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SPIC JAFZ hopes to get gas supply soon
India's Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC), which is setting up a $200 million urea/ammonia plant at the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, says the plant is almost 70 per cent ready and that production would start as soon it starts getting gas, the company chairman said.
A.C. Muthiah, chairman of SPIC, visiting the UAE as part of a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) delegation, said talks are on with the Dubai government for getting gas supply.
"We are waiting for the gas supply and that talks are on with the Dubai authorities. Dubai will start supplying as soon as they have surplus gas," he added.
"The Dubai Government has reiterated its earlier commitment of assigning top priority to SPIC projects in the allocation of gas and assured speedy execution of the agreement," he said.
Muthiah said SPIC is looking at various other ways to obtain gas for the project. But he did not give give any details.
In 2001, the Dubai Supply Authority signed an agreement for supplying SPIC with 40,000 million British thermal units a day of natural gas for 15 years.
SPIC Fertiliser and Chemicals Limited is a joint venture between Indian fertiliser major SPIC and the Dubai-based ETA. The project was conceived in 1996. So far SPIC has invested $35 million in the project.
The plant will have a capacity to produce 400,000 tonnes per annum of urea and 226,000TPA of ammonia. The products would be exported to India and some other Asian countries.
Work at the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone plant started in 1998 after SPIC bought a used fertiliser plant from Sri Lanka.
The $1 billion Indian group's other project in the Middle East is in Jordan.
Muthiah said the project has been making profits from the day operations started around five years ago.
SPIC has 56 per cent stake in Indo-Jordan Chemicals, while Jordan Phosphate Manufacturing Company has 34 per cent and the Arab Investment Company, 10 per cent stake.
The Jordan facility produces 200,000 metric tonnes of phosphoric acid. All the supplies is exported to India, where it is used for making fertilisers like DAP and NPK.
SPIC also does refinery maintenance services in the Gulf region.
Joint venture Gulf SPIC Contracting company has been maintaining the Mina Abdullah refinery of the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC) for the last five years and the contract has been renewed for five more years. The SPIC team in Kuwait is 1200 strong.
Also SPIC has a joint venture in India with Technip of France. "This venture does lot of service work overseas," he said, adding that the company has deputed some officials in Abu Dhabi to offer services work in the region.
SPIC's manufacturing complex in Tuticorin has capacities to manufacture over 600,000 tonnes of urea and over 4000,000 tonnes of complex fertilisers.
SPIC, with a turnover of over $1 billion, with a focus on fertilisers, also has interest in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals sectors.
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