Maaden’s plant maintenance to hit second quarter results

Maaden Phosphate Co. (MPC) has restarted its diammonium phosphate plant (DAP) in Saudi Arabia after repairing the ammonia plant that feeds it, Maaden has announced according to Tadawul website. "But the shutdown will negatively impact profits," the company said on Sunday.
Maaden in its announcement attributed certain technical difficulties during the start-up that prompted it to stop temporarily the MPC's ammonia plant operation located in the company's complex in Ras Al-Khair. It has since resumed production of ammonia effective May 17, after solving the technical difficulties.
Maaden stated that it used the shutdown period as an opportunity to carry out maintenance, which was previously scheduled for five weeks during May. At the same time, the DAP plant was restarted as a consequence of the resumption of production in the ammonia plant. Thus, the company will no longer require 5 weeks maintenance of the ammonia plant scheduled previously in May.
The company's financial impact of the shut-down is initially estimated at SR 119 million, which will be reflected in the second quarter financial results. The shutdown of DAP did not affect the company's ability to meet its obligations to its customers during the period of suspension due to the availability of stock.
MPC is a limited liability company co-owned by Maaden (70 percent) and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (30 percent).