A $265 million investment by Lithuania-based Investimus Foris to convert an idle biofuels refinery in Grant Parish, La. into an ammonia manufacturing facility, was announced on July 23.
The former Vanguard Synfuels refinery located in Pollock is the site for the new facility. Prior to Vangaurd the plant had in fact operated as an ammonia production facility.
Investimus Foris is also is negotiating with European and Asian companies to purchase and move ammonia plant components that will be coupled with existing plant infrastructure in Pollock to create the new ammonia facility.
The plant will produce 500,000 tons of ammonia per year for use in agricultural applications. Most of it will be shipped by pipeline to destinations in the northern U.S. The company also is exploring foreign export markets.
Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 584 new indirect jobs for Grant Parish and the Central Louisiana region, for a total of more than 650 new jobs in the state.
The project will also generate 560 construction jobs. Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2016 and is scheduled to be completed within 26 months, in the third quarter of 2018.
The European company’s project is the latest in a series of recent foreign direct investment projects for Louisiana. The state increasingly has cultivated FDI projects in its economic development efforts since 2008, and Louisiana now ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for per capita FDI attracted to the state.
“In Louisiana, we have found the right location for our company to grow and thrive,” Chairman Arunas Laurinaitis said.
To secure the project, the state offered an incentive package that includes the services of LED FastStart, the top-ranked state workforce development program in the nation. The company also is expected to utilize Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
