Africa-Press – Zambia. I’m surprised that people are surprised that United Capital Fertilizer does not manufacture fertilisers. The revelations made by Economic Freedom Fighters(EFF) leader that United Capital Fertilizers imports fertilizer from Morrocco while its being paroded as a success story by Government, is true.
United Capital Fertilizer merely blends the imported concentrates to make fertiliser. They don’t manufacture it here. They merely blend imported ingredients or concentrates that come in granules form.
United Capital Fertilizer Zambia Company Limited, located in Chilanga District, is a vertically integrated blended fertilizer enterprise with the capacity to supply urea, DAP, NPK and other customised blended fertilizers.
A visit to the plant will immediately reveal hundreds of trucks bringing in imported potash and phosphate for the company to blend it into fertiliser.
The potash and phosphates come in granular form, and a simple process combines them into finished fertilisers. It’s for the reasons we have advised President Hakainde Hichilema to look to revamping Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ).
When setting up NCZ, the technical proposals were that the plant should be based in Isoka or Eastern province, where the country has huge deposits of phosphate, the primary ingredient in the manufacture of fertilisers and acids.
But ZIMCO had chosen to create the industrial town of Kafue where the holding company chose to locate kafue Textiles and NCZ plants. In the interim, it became logistically easier to import by rail, the phosphate raw material, than to establish a mine in Mafinga for the plant.
Later, after extensive exploration, four igneous phosphate reserves were confirmed at Chilembwe and Kaluwe, in Eastern Province, Nkombwa Hill, in Northern Province and in Mumbwa, Central Province.
Another ingredient for the plant, serpentine consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate, was identified in many places, including Luapula. NCZ was producing fertilisers, sulfuric acids for the smelting plants of the mines, explosives, nitric acid, nitrogen, and amonia.
If we have to revive NCZ or parrot United Fertilisers as a success, the supply of raw materials need to come from Zambia as phosphate reserves are found everywhere, including the newly discovered belt from Nyimba to Chadiza.
The multi-million dollar preferential procurement that favours United Capital Fertilisers actually favours Moroccan and Western Sahara phosphate mines and creates employment there than in Zambia.
Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia Limited is a state-owned enterprise with the Government of the Republic of Zambia as its shareholder through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
It was established in September 1967 and was commissioned on May 27, 1970 by the first Republican President Dr. K. D. Kaunda. The main aim of establishing the company was to manufacture Ammonium Nitrate for further processing into explosives for the mining industry and for fertilizer use, the plant was later expanded to increase fertilizer production in support of Government efforts to promote agriculture.
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