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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Australian-based Dyno Nobel and Cornerstone Chemical Invest More Than $1 Billion In Waggaman, La., Ammonia Production Facility

04/18/2013
Incitec Pivot, the Australian-based parent company of Dyno Nobel and Cornerstone Chemical will invest a combined $1.025 billion in a new ammonia production facility and related upgrades in Waggaman, Louisiana.

Louisiana Economic Development said Incitec Pivot Ltd. will invest $850 million to build the ammonia plant, providing a commercial foundation for Cornerstone to continue its planned investment of $175 million in maintenance, upgrades and infrastructure expansion at its site over a six-year period. The new Dyno Nobel plant will produce 800,000 metric tons of ammonia per year at Cornerstone Chemical's Fortier Manufacturing Complex on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish.

Dyno Nobel will develop the anhydrous ammonia plant on a site where an ammonia plant previously operated before closing more than a decade ago. Cornerstone already produces acrylonitrile, melamine and sulfuric acid at the Waggaman complex, and the ammonia plant will be integrated with Cornerstone's existing infrastructure.

The project will create 65 new direct jobs by employing 60 new personnel at Cornerstone Chemical and another five employed at Dyno Nobel. LED estimates the project will result in another 477 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 540 new jobs. The project will also retain 441 existing Cornerstone jobs. In addition, Dyno Nobel estimates construction employment will peak at 750 jobs over the three-year construction period.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said, "Dyno Nobel's new ammonia facility in Jefferson Parish is proof of Louisiana's outstanding business climate, top-notch workforce and first-class energy infrastructure – including our state's affordable and abundant supply of natural gas. Louisiana is uniquely positioned to provide major supplies of natural gas to critically important energy and chemical manufacturers, and more and more companies are taking notice and investing right here in our state.”

"Incitec Pivot Limited and its U.S.-based operations, Dyno Nobel, are pleased to announce the construction of a world-class ammonia facility in Waggaman, Louisiana," said Incitec Pivot Managing Director and CEO James Fazzino. "This plant will set a new standard in clean, efficient ammonia production and will provide a significant economic benefit to the state and regional communities. We are honored to be a part of the Waggaman, Jefferson Parish and Louisiana communities."

"We are excited to welcome the investment by Incitec Pivot to Louisiana," said Cornerstone Chemical CEO Greg Zoglio. "The U.S. Gulf Coast economic model has changed due to the advent of advanced drilling and extraction techniques and the associated impact on natural gas pricing. Incitec Pivot's foresight of this paradigm shift, coupled with the brownfield offering by Cornerstone Chemical Company and project support provided by the State of Louisiana, will allow the resurgence of world-class ammonia production in the state."

As an incentive to secure the project, the state will offer a competitive incentives package that will include the Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs for Dyno Nobel. Cornerstone Chemical will receive a Modernization Tax Credit of $3 million, payable in five annual installments, along with the services of LED FastStart, the nation's top-ranked state workforce training program. Cornerstone Chemical also is expected to utilize the Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs.

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