to food. It is aimed at the development of agriculture and food security. The second factor is that the country has significant gas reserves.
According to the experience of other countries, the payback of carbamide producing enterprises is about 6-7 years.
After the plant construction, Azerbaijan's demand for carbamide will be fully satisfied. The country will also be able to export its products. The greatest demand for these products is on the Asian market. There is no carbamide production on the Turkish market. It is a promising direction for its export.
Turkey annually uses a large volume of this type of fertilizers and there must not be any problems with the export of Azerbaijani goods to the country.
Georgia is also considered as one of the target markets, as there is no such enterprise there. Ammonium nitrate is mainly used as fertilizer. SOCAR plans to begin constructing a similar plant in Georgia.
Earlier, SOCAR planned to build two similar plants at the same time. However, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said that the plant construction in Azerbaijan is planned to be launched in the first quarter of 2013, and in Georgia - at the end of next year.
The plants will be similar in all respects, particularly, in terms of production. The total annual capacity of the enterprises will hit 1.2-1.3 million tons.
Azerbaijan is currently importing small quantities of carbamide from Russia but the import of carbamide from Russia becomes expensive because of restrictions for the export of such products in the country.
Carbamide is the most common form of nitrogen fertilizer. It is safe in terms of operation and harmless to health.
Sumgayit city is located in the east of Azerbaijan, 30 kilometers from Baku.