OCI Nitrogen Acquires Plant in Texas

CAIRO, EGYPT--(Marketwire - May 16, 2011) -

OCI Fertilizer Group          Cairo, Egypt / 16 May, 2011 10:15 AM



OCI Nitrogen Acquires Integrated Ammonia-Methanol Plant in Texas
through a Joint Venture with Janus Methanol AG



Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced today that its wholly
owned subsidiary, OCI Nitrogen (Netherlands), has acquired an
integrated ammonia-methanol plant located in Beaumont, Texas, on the
Gulf Coast of the United States. OCI acquired the plant through a joint
venture with Janus Methanol AG (Janus), named Pandora Methanol LLC, in
which OCI holds 50% plus 1 share.



The plant has a production capacity of 250,000 tons of ammonia and
750,000 tons of methanol per annum. In addition, the plant has an
ammonia tank with a capacity of 18,000 tons and two methanol storage
tanks with a capacity of 22,000 tons each. The plant has pipeline
connections to adjacent customers and port access with dedicated
methanol and ammonia import/export jetties and will ship both products
along the Gulf Coast.



The integrated methanol-ammonia facility was started up in the late
1960's. The methanol unit was modernized in the early 1980's using
Lurgi GmbH's Low Pressure Methanol technology and a new ammonia line
was started up in 2000 based on the Haldor Topsoe technology. The last
owner of the plant, the Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman), took over
the plant from Terra Industries in 2007 after it had been idle since
2004 when US-based natural gas prices topped US$ 12 per mmBtu.



The joint venture subsequently acquired the plant from Eastman and OCI
Nitrogen and Janus will jointly rehabilitate and operate the integrated
methanol-ammonia facility. The rehabilitation engineering and the
acquisition cost and capital expenditures related to inspecting,
repairing and updating the plant's operating systems and environmental
controls will amount to approximately US$ 65 million by year end.
Ammonia production is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of
2011 and methanol production is targeted to start in 2012. The joint
venture is currently also studying the possibility of increasing both
production and storage tank capacity on-site.



Orascom Construction Industries Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nassef Sawiris commented, "our acquisition of this integrated
ammonia-methanol facility in the US provides us with a new production
platform in a key market which has already received product from the
Fertilizer Group in the past. The facilities of the joint venture will
provide the Group with the option to serve our customers in the US from
our other production facilities worldwide. We are impressed with the
entrepreneurial initiatives, skills and expertise of our partner Janus
Methanol AG and look forward to working together in the future. We
believe that upon startup, this business will generate exceptional
returns to shareholders."





About Orascom Construction Industries

OCI is one of Egypt's largest corporations with projects and
investments across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The
company directly employs more than 86,000 people and generated US$ 4.9
billion in revenues and US$ 1.1 billion in EBITDA in 2010. OCI
currently has two core business activities. The OCI Fertilizer Group is
a strategic owner and operator of nitrogen fertilizer plants in Egypt,
the Netherlands and Algeria with an international distribution platform
spanning Latin America, the United States, Europe and Africa. These
operations will exceed 7.5 million metric tons of capacity in 2012,
positioning OCI as a top three nitrogen-based fertilizer producer. The
OCI Construction Group is a leading construction contractor active in
emerging markets with a backlog of US$ 5.6 billion as at 31 December
2010. It primarily focuses on infrastructure projects in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa in addition to industrial and high-end
commercial projects.



About Janus Methanol AG

Janus Methanol AG is a Swiss project development company led by Mr. Deo
van Wijk, a seasoned methanol project developer and trader. Mr. van
Wijk's partners, who are also industry veterans, have previously been
involved in technology and project development capacities at companies
such as Lurgi GmbH and BP. Janus Methanol AG covers the world market
searching for new ideas for methanol and RNG supply.

For additional information
contact:                    For additional information on OCI:
OCI Investor Relations
Department:                  www.orascomci.com 

Omar Darwazah               OCI stock symbols: OCIC.CA / OCIC EY /
                            OCICqL / ORSD / ORSCY
Email:
 omar.darwazah@orascomci.com 

                            Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)
Erika Wakid                 Nile City Towers - South Tower
Email:                      2005A Corniche El Nil
 erika.wakid@orascomci.com    Cairo, Egypt
Hassan Badrawi
Director

Tel: +202 2461 1036/0727/0917
Fax: +202 2461 9409





                    This information is provided by RNS
          The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END