Tokyo, June 24, 2013 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Sojitz Corporation of Japan have received an order from PhosAgro-Cherepovets, a subsidiary of the Russian fertilizer producer PhosAgro, for a project to construct the largest ammonia plant in the Russian Federation. The order was won jointly with Renaissance Heavy Industries (RHI), a major construction company headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. The investment cost of this project would be US$785 million.

The ammonia plant will be built in the city of Cherepovets approximately 400 kilometers north of Moscow. It will have capacity to produce 2,200 mtpd (metric tons per day) of ammonia using natural gas as feedstock, and will adopt the process technology of Haldor Topsoe A/S of Denmark. The plant is slated to go on-stream in 2017.

The order contract calls for provision of plant engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). MHI, as leader of the consortium, will be responsible for basic and detailed design work, equipment procurement, and dispatch of technical advisors for installation and test operation. Sojitz will handle coordination between related parties and transport within Russia, leveraging its business experience and track record in Russia. RHI will be in charge of construction work and transportation.

PhosAgro is Europe’s largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizers and also produces high-grade phosphate rock, ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers. The company is currently seeking to upgrade its aging existing facilities and increase ammonia production, and this stance led to its decision to undertake this new ammonia plant construction project. Previously MHI has received orders for an ammonia/urea plant for the Republic of Tatarstan in 2011 and an acrylic acid plant for the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2012. MHI and Sojitz believe that the team’s track record in plant construction in the Russian Federation was highly evaluated and contributed largely to the latest award.

Demand for ammonia-based fertilizers is expected to continue expanding steadily worldwide amid rising food production in response to global population growth. In Russia, which is one of the world’s leading producers of natural gas, interest in fertilizer production is increasing as the country seeks higher value from its natural gas resources and pursues advances in industrial development and agriculture. Russia is presently seeing robust expansion in demand for replacement of fertilizer plants that were constructed twenty to thirty years ago.

MHI and Sojitz, building on the strength of this latest large-scale order, now look to conduct aggressive marketing activities in a quest to boost their presence in the fertilizer plant market while also targeting orders, both in Russia and worldwide, in the fields of synthetic gas and petrochemicals as well.

 

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About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world’s leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 2,817.8 billion yen in fiscal 2012, the year ended March 31, 2013. MHI’s diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, power plants, chemical plants, environmental equipment, steel structures, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space systems and air-conditioning systems.

For more information, please visit the MHI website (http://www.mhi.co.jp/en/index.html).

 

About Sojitz Corporation
Sojitz is a general trading company created through the merger of Nichimen Corporation and Nissho Iwai Corporation. It undertakes operations in around 50 countries through roughly 500 consolidated subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Japan and overseas. Sojitz’s business activities are wide-ranging and include machinery and aerospace, energy and mineral resources, chemicals and plastics, real estate development and forest products, and consumer lifestyle-related business. 

For more information, please visit the Sojitz website (http://www.sojitz.com/en/index.html).

 

PRESS CONTACT:

For Mitsubishi Heavy Industries:
Hideo Ikuno: h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp
Tel: +813-6716-5277, Fax: +813-6716-5929 
Daiya PR (in charge of public relations for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)

For Sojitz Corporation:
Megumi Kawaguchi: kawaguchi.megumi@sojitz.com
Tel: +813-6871-5257, Fax: +813-6871-2125