Press release

On 30th October 2009, the contract between the Moroccan refining company SAMIR and Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH for the planning and construction of a new Biturox® plant for the production of bitumen, including storage tanks and HGV filling station, was finalised and signed.

Pörner Group, the Austrian engineering company responsible for process engineering and plant design, is the world leader in Biturox® technology for producing high quality bitumen polymers by oxidation. With the conclusion of this deal, SAMIR will become the thirty-eighth(!) worldwide recipient of a Pörner licence for a Biturox® plant.

Pörner Group will, as general contractor, construct this plant in Mohammedia, Morocco as a “Lump sum turnkey” project. This means that Pörner will not only erect the plant but also include all deliveries and services required for the project within its scope of responsibilities. Beginning with the granting of a licensing franchise and financial support, Pörner Group has shown its responsibility for project management, from basic and detail engineering including structure/steel construction, MSR and electrical engineering, piping, purchase and supply of equipment, structure and erection on-site up to and including the commissioning.

The project development work already carried out by Pörner Group in the summer of 2009 helped to speed up the contract finalisation. The funding of the project was made possible thanks to an export contribution from the Austrian Control Bank (OeKB), Austria’s main provider of financial and information services for export economy.

The plant will have a production capacity of 270.000 t/a of road making bitumen of grade 40/50. Two tanks of 5,500 m³ capacity are included in the scope of the plant for storing the bitumen. Following the project start in January 2010, the plant will be completed and handed over to SAMIR by summer 2011.

This Biturox®-plant for SAMIR is one of the largest contracts in the history of Pörner Group in the field of

bitumen production.