Mexican national oil company Pemex has contracted Portuguese group Mota-Engil to construct a $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Veracruz state, according to a release by Mota-Engil.
Under the agreement, Mota-Engil will build and operate a plant that will produce over 700,000 tons per year of ammonia and urea, along with AdBlue, a urea-based solution used to reduce harmful emissions from diesel engines.
The plant, to be located on the outskirts of Poza Rica, aligns with Pemex’s strategy to enhance Mexico’s domestic fertilizer production and decrease reliance on imports.
Earlier this month, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero announced that a 990,000 tons per year urea plant at the Proagroindustria complex in Veracruz had become operational.
Mota-Engil signed the agreement with Pemex Transformación Industrial, the refining and petrochemicals arm of the federal company.
Engineering feasibility studies are expected to take four to six months, with construction projected to last 42 months. Mota-Engil will then operate the plant for 20 years, during which Pemex will remunerate the company.
Pemex will supply Mota-Engil with the natural gas and water necessary for fertilizer production and will market the final products.
Mota-Engil Mexico will manage the project alongside Duro Felguera, a Spanish construction company in which Mota-Engil acquired a stake in 2023.
Mexico is a core market for Mota-Engil, accounting for 20% of its construction project backlog in Q1 2024. Other projects in Mexico include lines 4, 5, and 6 of the Monterrey metro, the Tultepec-Pirámides highway, the extension of the Gran Canal road in Mexico City, and stretches of the Maya train.
China Communications Construction (CCCC), the world’s fourth-largest construction company, holds a 32.4% stake in Mota-Engil.