Sohar International Urea and Chemical Industries SAOC (SIUCI) announced this week the first shipment of granular urea from its Sohar Fertiliser Project located at Sohar Industrial Port Area. The Industrial Port of Sohar, a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Port of Rotterdam is managed by Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC).

The Port of Sohar is ideally located in the Gulf of Oman, for the shipments of granular urea to the large consuming markets in Asia as well as the west. With availability of up to 16 meter draught, the Port can receive large bulk carriers for viable shipments to distant destinations.

The bulk carrier MV Pacific Grace berthed on June 11, 2009 at the SIUCITerminal, the berth allocated at Sohar Port to SIUCI for its dedicated use. The first shipment is being dispatched to Australia, which is one of the most discerning markets for urea in the world.

The Sohar Fertiliser Project conceived and promoted by Sheikh Suhail Bahwan has an annual production capacity of over 1.2 million MT of granular urea, making it one of the world’s largest private sector fertilizer complexes and represents one of the largest industrial investments by a GCC national. The project was constructed on a lump sum turnkey basis by MHI Japan, one of the world’s largest engineering companies. A modern urea ship loading system comprising conveyors, transfer towers and ship loader transports urea form the bulk urea ware houses and loads it directly into the ship’s holds.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jan Meijer, CEO of SIPC said that he was pleased to see yet another large industrial venture commences commercial operations from the Port of Sohar. Earlier, the management team of SIPC visited SIUCI’s plant facilities and the state-of-the-art control room. Mr Meijer commented that he was impressed by the visit and the quality of professionals at the unit.