Richards Bay Fertiliser Plant Expansion, South Africa

The Indian Ocean Fertiliser Company (IOF), a subsidiary of Foskor, received final approval in 1999 to expand its Richards Bay-based phosphoric acid and granular fertiliser production plant. IOF believes that the expansion will raise the plant turnover from $120 million to $217 million. The IOF plant produces phosphoric acid mainly for export. As well as the actual fertiliser plant itself, the project also requires the construction of raw materials storage, conveyor systems, the export tank farm and utilities.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RICHARDS BAY FERTILISER PLANT

The project will take place on a brown-field site where the new facilities will be accommodated. This will require some early site works to institute a re-routing of services and the demolition of certain existing site facilities. The upgrade meets the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Traditional and Environmental Affairs' environmental approval conditions.

According to the company, the expansion had been necessitated by IOF's inability to meet demands from its growing list of international customers. IDC funding would result in a 77% increase in IOF's production capacity. The expansion project will increase Indian Ocean Fertilizer's present production capacity of 450,000 tons of phosphate per annum by 330,000 tons to around 780,000 tons per annum of phosphate.

Various services and utilities are being constructed and in some cases existing facilities are being moved or demolished to make way for the new plant. The following facilities are being constructed: a sulphuric acid plant with a capacity of 3,000 tons per day. A phosphoric acid plant with a capacity of 11,000 tons per day. Work is also being done on related infrastructure and utilities.

RICHARDS BAY PROJECT TIMESCALE

Construction activities started in March 2000 and commissioning is scheduled to start during the first half of 2002. Construction activities will peak in the third quarter of 2001. The IOF project therefore comprises a 112-week upgrade to the sulphuric acid plant and a 118-week upgrade to the phosphoric acid plant.

BOOST TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY

KwaZulu-Natal should receive a substantial boost to its economy. The expansion is expected to contribute $33 million of total value added to the economy. The figure for the rest of South Africa is $34 million. The total effect on South Africa GDP is expected to be $67 million.

CURRENT PROJECT STATUS

The basic engineering packages are complete for both plants. Piling works are complete for the whole new extension. Civil works are ongoing in both process plants. Civil works are ongoing in the off-sites. The construction of the large tanks is ongoing on site. Vessel construction and prefabrication are ongoing in various workshops. The mechanical and piping packages are under clarification. The electrical instrumentation packages have been received from tenders and are under review by Sulphos/IOF. Equipment is now being shipped from the US and Europe where the specific process equipment has been ordered. The local industry is also supplying equipment, which is under delivery to the site.

SULPHOS JOINT VENTURE AND THE IOF PLANT

The first phase of the upgrade of the Indian Ocean Fertiliser Plant in Richards Bay was awarded to the Sulphos Joint Venture.

The Sulphos Joint Venture, which consists of four engineering companies, SNC-Lavalin Europe, Monsanto, B E Morgan Associates and Engineering Management Services (Pty) Ltd (EMS) of South Africa are implementing the upgrade. These four companies were involved in the engineering and construction of the original IOF plant in the mid 70's.

SNC-Lavalin Europe is responsible for the basic engineering of the phosphoric acid plant while Monsanto is responsible for the basic engineering of the sulphuric acid plant. These packages will be handed over to the Sulphos Joint Venture to complete as an EPCM Services Contract. EMS will be primarily responsible for the execution of these two process plants. The off-sites, consisting of raw materials storage, conveyor systems, the export tank farm and utilities, will be the prime responsibility of BE Morgan Associates. The Sulphos Joint Venture will manage project implementation, through detail engineering, procurement and construction supervision.