…To link Port Harcourt plant to phosphate plant in Senegal
Nigeria is set to emerge as the fertilizer hub in Africa, as Indorama-Eleme Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited outlines plans to push the demand from the present 600,000 metric tonnes to about three million metric tonnes, three years from now.
Manish Mundra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, told BusinessDay team that because the supply of fertiliser was not heavy in Nigeria over the years, the use among Nigerian farmers has been artificially low.
In an exclusive interview at the weekend, Mundra stated that generations of farmers in Nigeria had stopped using fertilisers due to poor supply. He explained that the demand of Indorama fertiliser is about 500,000 metric tonnes of Urea. The company is also supplying 360,000 metric tonnes of Urea through the Federal Government Fertiliser Initiative to the blending plants to produce NPK fertilisers.
Mundra said; “We strongly feel that with about three years of steady supply of all grades of high quality fertilisers at transparent prices, the usage of fertilisers will grow and the demand will grow to over one million metric tonnes. We expect per-hectare use to increase, so that we get to two to three million metric tonnes of fertiliser use in Nigeria.” He said this would grow food production in the county for both domestic consumption and exports.
…see complete story tomorrow
