|
Phu My Fertilisers plans Morocco plant
A joint venture between Vietnamese and Moroccan companies will lead to the construction of a US$600 million fertiliser plant in Morocco to supply Vietnam and neighbouring countries.
An investment agreement will be signed next month between Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) and PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemical Company (PVFCCo), a member of the National Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), to build the diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant following an MoU inked early this May.
Making the announcement last Thursday, PetroVietnam said it had established a steering board for the plant, which will be capable of producing up to 1 million tonnes of product per year.
The new plant will be operational in 2011, and together with the 330,000-tonnes-per-year DAP plant in Dinh Vu in the northern port city of Hai Phong, it will help Vietnam reduce other DAP imports.
As a developing agricultural country, Vietnam consumes a large quantity of fertiliser for cultivation every year, creating a stable output market for manure.
Once completed, the project will be Vietnam's largest investment project outside the country.
Owned by the Moroccan Royal Family, OCP is the third biggest phosphate producer in the world and annually exports 30 million tonnes of phosphates. It holds 33 per cent of world DAP market share, and its assets are worth $3.6 billion. OCP Group deals in mining, processing and marketing phosphates.
Phu My Fertilisers holds the majority of the 39 per cent of shares available on the local market, according to Bao Viet Securities Co's statistics. Phu My has maintained 3 to 4 per cent cheaper product prices than the imported competition.
However, Phu My Fertilisers officially raised its fertiliser price to VND8,700 ($0.52) per kilogram from VND8,500 last Wednesday, according to a company announcement.
Phu My plant had to hike fertiliser prices due to the increasing cost of input materials; however the price still remained lower than that of imported urea fertiliser at VND11,500 per kilogram, according to company general director Phan Dinh Duc.
Local demand for urea fertiliser totals 1.9 tonnes of product a year, of which Phu My and Ha Bac Fertilisers provide approximately half. The rest is imported from China.
The series of fertiliser plants at Ca Mau, Ninh Binh and Dung Quat, scheduled to be operational until 2001, are partly satisfying domestic market demand.
VNN
|
