Egyptian to build Iowa fertilizer plant

Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries announced plans Wednesday to invest $1.4 billion in a fertilizer plant in Iowa, shunning overtures from neighboring Illinois because of the state's budget crisis and taking advantage of cheap U.S. natural gas and soaring grain prices.

The shale-gas boom has spurred a surge of investment by chemical producers looking to tap cheap raw materials. Orascom said its proposed plant in Lee County in Iowa's southeastern corner would curtail imports of nitrogen-based fertilizer most commonly used to support corn planting.