$6.4bn Perdaman project to proceed

A surprise ASX announcement from a national fertiliser company has revealed that private Perth company Perdaman has secured funding for its giant $6.4 billion urea project in the Pilbara.

Incitec Pivot said its previously announced urea offtake agreement with Perdaman was now unconditional “with Perdaman having obtained financing for construction of the new Karratha urea plant”.

“Perdaman has advised that the plant is currently expected to be commissioned in mid 2027,” Incitec said in its ASX announcement.

Incitec appears to have scooped its own business partner, as financial close was the final key condition before the Perdaman project could proceed.

Business News approached Perdaman for comment and was told the company was not yet ready to make an announcement.

Incitec told the ASX it has agreed to take up to 2.3 million tonnes per annum of granular urea from Perdaman’s Karratha plant for a 20-year period.

The plant is to be built on the Burrup Peninsula.

Known as Project Ceres, it is expected to generate between 1,500 and 2,000 construction jobs and 200 operational and indirect jobs once it begins production.

Perdaman, led by Perth businessman Vikas Rambal, has been pursuing development of the urea project for nearly a decade.

It suffered a setback last year when one of its engineering contractors, Clough, was placed in voluntary administration.

However, Italian company Webuild, which bought most of Clough’s projects, has filled that breach.

Clough and another Italian firm, Saipem, signed a $US2.7 billion engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Perdaman in May last year.

The Perdaman project has gained substantial backing from the Australian government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

Perdaman has also previously signed a 20-year gas supply contract with Woodside Energy.