São Paulo – Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and China’s Chong Qing Minerals and Metallurgy have signed an agreement to build a fertilizer manufacturing complex in Aqaba, on the Red Sea coast. The plant should see investment of US$ 350 million. The information has been released this Monday (15th) by the Jordanian government news agency Petra.
The Jordanian company’s board chairman Amer Majali said the object of the industrial complex is to add value to phosphate mining, instead of simply exporting raw material.
To this end, he said the company is striving to enter into agreements with major fertilizer importers. The executive also mentioned the forming of a joint venture with a company from India to manufacture phosphoric acid in the Jordanian province of Maan.
Brazil is one of the world’s leading fertilizer importing countries, but buys negligible amounts from Jordan. The Brazilian market imported the equivalent of US$ 3.62 million in fertilizers from Jordan from January to August of this year. In the same period in 2013, imports amounted to a meagre US$ 220,000. The figures were supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Germany
Petra has also reported this Monday that Germany has pledged to provide 193 million euros in financial aid to Jordan, for technical assistance and cooperation in water, sanitation, solid waste management and renewable energies.
The action was announced following a meeting of officials from the two countries. The Jordanian officials remarked that the Arab country is struggling with the burdens of hosting a massive number of refugees from neighbouring country Syria.
For their part, the German officials undertook to continue providing support and assistance to Jordan.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
