SAFCO to shut down plants for maintenance in 2017

Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (SAFCO), one of the world’s largest producers of urea and ammonia, plans to shut down its SAFCO 4 plant for scheduled maintenance during 2017, the company said in its board report for 2016, without specifying the months scheduled for the upkeep.

Maintenance will last for 84 days to optimize the efficiency of the ammonia plant by 11 percent, the report added.

The company also plans to halt operations in its SAFCO 5 urea plant, which launched operation in July 2015, for 25 days for maintenance.

During the first half of this year, SAFCO 2 and SAFCO 3 will be undergoing maintenance for four days and 20 days, respectively, to improve efficiency and increase production capacity by 20 percent.

Last year, SAFCO produced 5.87 million tons, its highest ever production of urea and ammonia, up 20 percent compared to 4.88 million tons in 2015.

Sales in 2016 rose to 3.77 million tons, or 15 percent year-on-year (YoY), from 3.3 million tons.

The company expects to finalize a study to acquire SABIC’s stake in Ibn Al-Baytar fertilizer unit and make a final decision on the matter during 2017.

SAFCO’s net income for fiscal year 2016 dropped 51 percent to SAR 1.051 billion YoY, Argaam earlier reported.