UPDATED: 05/01/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Midwest Fertilizer Company LLC (Fatima Group)
PROJECT: Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer complex[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]
COST (reported): $2.8 billion
JOB CREATION (reported): 185 permanent, 2,500 construction
START-UP DATE (reported): 2022
CAPACITY | USGS[1] | COMPANY[2] | PERMIT[3] | ADJUSTED[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ammonia | 2,200 mtpd | [Membership required] | [Membership required] | |
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] KBR press release. Sources: linked below. [3] [Membership required]. Sources: linked below. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology. |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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[memberful has_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]SUMMARY STATUS: Planning phase
Major setbacks in 2016, when the EPC contract was awarded and then fell apart following a corruption scandal and a failure to secure equity financing. Major setbacks predicted in 2017 and confirmed in 2018, related to debt financing. Air permits were extended in 2017 but any progress now depends on winning a legal argument with the IRS.
COST: $2.8 billion, down from $3 billion, originally $1.8 billion
JOB CREATION: 185 permanent, 2,500 construction
START-UP DATE: 2022, originally 2017
LIKELIHOOD: Unlikely — see Methodology
CAPACITY | USGS[1] | COMPANY[2] | PERMIT[3] | ADJUSTED[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ammonia | 2,200 mtpd | 2,400 mtpd | 876,000 mtpy | |
Nitric Acid | 1,840 mtpd | 671,600 mtpy | ||
Urea | 2,640 mtpd GROSS 1,320 mtpd (granulated) |
963,600 mtpy GROSS 481,800 mtpy (granulated) |
||
UAN | 5,160 mtpd | 1,883,400 mtpy | ||
DEF | 1,190 stpd | 394,036 mtpy | ||
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] KBR press release. Sources: linked below. [3] Title V permit documents. Sources: linked below. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year assuming operations for 365 days per year; based on air permit. See Methodology. |
FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Ammonia, Urea, UAN, DEF
RESEARCH NOTES:
2018 started badly for Midwest Fertilizer Company’s (MFC) proposed nitrogen complex in Mount Vernon, IL, when the IRS confirmed its provisional ruling that MFC’s $1.259 billion tax-free bonds were not, in fact, tax-free. If MFC can convince the IRS that these bonds are truly tax-free then the project might move forward, but this seems unlikely.
Without bond financing, it is hard for me to see how this project is viable.
Nonetheless, in December 2017, regional economic development executives were quoted in the local press expressing the hope that Midwest Fertilizer might finally break ground in 2018:
“They are still working through the process. Nothing negative has happened. They are telling us by the end of the first quarter, or early second, they will be ready to break ground,” said Greg Wathen, director of the Economic Development Corp. of Southwest Indiana … Wathen said the project is complex because of issues such as utilities and financing.
“It’s not something that’s simple,” Wathen said. “I wish it were.”
Courier & Press: Seven local business stories to watch in 2018, 12/25/2017
A few days after those optimistic words were printed, MFC disclosed the negative news that the IRS had made its “Adverse Determination,” and MFC’s tax-free bonds were no longer tax-free:
The Company hereby gives notice that the IRS has issued a Notice of Proposed Adverse Determination with respect to each of the Bonds and the Refunded Bonds to the County and the Authority, respectively. Such Notices state that the IRS has made a proposed determination that the Bonds and the Refunded Bonds are not qualified tax-exempt Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds and therefore the interest paid to the holders thereof is not excludable from gross income under Section 103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Midwest Fertilizer Company, EMMA notice [PDF], 01/05/2018
2017: IRS examination of the tax status of the bonds
In January 2017, MFC disclosed that the IRS had begun investigating its $1.259 billion bond issue, saying that the bonds had been “selected for examination to determine compliance with federal tax requirements.” (This was not unusual activity for the IRS: it had recently run a similar examination into the tax-exempt bonds issued by OCI for its greenfield in Wever, IA. For those bonds, the IRS found no cause to rescind their tax-free status.)
However, in July 2017, MFC disclosed that the IRS had sent a Notice of Proposed Issue, stating that interest paid on the bonds should be taxable after all, which would have severe consequences for the financing of the Mount Vernon plant. The full decision by the IRS came in January 2018, although MFC claims it is trying to convince the IRS to reverse its findings. The outcome of such an appeal is unclear.
The IRS has contended that the Bonds … do not meet certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code … and are therefore not valid tax-exempt bonds and the interest paid to the holders thereof is not excludable from gross income …
The Company is responding to the IRS. While the outcome of discussions cannot be predicted, the Company and counsel continue to be confident that there should be no change to the tax-exempt status of the Bonds or the Refunded Bonds.
Electronic Municipal Market Access, Disclosure by Midwest Fertilizer Company, 07/27/2017
That statement is not technically correct because outcomes can be predicted: it is my opinion that MFC will fail in its challenge of the IRS’s decision. I might be wrong, but I think it’s unlikely that the IRS will be swayed.
I do not know how long it takes to challenge the IRS’s proposed decision but I assume that MFC will not attempt to re-market the bonds while this is unresolved. The project is effectively stalled, therefore, as it cannot reach financial close without this debt in place, and construction cannot begin without financing.
Status of the EPC agreement
According to a MFC statement via e-mail in July 2017, “We continue to work on an EPC contract with TKIS [ThyssenKrupp Industrial Services] and we are making good progress. We estimate a start date for construction in Q2 2018.” However, in March 2017, the project sponsor, Pakistani tycoon Arif Habib, said in an interview in Bloomberg that they are currently (still) “looking for a partner to start work.”
Back in January 2016, the company finally awarded an EPC contract to TKIS. In November 2016, however, that EPC contract was the source of a scandal involving accusations of kickbacks, inappropriate gifts, and corruption. Within a couple of weeks, the EPC contract had been terminated. In November 2016, MFC said this:
Midwest Fertilizer was notified of the contract termination last week and since then, senior management from Midwest Fertilizer and TKIS have been in communication to discuss how best to move forward with an EPC contract. Midwest Fertilizer remains confident the Indiana fertilizer manufacturing plant will be successful and Midwest Fertilizer is working toward a groundbreaking in 2017.
Midwest Fertilizer Company statement, 12/13/2016
However, in its March 2017 application to extend the air permit, MFC said that the “EPC contract … expired in November 2016 as the company was unable to arrange a portion of equity.” Since the contract expired in November 2016, MFC has consistently claimed that the parties are renegotiating:
Midwest Fertilizer Company is working collaboratively with TKIS on a new EPC contract and continues to develop other aspects of the project concurrently so that it can close quickly when the EPC contract is finalized.
Midwest Fertilizer Company statement, 01/26/2017
One of the reasons it’s been so difficult to secure the EPC contract is that MFC requires a fixed-price (lump-sum) turnkey contract. This would cap the costs by requiring the contractor to assume a portion of project risk, but such contracts became hard to come by following wage escalations in 2013-14, when some ammonia projects became extremely expensive for a few unlucky EPC firms.
In July 2014, Maire Tecnimont had announced a MOU to negotiate the $1.6 billion lump-sum, turn-key EPC contract. In early 2015, however, those “talks fell apart for various reasons.”
It then took MFC a year to start and close new EPC negotiations with ThyssenKrupp. “The lack of this contract had blocked us from going forward … None of the investors are willing to commit until they see a fixed price … This is a really important step for us … It gives us full comfort that we know how much our plant is going to cost.”
The ThyssenKrupp scandal
According to a November 2016 article in Der Spiegel, the CEO of TKIS accepted lavish gifts from the company’s local sales agent in Pakistan – who was, in turn, set to receive a multi-million dollar commission for landing Midwest as TKIS’s client. The agent, Asadullah Kazmi of Capital Strategies Group, was apparently an old school friend of Fatima Fertilizer Company’s CEO, Fawad Ahmed Mukhtar. This all took place in 2014 and 2015. The size of this commission – and its existence – was later disputed by TKIS, which led the sales agent to bring a lawsuit in Germany, suing TKIS for his owed $20 million commission (the best details always come out of the court filings).
The story of bribery may appear minor compared to other recent and ongoing ammonia industry scandals (like Yara and the Gaddafis, or Dmitry Mazepin’s corporate raiding of Togliattiazot). The problems here are, it appears, an inappropriate private conversation about a white Ferrari and the ill-advised acceptance of a gift of golden jewelery, but that gives us plenty of eye-catching details to work with. Certainly it was enough to force the resignation of TKIS’s CEO, Jens Wegmann, within the week, which did a lot to reassure me, and presumably others, that this was not business as usual for ThyssenKrupp.
Schedule for construction and start-up
MFC’s latest guidance, from July 2017, is that it hopes to break ground in Q2 2018, with “operations expected to begin in 2022.” However, MFC’s schedule depends on securing a new EPC contract and it has already been pushed back many times.
Originally, groundbreaking was to be at the end of 2014 for a 2017 start-up. The January 2016 EPC announcement said financial close was “expected in mid-2016,” with ground-breaking to follow, when the plant was “expected to be fully operational in 2020,” following a “three to four year” construction period. 2022 is a plausible date, but only if MFC signs a new EPC agreement and closes financing soon.
Project CapEx Estimates
The latest cost estimate is $2.8 billion, cited in a press release from the local economic development agency. This is less than the previous sum, given by MFC in its July 2016 press release, of $3 billion.
In early 2016, the EPC contract had an “agreed aggregate price in excess of $2.0 billion,” although the total project capex was somewhat higher as the EPC contract would exclude other things like financing costs and commissions. News reports have given a range over the years, including $2.7 billion in January 2016, or $2.8 billion in October 2015, up from the $2.6 billion given earlier in 2015 – it had been $2.4 billion in 2014, $2.1 billion in 2013, and $1.8 billion when first announced.
Equity Financing
From the outset, MFC was supposed to receive $300 million equity from a public company in Pakistan called Fatima Fertilizer Company.
According to Fatima’s 2016 Annual Report, published in March 2017, Fatima has still invested nothing (“nil”) in the project. Apparently, it is still “waiting for an appropriate time in the best interest of the Company to issue foreign currency bonds and arrange funds for this investment.”
According to Fatima’s 2015 Annual Report, “the Company [was] set to make the Equity investment … in 2016.” In December 2016, Fatima Fertilizer Company did issue a bond, but this was a local currency ijarah sukuk (a form of debt acceptable under Islamic law). The prospectus for this 10,500 million Pakistani Rupee sukuk, roughly equivalent to $100 million USD, states that “the principal purpose of the Sukuk Issue is to repay an existing long term loan of the Company.” So, while this wasn’t directly related to Midwest Fertilizer Company, it improved Fatima’s debt structure and may make it easier for the company to find an international market for the bigger, $300 million USD if that ever moves forward.
Project Sponsor(s)
In the meantime, none of this should imply that the project is cash-starved, because funds have clearly been flowing from Pakistan. Fatima Fertilizer Company is the only entity required to disclose information about the project because it is the only public company involved in the deal. Project finance to date has presumably been coming through Fatima Fertilizer Company’s private majority owner, Fatima Group, and its backers.
Midwest Fertilizer Corporation started out as a Delaware corporation with “plans to convert itself into a Delaware Limited Liability Company.” This conversion took place in August 2014, “in preparation for the addition of joint venture partners.” No information is yet available regarding MFC’s minority equity partners but, in 2014, “details pertaining to the pattern of shareholding are being finalised with investors from Japan and other countries.”
MFC says it is backed by “a global consortium of fertilizer manufacturing and technology companies,” namely Pakistan’s Fatima Group, which started trading commodities in 1936 and now describes itself as “the most progressive business conglomerate in Pakistan.” In 2014, the group had combined “assets of approx. USD2.0 billion” and “over 6,000 employees in its range of businesses.”
Fatima Fertilizer Company, part of Fatima Group, explained the investment in its 2014 Annual Report [PDF], published April 2015:
“Your Company is in the process of issuance of foreign currency bond of up to USD 300 Million to finance its equity investment in the US project – Midwest Fertilizer Company LLC that is expected to materialize in the first half of year 2015. The USD 300 Million equity investment by your Company would be the first initiative of such magnitude to be carried out by a Pakistani Company.”
I note that Fatima’s 2016 Annual Report explained away the delays by saying that “The Company is authorized to make
investment in Midwest Fertilizer Company LLC over a four (4) year period.” However, that authorization began in 2013 and thus expires in 2017.
In addition to the issues with the EPC, the delays in financing seem to have involved government approvals, in Pakistan, to allow the foreign direct investment to proceed. It appears that these approvals were finally received in April 2015, after the US Ambassador to Pakistan became involved in the process.
Fatima Group includes two companies that currently operate fertilizer plants in Pakistan: Pakarab Fertilizers and Fatima Fertilizer Company. Pakarab Fertilizers has produced ammonia in Multan since 1978, with capacities of 316,000 mtpy ammonia, 92,000 mtpy urea, 450,000 mtpy CAN, and 304,500 mtpy nitro phosphate. The government privatized Pakarab in 2005, and it was acquired by Fatima Group and Arif Habib Group. Fatima Fertilizer Company, which was incorporated in 2003, built a $750 million fertilizer plant in Sadiqabad that was under construction for five years before starting production in 2011, with capacities of 500,000 mtpy urea, 420,000 mtpy CAN, 360,000 mtpy nitro phosphate, and 420,000 mtpy NPK fertilizers.
While the December 2016 sukuk prospectus contained an organizational chart for the broader Arif Habib empire, exact ownership details for the corporate entities that make up Fatima Group are opaque and circular: many of the subsidiaries own chunks of the others’ equity, or finance each other through long-term loans. The individual companies are generally said to be controlled by Pakistani tycoon Arif Habib, who owns the company shares either personally, through Arif Habib Group, through other Fatima Group companies (owned in turn by Arif Habib entities), or through management and their relatives. Some Group companies are publicly traded on Pakistan’s exchanges, but with not much more than a 10-15% float. (Bloomberg published an August 2016 article on Habib).
Fatima Fertilizer Company had an IPO in 2010, and is therefore required to disclose more information than the other Group companies. In April 2014, its board approved the investment of up to $300 million in MFC “over a period of next 4 years through a mix of Corporate and individual shareholders’ contribution,” either “directly or through offshore special purpose vehicle(s).” This would give it a holding of “up to 35% shares.” Local newspapers reported that it “mopped up tens of thousands of dollars from the open market” in April 2014. It calculated its return on investment as a 16% annual “Return on Total Capital Employed (EBIT based).”
By February 2016, the financing details were becoming clearer: the $1.259 billion bond sale would be remarketed and “the remaining funds will be comprised of equity, tax increment-financing bonds, and some term debt,” resulting in “a 48 percent ownership stake from the Fatima Group. The rest of the ownership is a consortium of international investors.”
Fatima Fertilizer Company’s specific task, which began in early 2016, is “to raise $300 million through tax increment-financing bonds,” for which “road shows will be held in Asia, Europe and the United States for bond sales tapping global markets … It would be the first private sector’s company to raise debt from the international markets since 2013.” Fatima Fertilizer might do quite nicely through this, because the “Company will also receive a commission fee for such investment.”
Companies in Pakistan are not easily allowed to send capital abroad so, to fund project development, “the directors had to move the dollars from individual accounts.” The amount of capital leaving the country in April 2014 was such that exchange rates spiked: “Fatima Fertilizer was very active last month … That is the reason the dollar shot up to Rs103 for a while” (Malik Boston, chairman of Forex Association of Pakistan).
Permits, permit extensions
Because of all the delays, MFC has had to extend the terms of its 2014 air permit repeatedly (permits generally require construction to begin within 18 months, but extensions are readily given). In September 2015, IDEM approved an 18-month extension of the permit and, in May 2017, extended it again, providing MFC with a new deadline to begin construction: September 23, 2018.
The modified draft permit (2016) describes the scope of the changes as “the removal of several emission units, changes in location and stack heights of some of the existing emission units, construction and operation of new emission units.” It appears that granular urea is the only product whose capacity will be affected by these modifications, reducing from 1,440 mtpd to 1,320 mtpd.
Debt financing: 2013 Bond issuance
This project had been in jeopardy, in May 2013, when Governor (now Vice President) Mike Pence withdrew $1.2 billion in Indiana State bonds, after the US Department of Defense testified that Fatima was “less than cooperative” with US interests: their CAN fertilizer was found to be in IEDs, killing US troops in Afghanistan. Fatima was said to be taking measures to correct the situation, reformulating their CAN to be less easily used as an explosive; the US military was taking part in testing Fatima’s new formula. Governor Pence later transferred the bonds from the Indiana Finance Authority to Posey County.
In June 2013, Posey County Council reissued the $1.259 billion from federal disaster bond money. In April 2014, then-Governor Pence indicated that he would reopen discussions about state incentives for the project. By July 2015, these bonds were still not sold, having been retired and reauthorized five times, while waiting for the MFC’s finances and EPC contracts to settle. In January 2016, financial reporters expected the bonds to be remarketed in mid-2016, in what would have been “one of the tax-exempt market’s largest-ever junk-bond sales.” We’re still waiting for the bonds to be remarketed.
Vendors, licensors, suppliers, offtakers
Although a new EPC contractor may have an impact on the selection of vendors and licensors, MFC had originally announced Jacobs Engineering Group to provide project management. KBR was providing the ammonia synthesis technology license, KBR’s “Purifier” process, with a capacity of 2,200 mtpd. Stamicarbon (a Maire Tecnimont company) would provide technology for the urea, UAN, and DEF plants. The nitric acid plant would use technology from GPN (Borealis).
Natural gas feedstock would be supplied by a lateral pipeline connecting to a Texas Gas Transmission main line.
MFC “intends to sell its product to the Corn Belt area,” with distribution by truck and rail.[/memberful]
View larger map with all ammonia plants.
ADDRESS: Intersection Old SR 69 and Mackey Ferry Road East, Mt. Vernon, Posey County, IN 47620, United States
WEBSITE: http://midwest-fertilizer.com/
WEBSITE: http://fatima-group.com/
REGULATORY SOURCES:
- USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]
- Air Permit documents: Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Air Quality Permit Status Search [LINK / Title V Permit PDF]
- Water Permit documents: IDEM, Water Quality Certification [LINK / PDF]
- EMMA (Electronic Municipal Market Access): Midwest Fertilizer Company LLC municipal bond documents [LINK]
NEWS SOURCES:
- 01/08/2018: Bond Buyer: Why did IRS auditors keep bonds for one fertilizer plant tax-exempt, but not another? [LINK]
- 01/05/2018: Bond Buyer: IRS auditors determine Midwest Fertilizer Company bonds are taxable [LINK]
- 12/25/2017: Courier & Press: Seven local business stories to watch in 2018 in Evansville, Henderson [LINK]
- 09/01/2017: Bond Buyer: IRS: $1.26B of bonds for Midwest Fertilizer Company may be taxable [LINK]
- 08/29/2017: Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana video: Midwest Fertilizer Advances Forward in Posey County [VIDEO]
- 07/27/2017: IEDC press release: Midwest Fertilizer Advances Billion-Dollar Investment in Southwest Indiana [LINK]
- 03/07/2017: Bloomberg News: Pricey Pakistan Stocks Have Room to Run, Tycoon Habib Says [LINK]
- 02/15/2017: Courier & Press: Midwest Fertilizer plant still going forward, Posey officials say [LINK]
- 11/10/2016: Der Spiegel: Corruption affair at ThyssenKrupp: Manager Wegmann leaves Group [LINK]
- 11/04/2016: Der Spiegel: Corruption affair at ThyssenKrupp: Manager Wegmann admits mistakes [LINK]
- 11/03/2016: Der Spiegel: Fraud accusation against ThyssenKrupp: A Ferrari, a gold bracelet, and $20 million [LINK]
- 08/09/2016: Bloomberg: Land Prices Double in Karachi ‘Exciting’ Financier Habib [LINK]
- 07/29/2016: Midwest Fertilizer press release: Midwest Fertilizer Company Names New President and CEO [LINK]
- 05/25/2016: Mount Vernon Democrat: Fertilizer plant, bypass spark public comment on transparency [LINK]
- 02/18/2016: Evansville Courier: Midwest Fertilizer CEO: ‘Lot to do’ with major plant about 4 years away [LINK]
- 02/18/2016: 44 News: Midwest Fertilizer Gives Update on Posey County Facility [LINK]
- 02/06/2016: The News International (Pakistan): Fatima Fertiliser plans to raise $300mln via bond issue to fund US plant [LINK]
- 02/03/2016: Fort Wayne Business Weekly: Indiana Fertilizer set to sell $1.3 billion of munis in mid-2016 [LINK]
- 01/25/2016: Midwest Fertilizer press release: Midwest Fertilizer Company enters into an EPC agreement to Build Indiana Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility [LINK]
- 01/25/2016: Evansville Courier & Press: Midwest Fertilizer says it has found designer, builder for Posey County plant [LINK]
- 11/13/2015: 14News.com: Midwest Fertilizer Plant groundbreaking expected in Dec [LINK]
- 10/26/2015: The Bond Buyer: Indiana Fertilizer Plant Plans Another Remarketing [LINK]
- 07/15/2015: 14News.com: Construction for new Posey Co. fertilizer plant set to begin this fall [LINK]
- 06/27/2015: 14News.com: Construction expected later this year on Posey Co. fertilizer plant [LINK]
- 04/10/2015: The Express Tribune (Pakistan): Key decisions: ECC approves 23-year tax holiday for Gwadar Port [LINK]
- 04/09/2015: The Express Tribune (Pakistan): Bilateral ties: US concerned over law regulating foreign-funded NGOs [LINK]
- 02/27/2015: 14News.com: Posey Co. fertilizer plant delayed 3-6 months [LINK]
- 02/19/2015: The Express Tribune (Pakistan): Raising finance: Govt gives green light to Arif Habib Group [LINK]
- 01/08/2015: Evansville Courier and Press: Midwest Fertilizer drops its request for state incentives; will aid in road project [LINK]
- 01/08/2015: Midwest Fertilizer Company press release: Midwest Fertilizer Company Announces President and CEO [LINK]
- 07/24/2014: The News International (Pakistan): Fatima signs MoU for $1.6bn US fertiliser plant [LINK]
- 07/22/2014: Maire Tecnimont press release: Memorandum of Understanding signed for a Fertilizer Complex in the United States [LINK]
- 06/13/2014: Evansville Courier and Press: Getting air-quality permit for Posey County plant is ‘big moment’ for Midwest Fertilizer [LINK]
- 06/06/2014: The Nation (Pakistan): Fertiliser company chooses US carrot over stick [LINK]
- 05/22/2014: The Tribune (Pakistan): Breaking barriers: Fatima Fertilizer gets nod for US investment [LINK]
- 04/23/2014: The Tribune (Pakistan): Fatima Fertilizer mops up dollars for investment in US plant [LINK]
- 04/09/2014: The Courier Press: Pence says Indiana will reopen economic incentive discussions with Midwest Fertilizer [LINK]
- 01/22/2014: 14 News.com: Concerns surface over possible Native American mounds on fertilizer site [LINK]
- 12/19/2013: KBR press release: KBR Ammonia Technology Selected for New Fertilizer Facility in Indiana [LINK]
- 12/17/2013: Jacobs Engineering Group press release: Jacobs Awarded Contract by Midwest Fertilizer [LINK]
- 10/10/2013: Courier Press: Fertilizer company searched for months before choosing Posey County [LINK]
- 06/19/2013: Courier Press: Posey County reissuing fertilizer plant bonds [LINK]
- 05/17/2013: Indiana Governor’s Office press release: Governor Pence Withdraws State Incentives for Midwest Fertilizer Company for Posey County Project [LINK]
- 05/17/2013: Indiana Economic Development Corporation letter to Fatima Group [PDF]
- 02/01/2013: Indiana Governor’s Office press release: Governor Pence Suspends State’s Role in Posey County Economic Development Project [LINK]
- 01/15/2013: Indiana Economic Development Corporation letter to Fatima Group [PDF]
Are there a list of contractors onsite, or contractors coming soon.?
Will Midwest Fertilizer be needing work trucks?
Hi Harry,
I’m not aware of any contractor list, nor anyone onsite yet (the project isn’t 100% confirmed yet). In any case, you’ll want to contact Midwest Fertilizer directly:
http://midwest-fertilizer.com/contact-us.php
Best,
T.
Are there updates on financial closure? They were targeting it in May 2016.
No updates on financial closure yet, as far as I’m aware. I did hear there might have been some delays, so I’m just waiting for further announcements. Doesn’t surprise me that it takes a while.
Best,
T.
Is there any progress on this project? I understand that financial closure is the only pending issue.
has construction started yet
Not yet … awaiting financial close, still.
This article says the start-up date is 2020. Is that accurate? Is there a General Contractor or Project Management team in place at this time?
Hi Doug,
2020 is currently accurate, yes, but that’s assuming the project reaches financial close and gets built, which isn’t guaranteed. Think of 2020 more as an “earliest” than any kind of firm completion date.
There was an EPC contract with TKIS, but that is presently being renegotiated so – no, there’s no EPC contractor currently confirmed.
There have been so many rumors roaming around in market about delay in this project and infact final selection of EPC contractor.
Is there any authentic news about exact execution timeline and final setting of terms in between Company and state of Indina?
Wish good luck to investors!