Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo), a subsidiary of Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), has announced that it will build a new $1.4 billion greenfield nitrogen fertilizer production plant in southeast Iowa, US.
The new plant will be a natural gas-based fertilizer plant and will use proven process technologies from Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, Maire Tecnimont Stamicarbon and ThyssenKrupp Uhde.
Located in Wever, within Lee County near the Mississippi River, the plant will produce 1.5-2 million metric tons per year of ammonia, urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), as well as, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), an environmentally-friendly fluid used to reduce emissions in diesel engines.
The $1.4 billion investment will be funded with a combination of equity and a tax-exempt bond issuance. The Iowa Finance Authority has authorized IFCo to access bonding capacity under its private activity tax-exempt Midwestern Disaster Area bond program.
In addition, the Iowa Economic Development Authority board has approved a state financial incentive package expected to provide state tax relief in the order of $100 million. The Iowa Department of Transportation board will also consider financial assistance for project-related public infrastructure improvements.
Construction on the nitrogen plant will begin at the end of 2012 and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2015.