The Egyptian government is holding negotiations with Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), to convince the company not to delist from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), said Ossama Saleh the Minister of Investment, to state-run MENA on Thursday. The minister added that the government is keen to keep existing investments and to further investment. In the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held mid-February, OCI shareholders approved the purchase offer made by Dutch unit OCI NV in January. Last week, OCI NV announced that its subsidiary will comply with the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority's (EFSA) request for additional documentation, disclosures and clarification pertaining to the announced mandatory tender offer (MTO) by OCI NV on its ordinary shares in response to statements made by Ashraf El-Sharqawy, EFSA's chairman, who said that OCI did not provide the required information and disclosures pertaining to the deal. Meanwhile, OCI NV's wholly-owned subsidiary Iowa Fertiliser Company (IFCo), the Lee County-based nitrogen fertiliser plant, has announced that its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor, the OCI Construction Group, has awarded a construction contract valued in excess of $60m to Matrix Service Incorporated. The contract requires the engineering and erection of 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. IFCo is a greenfield nitrogen fertiliser complex that is currently under construction. The plant will produce up to 2 million metric tonnes per annum of nitrogen fertilisers, including ammonia, urea, and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN (as well as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Matrix Service Incorporated is a wholly owned subsidiary of Matrix Service Company, which provides engineering, construction and maintenance services, and storage solutions to the electrical infrastructure, oil and gas, chemical, 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 labour 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 in 15 February 2015, in time for IFCo's scheduled commissioning date.
