OCI Awards US$60 Mln Tanks Tender To Matrix Service Inc.

OCI N.V.’s wholly-owned subsidiary Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo), a Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant located in Lee County, has announced that its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor, the OCI Construction Group (OCIC.CA), has awarded a construction contract valued in excess of US$ 60 million to Matrix Service Inc.

The contract requires the engineering, fabrication, and erection of the tank structures for two double containment ammonia storage tanks and three urea ammonium nitrate storage tanks, to be located within the boundary of the IFCo plant facilities. Consistent with IFCo’s commitment to maximizing local job creation, Matrix Service Inc. has stated that the firm will spend an estimated 20% of the total contract value on direct expenditures in the Southeastern Iowa economy. Matrix Service Inc. will recruit local talent using Iowa’s Workforce Development, the state’s employment security agency, and provide work opportunities for various local businesses including surveying, concrete supply, construction and consumables, tank painting and insulation, reinforcing steel supply and fabrication, among other goods and services. Furthermore, Matrix Service Inc. is proposing a training program to recruit local Southeast Iowa welders, at no cost to local employees, providing the foundation for a full-time career after the IFCo tanks are complete.

IFCo is a Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer complex that is currently under construction. The plant will produce up to 2 million metric tons per annum of nitrogen fertilizers, including ammonia, urea, and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), as well as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). IFCo will be the first world scale natural gas-based fertilizer plant built in the United States in nearly 25 years and will help reduce the United States’ dependency on imported fertilizers.

Matrix Service Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Matrix Service Company. Matrix Service Company provides engineering, fabrication, construction and maintenance services to Electrical Infrastructure, Oil Gas & Chemical, Storage Solutions and Industrial markets. The Company is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with regional operating facilities in the United States and Canada.

This award represents the fourth in a series of IFCo contracts awarded to engineering and construction companies, with a sizeable Iowa labor component, over the past four months. During the fourth quarter of 2012, The Weitz Company, a Des Moines-based general contractor, was awarded the civil works package; Stanley Consultants, a   Muscatine-based consulting engineering firm, was awarded the engineering package for Balance of Plant, Buildings and Utilities; and McAninch Corporation, a Des Moines-based earthmoving contractor, was awarded the earthworks package.

Osama Bishai, Chief Operating Officer of the OCI Construction Group commented: “We are pleased that one of the last outstanding major packages for IFCo has been awarded to Matrix Service Inc., a national leader in tank construction and liquid storage. Both OCI N.V. and Matrix Service Inc. are committed to maximizing job creation in the state of Iowa and this construction contract award is a testament to that commitment. The ammonia storage tank package award is a key milestone in the construction schedule of the project with is scheduled to start production in late 2015.”

The ammonia tank will be ready for Cool Down February 2015, in time for IFCo’s scheduled commissioning date.