Samsung invests $40 million in Perdaman’s $3.5-billion urea plant
06 Aug 2009
Korean giant Samsung has agreed to invest $40 million in Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers' $3.5-billion Collie urea plant, Australia's first commercial coal gasification project.
Samsung has already won the lead engineering contract for the plant, which is expected to begin production in the second half of 2013.
The agreement was signed by Perdaman managing director Vikas Rambal, regional development minister Brendon Grylls, and Samsung C&T executive senior vice-president Chang Soo Kim in Perth yesterday.
"We are delighted to be the recipients of this major investment by one of the world's premier industrial conglomerates. Samsung's participation is a public show of faith in our project and its viability and we are pleased to have them as partners in our project." Rambal said.
Perdaman Industries now has the full $500 million in equity required for the sub-bituminous coal-to-urea plant and is confident it will also secure $2 billion in loans to start production by August 2013.
Rambal said gasification was a clean technology that would produce more than two million tonnes of urea fertiliser annually, worth $850 million in exports.