Malaysia-based Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd or CMS has partnered with several parties to construct the first integrated phosphate complex in Southeast Asia, the Daily Express reported. The facility which will be built at Samalaju, Bintulu will cost an estimated cost of RM1.04 billion. In a statement, the integrated infrastructure development group said the project will be funded through a mixture of shareholders' equity and long-term debt bank-funded debt. The debt is in the process of being arranged, the report said.

A shareholders' agreement for the project was forged between CMS and Malaysian Phosphate Venture, Arif Enigma and Malaysian Phosphate Additives (Sarawak). MPA Sarawak will be the joint venture company for the project, the report said.

The phosphate facility, which will be built in the Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP) found within the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy or Score will produce around 500,000 tons of phosphate products each year. Datuk Richard Curtis, the Group Managing Director of CMS said this will be the firm's second investment in Score-located energy-intensive industries.

He said, "This complex is the first of its kind in Malaysia and indeed South-East Asia, and is the first non-metal or alloy-based plant in SIP, thus taking Score and CMS into a dynamic new industrial sector that offers long-term sustainable demand growth." He said that phosphorus was a necessary base nutrient to facilitate the growth of animals and plants. It has no substitute and is used widely in feeds, fertilizers and food products. Curtis added that the growing demand for the product is fueled by population growth, the increased use of fertilizers and the changing dietary choices.

Building of the complex is set to begin in the first quarter of this year. Starting in the first quarter of 2016, the complex is expected to be operational in phases. It will be fully commissioned by the second quarter of 2018, the report said. The plant will hire close to 1,000 skilled workers and other staff.