(Yicai Global) Dec. 6 -- Two listed Chinese companies have penned a USD898 million engineering, procurement and construction contract to build a potash fertilizer plant in Laos.

Construction engineering firm China Wuyi Industrial and chemical services provider East China Engineering Science and Technology signed an agreement with the current and future owners of the plant, which makes 1.2 million tons of fertilizer each year, the Chinese contractors said in separate statements yesterday.

The deal had little impact on the contractors' share prices, with Wuyi [SHE:000797] up just .3 percent at CNY3.22 (46 US cents) as of 10.42 a.m. and East China Engineering [SHE:002140] up 0.45 percent at CNY6.70.

Australian mining explorer FYI Resources owns the facility but Global Potash, another Australian firm, is in the process of purchasing the plant.

Wuyi will assume 51 percent of the work and East China Engineering will handle the remainder, including the front-end design that should be completed by Feb. 28, 2021. Neither statement disclosed the expected completion date of the entire facility.

The pair will build the supporting public works for the plant's underground mining area, but construction of the actual mine itself will be contracted out to other firms, according to the statements.

Editor: James Boynton