Técnicas Reunidas wins main contractor bid for ammonium nitrate Australian plant

MADRID | Burrup Nitrates selected Técnicas Reunidas, the Spanish company reported Monday, for the TAN or technical ammonium nitrate project on the Burrup Peninsula, in the state of Western Australia. The contract will be on a lump sum turnkey basis with an approximate value of just over $600 million with the start up of the plant scheduled for the third quarter of 2015.

Burrup Nitrates Pty. Ltd. is a company beneficially participated by YARA International ASA (45%), Orica Limited (45%) and Apache Corporation (10%). Yara chose Técnicas Reunidas not only as the main contractor for the entire project, but also selected its technology and “know how” for liquid ammonium nitrate and nitric acid.

Técnicas Reunidas will design and build all the principal process units. The  Spanish corporation recently completed a similar plant in capacity and size in Mejillones, Chile, which is currently operating.

The design and construction component of the Burrup TAN project is of modular design and the modules will be fabricated off-shore and transported to site. This new TAN plant will supply the mining companies in the Pilbara region, mainly for the extraction of iron ore in the area.

Yara International ASA is a Norwegian-based multinational chemical company. Its largest business area is the production of nitrogen fertiliser; however it also encompasses the production of dry ice, nitrates, ammonia, urea and other nitrogen-based chemicals. Yara has its headquarters in Oslo and the company has operations in more than 50 countries.

Orica is a global, Australian Stock Exchange publicly-listed company (ORI) with over 14,000 employees worldwide, based in offices in over 50 countries, providing products and services to customers in twice that many.

Apache Corporation NYSE: APA is an American independent oil and gas corporation. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with regional offices and operations in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt and UK. In 2012, Apache’s market capitalization is approximately $35 billion.