Updates came in last week from the various entities that I call Orascom, including OCI Partners, with its expansion underway at Beaumont, TX, and OCI NV, which owns the Iowa Fertilizer Company greenfield at Wever, IA.

The Beaumont plant’s expansion has been pushed back to 2015: four weeks of turnaround work will now begin in January, “in order to avoid the holiday season,” and other more technical reasons. The debottlenecking project’s cost has also ticked up by another $20 million. Members will find an updated project summary in my Research Note.

The Wever greenfield is still on schedule for start-up at the end of 2015, but costs have risen by $100 million to a new total of $1.9 billion. Again, a full project summary is available for Members in my Research Note.

All that aside, team Orascom is probably far more pleased that they won their appeal against the Egyptian Tax Authority, saving them around $1 billion from an “unsubstantiated tax evasion claim” made by “the former President of the previous regime.” They say this is good news not just for Orascom, “but also for the rule of law and the general investment climate in Egypt.”