Ma'aden Phosphate Company (MPC), the joint venture between Ma'aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, and Saudi Basic Industies Corporation (SABIC), on Tuesday signed a $1.067 billion loan agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). The loan has a term of 16 years which includes an initial no repayment period of four years. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Abdallah Dabbagh, chairman of MPC, said: “We are very pleased today to be signing this loan agreement with the Public Investment Fund which represents another major forward step for the delivery of our phosphate project. We have already begun construction of a number of plants at the Al-Jalamid and Ras Az Zawr complexes.” The syndicated facilities announced last month comprise $2.06 billion 16-year facilities, a $200 million 16-year Korean Export Insurance Corporation covered facility, a $400 million 16-year facility provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and a $100 million revolving working capital facility. Direct funding will also come from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for $135 million. PPC will exploit the phosphate deposit at Al-Jalamid in the north of the Kingdom and utilize local natural gas and sulfur resources to manufacture diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer. Its work involves the development and operation of two sites. The first is at Al-Jalamid where there will be a mine and beneficiation plant. The second is Ras Az Zawr on the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf. __
