Contracts signed to build the giant phosphate project in the east
Sonatrach and the Algerian Fertilizers Company signed two building contracts with Italy's Saipem and China Harbour Engineering. The contracts start the first phase of the integrated phosphate project.
The two contracts
The contracts were signed in Algiers on Wednesday 12 August. Saipem will build the mining and fertiliser plants at Bled El Hadba and Oued El Kebrit, worth about 500 million euros.
China Harbour Engineering will build port facilities at Annaba; its contract value was not disclosed.
Output and cost
The plants are designed to produce 2.4 million tonnes of phosphate fertiliser and 570,000 tonnes of urea a year, with surplus exported through Annaba. Enriched phosphate is expected in the first quarter of 2027 and fertiliser in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The Bled El Hadba deposit holds an estimated 1.2 billion tonnes of phosphate. The whole project is valued at about 7 billion US dollars and includes a railway of about 422 kilometres from Tébessa to Annaba.
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