Industry calls for fertiliser policy

FERTILISER producers have called for a policy to govern and protect them from imports and the high cost of doing business.
This comes as last year government allocated $130 million to the industry for the importation of finished fertilisers and raw materials.
“Over the years, I have worked for the fertiliser company and we realised that at Sable Chemicals (Sable), we always had a problem with ZESA about the electricity tariffs; the cost was too high. If we then have a fertiliser policy in place, it should state clearly what ZESA and Sable Chemicals need to do to encourage local production of fertiliser,” Eben Makonese, a former Chemplex chief executive officer, said.
Sable abandoned the old method of manufacturing ammonia gas using electrolysis in 2015, reducing electricity consumption from 115 megawatts to 10 megawatts.
The company is currently importing ammonia gas from South Africa and requires $2,8 million per month. The company received only $2 million from the $130 million allocated to the fertiliser sector by government.
The lack of foreign currency has strained Sable Chemicals’ operations, such that between January and July 2018, Sable produced 27 000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, against a target of 50 000 tonnes.
The fertiliser manufacturer has an installed capacity of 240 000 tonnes per annum enough to cater for local demand and exports.
The failure to achieve the intended production target during the period was largely a result of the company’s inability to access foreign currency.
Agriculture minister, Perrance Shiri, agreed that there was need for a fertiliser policy in the country to govern the production of fertiliser in the country, which is currently very expensive to produce.
“What makes our top dressing fertiliser very expensive is the use of ammonia we import from South Africa. But I also understand that there are plans underway to develop coal bed methane fields in the Lupane area and once that is in place, we should be able to access more affordable ammonia which should impact positively on the pricing,” Shiri said.
Despite the challenges of foreign currency, government promised to support Sable with funding to boost local production to meet national requirements and resume exports to Zambia, Malawi and Angola.
A consistent supply of foreign currency and an increase in rail carrying capacity will ensure that production of fertiliser increases from the current target of 50 000 tonnes to 120 000 tonnes by 2019 and could reach full production capacity of 240 000 tonnes by 2021.
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