Announcement of Jordan Boosts Phosphate Production on February 22, 1990

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 90/56 Contact: Marjorie Messiter (202) 477-3642 JORDAN BOOSTS PHOSPHATE PRODUCTION WASHINGTON, February 22, 1990 -- Jordan, the world's third-largest exporter of phosphate rock, will use a $25 million World Bank loan to expand phosphate-rock production in the Shidiya region and fertilizer production at Aqaba. Phosphate rock, a raw material used in phosphate fertilizer, is Jordan's most important natural resource and a major earner of foreign exchange. Within the next 15 years the Shidiya deposit is expected to become the only productive phosphate mining area in the country as existing mines are depleted. The loan to the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company, Ltd. will be used to provide selected turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services to assist in constructing a beneficiation (processing) plant with the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons a year of phosphate-rock products. The processing plant has been designed to limit dust emissions and dispose of effluents safely. Measures are also included to monitor health and safety at the plant and at the mine townsite at Shidiya. A fertilizer plant near the port of Aqaba will also be rehabilitated to remove bottlenecks in the production process, expand storage facilities and modify industrial water-cooling facilfties. These improvements are expected to increase production and exports of phosphoric acid and di-ammonium phosphate. The fertilizer plant was orginally built to stringent emission and effluent standards, and no environmental improvements are considered necessary following rehabilitation. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including five years' grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.75 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. Note: Money figures are in U.S. dollar equivalents.