adminMunyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
THE country’s sole producer of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, Sable Chemical Industries, is targeting to produce 80 000 tonnes ahead of the summer cropping season, the Sables’ chief executive has said.
In an interview yesterday, Mr Jack Murehwa said the Kwekwe-based company had already produced 50 000 tonnes of AN and was looking forward to producing the remaining 30 000 tonnes and releasing it to the distributors before the end of the summer farming season.
“We have produced 50 000 tonnes of fertiliser. By the end of the season in February, we hope to put at least another 30 000 on the market,” he said.
Mr Murehwa said the company, which has a production capacity of about 240 000 tonnes of AN per annum, was operating on 40 percent capacity due to financial challenges.
“We have a potential of producing 240 000 per annum which can meet the national demand of AN which is approximately 120 000 tonnes per annum. We are operating at 40 percent capacity,” he said.
Last year, Sables was forced to operate under 30 percent of its production capacity due to serious cash flow challenges.
Mr Murehwa said their distributors have been failing to meet their obligations to Sable because they themselves have also had difficulties collecting cash from their customers.
He said the delay of payment by the company’s major consumers was adversely affecting fertiliser production for the country.
“Whilst the outstanding debt has come down by half to about US$12 million, this debt at peak was more than US$24 million. Under such circumstances, funding operations to produce enough ammonium nitrate for the country has become difficult,” said Mr Murehwa then.
Mr Murehwa said the company was not receiving enough capital from their distributors that would enable them to increase production as well as meeting its annual production target.
Sables has a workforce of about 500 workers and is the sole producer of AN which is then mixed with other components by companies such as Windmill to produce the different fertiliser compounds such as compound D. Sables was in September 2009 forced to suspend operations as it could not pay for the high electricity tariffs charged by Zesa Holdings then.
Government had to intervene and appoint a special Cabinet committee to map the way forward.
Production resumed two months later after an internal arrangement between Government and Zesa.
At its peak the company’s electrolysis plant used to consume about 12 percent of energy produced by Zesa. The country has during the past few years been forced to import fertiliser as the local companies were failing to meet demand. The low yields recorded by farmers over the same period were largely as a result of either shortage of the fertiliser or late delivery of the commodity to farmers.
Farmers expect delivery of the AN which is popularly referred to as top dressing fertiliser by January at the latest for the summer crop but at times farmers were getting it as late as April.
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