Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), Italy, Feb. 26 ABB has won a contract worth about $123 million to design, construct and provide automation for a new fertilizer processing plant in Chile for SQM (Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile.) The order was booked during the fourth quarter of 2007.
Scheduled for completion in 2010, the new plant will be located at Coya Sur, Antofagasta region, in the north part of Chile. The new plant will produce more than 1,150 metric tons of potassium nitrate (KNO3) per day and is part of SQMs long-term plan to increase its current specialty fertilizer production capacity. Potassium nitrate is used to provide plant nutrition for crops such as fruits, vegetables, cereals and cotton.
ABB will provide engineering, procurement, supply of equipment and materials, construction, commissioning and startup services, as well as overall project management. In addition, ABB will provide MV/LV power distribution systems and automation based on System 800xA.
ABB's ability to deliver a complete automation and electrification solution and successful track record of executing these complex projects helped us to win this important order, said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABBs process automation division. Our comprehensive approach provides our customers with increased capital productivity, as well as reduced overall lifecycle costs.
Headquartered in Chile, SQM is the worldwide leader in its three main business areas: Specialty Plants Nutrition, Iodine and Lithium.
