Sojitz Corporation and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group company Kawasaki Plant Systems, Ltd. (Head Office: Kobe, Hyogo; President and CEO: Toshikazu Hayashi) have received an order, with Sojitz as a main contractor, from Fatima Fertilizer Company Ltd. (Head office: Multan), which is under the umbrella of the Fatima Group, one of the Pakistan's largest industrial conglomerates. The order, valued at about US$110 million (about 13 billion yen), includes a urea production facility that constitutes the core of a fertilizer production facility, which has a total project cost of about US$400 million (about 46 billion yen), and engineering services and project management services for the entire fertilizer production facility.

The fertilizer production facility, which will be constructed by Fatima Fertilizer in the suburbs of Sadiqabad in central Pakistan, will produce urea and various other synthetic fertilizers from ammonia using natural gas as a feed stock. The facility, with a daily urea production capacity of 1,500 tons, will be the largest scale plant of its type in the country. Sojitz will take responsibility for playing a coordinating role for the entire contract, including making the financial arrangements, and Kawasaki Plant Systems will take responsibility for delivery of the urea production equipment, and engineering and project management of the entire fertilizer production facility. Construction of the urea production facility is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.

Currently in Pakistan, there is an active demand for fertilizers to maintain and foster agriculture, the country's major domestic industry. For this reason, Pakistan has adopted a policy of allocating natural gas, one of its few precious resources, for use in the production of chemical fertilizers. Under this policy, the construction and addition of new fertilizer production facilities and the renewal of old facilities are also being accelerated.

Sojitz has established a relationship of trust with the Fatima Group through their trade with them for over 20 years, such as in their deliveries of textile machinery. On the other hand, Kawasaki Plant Systems has an abundance of experience and technical capabilities, and an established track record in the field of fertilizer production facilities, with plant deliveries already made to countries such as Iran and China. During business negotiations for the subject deal, the compact and cutting-edge fertilizer production facility technology proposed by Sojitz and Kawasaki Plant Systems was highly appreciated, allowing the companies to earn the right of exclusive negotiation at an early stage. The contract has thus been awarded.

Taking the subject order receipt as an opportunity, Sojitz and Kawasaki Plant Systems continue to focus efforts on the Pakistan and Asian markets.