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EGYPTIAN COMPANY TO BUILD FERTILIZER PLANT IN IOWA
Sep. 7, 2012
BrownfieldAgNews reports:
An Egyptian company-Orascom Construction Industries-has announced plans to build a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in Lee County in southeast Iowa.
The plant will use natural gas to make anhydrous ammonia and related fertilizer products.
The announcement is considered good news for U.S. agriculture, as it should reduce imports of nitrogen-based fertilizer. According to the USDA, more than 50 percent of the nitrogen fertilizer currently used by U.S. farmers to grow corn is imported. Research by the Iowa Farm Bureau indicates farmers will save about $740 million per year in cost when the fertilizer is made in-state.
Iowa landed the much sought-after fertilizer plant by offering the state's single largest incentive package, worth $110 million.
Orascom officials say they chose Iowa over Illinois, even though Illinois offered a financially superior package. They expressed concerns that financially-strapped Illinois wouldn't be able to follow through with its promises.
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