New bid to build fertiliser plant
A labourer offloads sacks of DAP fertilizer which arrived at the port of Mombasa from Saudi Arabia on this photo taken on January 18 2014. The 22,000 metric tonnes is part of the 100 000 metric tonnes consignment provided by the Government to farmers countrywide.
What you need to know:
- Talks have been revived to set up a fertiliser factory after over four decades of failed attempts.
- The Ministry of Agriculture is in talks with two Japanese firms, Toyota Tyusho and Maruben, before settling on one in what could see the factory getting under way this year with production set before 2016.
- “What we want is an investor who will set up a plant and sell the fertiliser below what we have currently."
Talks have been revived to set up a fertiliser factory after over four decades of failed attempts.
The Ministry of Agriculture is in talks with two Japanese firms, Toyota Tyusho and Maruben, before settling on one in what could see the factory getting under way this year with production set before 2016.
“We are still negotiating on some operational terms before settling on one,” said Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet secretary Felix Koskei in a telephone interview.
He added: “By mid-February, we’d have known who between the two we will prefer. We want production by 2016.”
Some of the issues still on the table include how much would be produced, location and prices. Mr Koskei said it would be a 100 per cent private investment.
A successful investor will conduct a fresh study to establish the most suitable location to set up the plant.
NATURE OF THE PLANT
Other matters being negotiated include the nature of the plant although earlier indications were in favour of a multi-purpose production able to manufacture DAP, CAN and NPK fertilisers.
“What we want is an investor who will set up a plant and sell the fertiliser below what we have currently,” said Mr Koskei. In December last year, the minister told Nation that there had been a lot of interest from investors in India, China, Brazil, Russia and Eastern Europe.
In 2011, the government engaged the services of UK firm Maxwell Stamp to carry out a feasibility study who said it was viable.
What could have been a joint Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian governments has now become a local affair.
