Sabic Agri‑Nutrients, an affiliate of chemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), has awarded the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its seventh project in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Industrial City, which will significantly expand its ammonia and urea production capacity.

South Korea’s Samsung E&A has won the contract for the project known as San VII, valued at $3.465bn, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients said in a filing with the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) on 10 September. It added that its board approved the final investment decision on the project on 9 September.

The San VII project in Jubail Industrial City, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, will have a production capacity of about 1.2 million metric tonnes a year (t/y) of conventional ammonia and 2.6 million metric t/y of urea. The complex will also feature a post‑combustion carbon capture unit.

Sabic had earlier announced receiving approval for feedstock allocation from the Saudi Ministry of Energy in March for the project, which will expand Sabic Agri‑Nutrients’ urea production capacity by 54%, from approximately 4.8 million metric t/y to 7.4 million metric t/y.

The San VII project replaces a previously planned low‑carbon or blue ammonia project with a conventional ammonia and urea facility. The project, which was previously known as San VI, was slated to produce 1.2 million metric t/y of low‑carbon ammonia and 1.1 million metric t/y of urea and specialised agri‑nutrients.

Before being restructured into its current form, MEED reported in March last year that Samsung E&A was the frontrunner to win the main EPC contract for the project.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients expects construction on the San VII project to begin in Q4 2026, with commissioning scheduled to start in Q3 2030. The commissioning period will last four months, ahead of the start of commercial production and completion of the project in Q4 2030.

The San VII project “is also expected to represent a significant step toward enhancing the company’s competitiveness and sustainability through the integration of advanced carbon capture technologies and the reduction of emissions intensity across its operations. This will contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of its products, supporting the company’s sustainability and carbon neutrality ambitions”, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients said in its Tadawul filing.

“The project is considered one of the key pillars of the company’s 2040 strategy, which aims to strengthen the kingdom’s position in the agricultural nutrients export market and contribute to global food security, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030,” it added.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients

Formerly Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Company (Safco), Sabic Agri‑Nutrients was the first petrochemicals company to be established in Saudi Arabia in 1965.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients, in which Sabic owns the majority 50.1% share, is one of the leading global fertiliser producers, with a portfolio that includes urea, ammonia, phosphate and other specialised products.

For the second quarter of 2026, the company reported a sharp decline in profitability, primarily driven by a drop in revenue and lower sales volumes compared with both the previous quarter and the same period last year.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients saw its net profit fall by 64.25% to $101m, compared with $282.66m in the second quarter of last year, and by 69.11% on a quarter‑on‑quarter basis.

The company’s Q2 revenues were down by 26.65% year‑on‑year at $643m, and by 16.11% quarter‑on‑quarter. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) in Q2 stood at $165m, a drop of 51% year‑on‑year and 55% quarter‑on‑quarter.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients further said its profitability suffered from a 31% quarterly decline in agri‑nutrient sales volumes, recorded at 960,000 metric tonnes. Although global supply chain disruptions triggered a 27% price increase for agri‑nutrients during the second quarter, the short‑lived macro‑driven bump was not enough to fully offset the slide in sales volumes.

In December 2022, Saudi Aramco and Sabic Agri‑Nutrients delivered the world’s first commercial‑grade blue ammonia cargo to South Korea. Locally based Lotte Fine Chemicals received the shipment of 25,000 metric tonnes of independently certified blue ammonia in the southern city of Ulsan.

Following that milestone, the company struck several deals in 2023 with customers worldwide to supply low‑carbon ammonia and urea.

In April 2023, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients shipped the first independently certified low‑carbon ammonia from Saudi Arabia to Japan, where it is being used as fuel for power generation. The ammonia cargo was produced with feedstock from Saudi Aramco, sold by Aramco Trading Company to Fuji Oil Company and transported by Mitsui OSK Lines.

After that, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients shipped 5,000 metric tonnes of low‑carbon ammonia in May 2023 to a customer in India, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative.

The company then shipped 5,000 metric tonnes of low‑carbon ammonia to Taiwan Fertiliser Company in June 2023.

Sabic Agri‑Nutrients’ latest shipment is believed to have been in July 2023, when it shipped a 2,700‑tonne cargo of low‑carbon urea to Ravensdown, a New Zealand farmer‑owned agricultural co‑operative company.

Separately, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maaden Integrated Fertiliser Company (MIFC) on 18 August to explore potential collaboration opportunities.

The non‑binding MoU, which is valid for three years, “aims to establish a general framework for cooperation between the two parties in developing and investing in opportunities within the integrated value chain of agri‑nutrients, including the production and manufacturing of value‑added products”, Sabic Agri‑Nutrients said in a Tadawul disclosure.

MIFC is a limited liability company wholly owned by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden). MIFC serves as the holding entity for all subsidiaries within Maaden’s phosphate business vertical.