Egypt's OCI subsidiary starts ammonia exports

CAIRO, June 1 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA)(OCICq.L) has begun exporting ammonia from its facilities at Sokhna Port on the Red Sea Coast, the firm said on Monday.

OCI said in a statement that its Egypt Basic Industries Corporation (EBIC) had "successfully completed its first export shipment totaling 23,400 metric tonnes of ammonia" from Sokhna port, without saying where the shipment was headed.

OCI had said it would concentrate on fertilisers after selling its cement unit to France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA) last year. The firm, which has fertiliser operations in Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria, has said it is targeting an annual production capacity of 4.65 million tonnes of nitrogen-based fertilisers by 2010.

OCI's subsidiary EBIC operates two port storage export tanks with capacity of 80,000 tonnes at Sokhna port, where it also has a loading arm with capacity of 1,200 tonnes per hour, OCI said.

OCI said last month it had signed a deal with Egyptian Financial and Industrial Corporation (EFIC) to manufacture and sell 300,000 tonnes of ammonium sulphate annually.

OCI said it would provide 78,000 tonnes of ammonia annually, and that fertiliser firm EFIC (EFIC.CA) would add the required amount of sulphuric acid to produce the ammonium sulphate, a fertiliser used to lower the pH level of soil. OCI will distribute the ammonium sulphate. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston)