AM Agrigen Industries is exploring the potential of developing a $1.2 billion plant to manufacture granulated urea, a widely used fertilizer, in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

The firm is conducting feasibility studies on the project and the prospective site, and the company expects to make a final investment decision in the first quarter of 2015.

This move by AM Agrigen could potentially create 150 new direct jobs, and the project could result in an additional 1,025 new indirect jobs, for a total of 1,175 new jobs in the state, according to estimates by Louisiana Economic Development.

Construction would begin in mid-2015, with the fertilizer-manufacturing complex taking approximately 30 months to complete, according to the firm. AM Agrigen Industries plans to tap a mix of global and domestic investors to fund the project.

“We have been very pleased with the support we have received from the State of Louisiana – and from St. Charles Parish, GNO Inc. and the Port of South Louisiana,” said AM Agrigen CEO Mark VandeVoorde in a statement.

Work on the prospective project began in October 2012. To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered the company a performance-based $5.6 million grant to offset infrastructure costs of the project. The company also is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

AM Agrigen has secured options to purchase 650 acres near Killona in St. Charles Parish for the fertilizer-manufacturing project, and has begun filing for the environmental permitting needed to operate the proposed facilities.