Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (Iffco) plans to build a $1.2 billion (about R6,350 crore) urea production plant in Canada in partnership with Canadian company La Coop federee, as per a statement issued by Iffco on Wednesday.
Iffco and La Coop federee plan to begin construction in Quebec in two years, and the two companies hope to start producing urea in 2017. The plant would produce up to 1.2 million tonnes urea annually, which will be split evenly between Iffco and La Coop.
Iffco said it chose B?cancour industrial park site in the Quebec province due to its strategic location, its access to a port, and a railway, and and the ease of supplying it with natural gas pipeline. The two partners plan to draw natural gas by established pipeline from Western Canada to supply the plant. ?This investment allows two large agricultural leaders and even better, two cooperatives, from two big agricultural economies, to play a vital role in a rapidly-changing agricultural industry,? Iffco MD US Awasthi said.
La Coop will act as co-investor in this transaction and will distribute the product in its network of more than 175 stores of several regions of Canada. ?This project will allow Qu?bec and Canada to consolidate even further their role as leaders in agriculture and foodstuff production,? said Denis Richard, president, La Coop f?d?r?e.