Two Algerian companies along with two Chinese companies signed a Shareholders’ Pact for the creation of a joint-stock company under Algerian law to begin preliminary activities relating to the development of an integrated phosphates project (PPI).
Algerian companies include Asmidal, a subsidiary of Sonatrach (Hydra, Algeria), and Manal. The Chinese companies include Wuhuan Engineering Co. Ltd. and Yunnan Tian’An Chemical Co. Ltd.
The new company, Algerian Chinese Fertilizers Company (ACFC), is 56% owned by the Algerian party and 44% by the Chinese party.
Representing an investment of approximately $7 billion, the PPI is the first integrated project in Algeria in the field of mining and fertilizer production.
It will include the development and exploitation of the phosphate deposit, the chemical transformation of phosphates, the manufacture of fertilizers, as well as dedicated port facilities at the port of Annaba.
After the completion of the project, the company will eventually produce 5.4 million tons of fertilizer per year in Algerian region of Tebessa.
The project will induce considerable socio-economic growth in the eastern region of the country, in particular through the creation of approximately 12,000 jobs in the construction phase and, ultimately, in the operating phase, approximately 6,000 direct jobs and 24,000 indirect jobs.
The selection of the two Chinese partners results from an open call for expressions of interest launched by the Algerian party in May 2021.