SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) -Samsung E&A has won a $3.5 billion contract to build a major fertilizer complex in Saudi Arabia, extending its run of large overseas orders and deepening its foothold in one of its most important Middle Eastern markets.
The South Korean engineering company said Friday it signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with SABIC Agri-Nutrients for the SAN-7 project, worth about 4.7 trillion won ($3.5 billion).
Samsung E&A will carry out the project on a sole EPC basis, with completion scheduled for 2030.
The plant will be built in the industrial city of Jubail in eastern Saudi Arabia and will use natural gas to produce 3,500 tons of ammonia a day. The ammonia will then be used to manufacture 7,700 tons of urea fertilizer daily, with all output destined for export.
The project will also incorporate a post-combustion carbon capture system designed to capture carbon dioxide generated during ammonia production and reuse it in the synthesis of urea, reducing emissions while improving operating efficiency, according to the company.
The contract was signed Wednesday at SABIC's headquarters in Jubail. Samsung E&A Chief Executive Namkoong Hong attended alongside senior executives from SABIC and SABIC Agri-Nutrients.
The deal adds to Samsung E&A's long track record in Saudi Arabia, where it entered the market in 2003 and has since carried out about 30 projects.
In 2024, the company secured a roughly $6 billion contract for Saudi Aramco's Fadhili gas expansion project, its largest order since its establishment.
Samsung E&A also has extensive project experience in the Jubail industrial complex, giving it access to existing infrastructure, local suppliers and project resources that could support execution of the latest contract.
The SAN-7 order further strengthens its relationship with SABIC, Saudi Arabia's state-linked petrochemical producer. SABIC Agri-Nutrients is the group's fertilizer arm.
Samsung E&A has worked on major SABIC petrochemical projects since 2003, including ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol facilities and polypropylene plants.
Ammonia and urea plants are among Samsung E&A's core chemical-engineering businesses. The company is also working on a low-carbon ammonia project in the United States.
Demand for fertilizer investment is expected to remain firm as growing global food consumption, food-security concerns and supply-chain disruptions push governments and producers to secure production capacity, Samsung E&A said.
The company has been building its overseas order book this year.
It won a $2.4 billion overseas chemical project in February and a $790 million water-treatment project in the Middle East in June before adding the SAN-7 contract. Samsung E&A is also bidding for several fertilizer and gas projects in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Shares of Samsung E&A are 0.6 percent higher at 50,500 won as of 1:30 p.m. in Seoul where the main KOSPI remains 2 percent lower from the previous session.
AJP Takeaways
- The plant will produce 3,500 tons of ammonia and 7,700 tons of urea fertilizer a day, with all urea output destined for export and carbon capture used to recycle CO2 into production.
- The deal strengthens Samsung E&A’s Saudi foothold after about 30 projects since 2003, including its record $6 billion Fadhili project secured in 2024.
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