Wa’ad Al Shamal

Portland acted as financial adviser on the US$10 billion Wa’ad Al Shamal phosphate mine and fertiliser complex in Saudi Arabia.

Project Financing — Saudi Arabia Phosphate Mine. Financial Advisor.

• Manufacturing is carried out in two locations remote from each other, connected by a 1,600km rail link.
• At Umm Wu’al in the north of Saudi Arabia (close to the Jordanian border): phosphate mine and beneficiation plant, sulphuric acid plant, phosphoric acid plant, purified phosphoric acid plant, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) plant, di-calcium phosphate and mono-calcium phosphate (DCP/MCP) plant and related infrastructure.
• At Ras Al-Khair in the eastern province: 1.1 mtpa ammonia plant, 2.2 mtpa mono-ammonium phosphate / di-ammonium phosphate (MAP/DAP) plant and 708 ktpa compound fertiliser nitrogen phosphate potash (NPK and NP) plants.
• Construction was implemented under 7 separate EPC packages on a lump-sum turn-key (LSTK) basis with Fluor Corporation and Bechtel Corporation acting as project management contractors for the process plant and infrastructure, respectively. Jacobs Engineering was responsible for preparation of the FEED and tendering of the EPC packages.
• Sponsor completion support comprised a combination of project cost contingencies, committed standby funding and a debt service undertaking.
• The project benefits from competitively priced natural gas, molten sulphur and other feedstocks (limestone, soda ash, caustic soda, kaolin, potash and filler).
• The sponsors are responsible for marketing the final products (DAP/MAP and NP/NPK fertilizer) and some intermediate phosphate products.
• Total debt US$6.5bn provided by KEXIM, KSURE, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and a syndicate of commercial banks. Debt tenor: 15 years.