'Jordanian, Chinese companies start procedures to build JD1b fertiliser factory in Aqaba'

AMMAN — Procedures are under way to establish a JD1 billion industrial complex for the production of fertilisers in Aqaba in partnership with a Chinese company, according to Khalil Farrayeh, spokesperson of the state-run Aqaba Development Corporation.

The Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and China’s Chongqing Minmetal and Machinery Import and Export Co. (CMMC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to build the industrial complex, Farrayeh told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday.

“We are currently in the process of determining the amount of land that we will lease to the two sides for the industrial complex and procedures are going ahead for the implementation of this new significant investment in Aqaba,” he said.

The first phase of the project will cost around $350 million, according to Farrayeh, who said the fertilisers produced by the industrial complex will be exported to several markets across the world.

The industrial facility, he added, will use raw material from the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and the Arab Potash Company.

The project will create job opportunities and will help support the economy, Farrayeh noted.

CMMC, which was founded in 1983, specialises in contracting overseas projects, exporting labour services, acting as an agent for the import and export of various commodities and technologies, and engaging in domestic trade. 

The company is a member of the the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the China International Contractors Association and the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, according to its website.