Perdaman weighs options on SW project

Western Australia could lose a major economic development opportunity in the South West if the $3.7 billion Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers urea project is forced to look east for vital coal feedstock, its boss Vikas Rambal has warned.

Mr Rambal said he had been in discussions with coal companies in New South Wales and Queensland for the past six months and would move the fertiliser plant project east if he can sign a coal supply contract there.

“We have waited long enough and shown our commitment to this project,” Mr Rambal told Business News.

“A lot of shareholders’ money has gone into this project, so we have to complete it and we are looking for different options now.”

Construction of the plant, which would convert coal to fertiliser urea, was initially expected to start as early as 2010 at a site near Collie in the state’s South West.

The future of the development was thrown into doubt when Lanco Infratech walked away from a deal to supply coal from its mines in the Collie basin to the proposed plant.

Mr Rambal has since been in negotiations with Yancoal, which operates the Premier coal mine near Collie, but has been unable to reach a supplier’s agreement.

He said he would still like to develop the fertiliser plant in Collie, however he had become frustrated that local miners in the area were yet to agree to a coal supply contract.

“If we can get coal supply in Collie, then that’s the priority, but if we can get the coal supply in the east we will go there,” Mr Rambal said, adding that the company was also considering its options in the US.

A former business partner of Pankaj Oswal, Mr Rambal was a key stakeholder in the development of Burrup Fertilisers’ ammonia plant in Karratha in the 2000s before the pair had a bitter falling out and Mr Rambal received a $90 million payout for his 15 per cent stake in the company.