Tanzania plans to build a $3 billion (Tshs6 trillion)
fertiliser factory in partnership with German firm Ferrostaal Industrial
Projects, Danish industrial catalysts producer Haldor Topsoe and Pakistan’s
Fauji Fertiliser Company.
The factory will use natural gas in the manufacturing
process. Natural gas is one of
the hydrocarbon sources of ammonia, a key
fertiliser ingredient.
The plant, expected to be commissioned in 2020, will be
in southern Tanzania, close to large offshore gas plants. It will become
Africa’s largest fertiliser producer with a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per
year.
Annual fertiliser consumption in Tanzania is
400,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile: The Tanzanian government has set new regulations for the
importation and supply of cheaper fertilisers and appointed two firms to supply
55,000 tonnes of urea and diamonium phosphate.
The executive director of Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory
Authority, Lazaro Kitandu, told The EastAfrican that the government has issued
permits for the importation of fertiliser through the Bulky Procurement System,
which rids the process of middlemen.
The two, Moroccan company, OCP S.A and Tanzania’s Premium
Agro Chem, won the tender.
Mr Kitandu said the first consignment is expected in
early next month.
Under the new arrangement, the government has indicative
prices by zone, region and stock point by means of transport.
The 50kg bag will sell between Tshs100,000 ($50) and
Tsh52,000 ($26), he added.
The Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Dr
Charles Tizeba said the new measures will regulate prices and boost
agricultural production.
The fertiliser deal was agreed upon between King Mohammed
VI of Morocco and President John Magufuli during the king’s tour of Tanzania
last October.
Source: The East African