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ZIMBABWE sits on a fertiliser production capacity of two million tonnes per year — more than double its annual demand of 780 000 tonnes— yet it paid US$2,1 billion to foreign suppliers between 2018 and 2024 to feed its fields.
An inquiry by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce revealed that the import bill, averaging US$301 million annually, stems directly from the underutilisation of State-owned facilities.
Dormant upstream processing forces domestic producers to import expensive intermediate raw materials for basic blending, leaving local firms reliant on foreign suppliers for high-analysis inputs, including monoammonium phosphate (MAP), diammonium phosphate (DAP), urea, muriate of potash (MOP) and ammonia.
With the sector’s footprint heavily skewed towards blending — which accounts for 1,6 million tonnes of installed capacity compared to just 0,4 million tonnes for granulation and upstream processing — reviving primary producers is critical to unlocking the country’s full manufacturing potential.
The committee also attributed the industry’s challenges to capital shortages, debt overhangs, governance failures, procurement lapses and a degraded rail network that forces heavy mineral inputs onto costly road freight.
Upstream paralysis
The paralysis is most evident at Dorowa Minerals, the sole producer of phosphate rock concentrate, and the primary bottleneck in the value chain.
Despite an installed annual capacity of 150 000 tonnes — supporting 430 000 tonnes of basal fertiliser — mine capacity utilisation averaged just 20 percent between 2016 and 2024, before operations were suspended fully in April 2025.
The committee established that output collapsed due to machinery left unrefurbished since 1973.
Rehabilitation funds were misallocated towards non-essential equipment, while procurement failures derailed recovery.
Specifically, Dorowa paid US$1,4 million to a South African supplier for specialised pumps that were never delivered.
An internal investigation by parent firm Chemplex Corporation exposed executive collusion and procurement irregularities, triggering a management overhaul.
Dorowa remains constrained by severe liquidity shortages, a weak balance sheet, a reduced workforce of 136 employees and US$300 000 owed to power utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).
Management estimates that a full recovery requires a phased US$20 million rehabilitation programme and 270 employees.
The contagion effect
Dorowa’s challenges triggered a downstream crisis at Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (ZimPhos), the chemical conversion hub.
Designed to combine Dorowa’s phosphate rock with sulphuric acid to produce single super phosphate (SSP), ZimPhos saw throughput collapse to 5 percent. The failure worsened when ZimPhos decommissioned its acid plants in 2008 and 2010.
Lacking in-house generation, ZimPhos imports roughly 4 000 tonnes of sulphuric acid monthly.
Additionally, local blenders reject ZimPhos’ powdered SSP in favour of granulated feedstock.
To adapt, ZimPhos spent US$1,7 million in 2021 on a 120 000-tonne granulator and US$1,1 million on a 200 000-tonne blending plant.
However, working capital constraints have left the granulator uninstalled, as the firm lacks the US$1,3 million needed for commissioning.
Liquidity mismatch is further straining the firm, which holds US$4,6 million in receivables — including US$2,3 million owed by the City of Harare — against US$5,2 million in liabilities.
Beyond phosphates, the crisis extends to nitrogenous inputs at Sable Chemicals, the sole producer of ammonium nitrate (AN).
Although holding a design capacity of 240 000 tonnes against national demand exceeding 330 000 tonnes, the plant has sat idle since 2022. The shutdown followed working capital starvation after it decommissioned its electrolysis plant, as importing raw ammonia increased cash requirements.
Despite securing an US$11 million African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) facility — completing 80 percent of technical rehabilitation —Sable needs US$3 million in working capital to restart and deliver an initial 140 000 tonnes annually. The challenge extends further to G&W Industrial Minerals, the primary domestic producer of agricultural lime.
G&W ceased operations in 2023 following a land dispute at its Rushinga quarry, wiping out 120 000 tonnes of annual supply against a national demand of 300 000 tonnes.
Low production, debt overhangs and procurement failures in some State enterprises, combined, have triggered a devastating chain reaction across the entire national industrial ecosystem.
Dorowa’s failure to deliver phosphate rock concentrate leaves ZimPhos without primary feedstock, reducing its chemical processing throughput to 5 percent. In turn, ZimPhos’ inability to commission its granulator or produce cheap SSP forces local blenders — including ZFC, Windmill, Omnia, NuFert and ETG — to bypass domestic chemicals entirely.
Local blenders are consequently forced to import expensive finished MAP, DAP and urea, driving up the national import bill and inflating retail bag prices for farmers at the farm gate.
At the same time, Sable’s idle status and G&W’s lime shutdown have removed domestic top-dressing and soil-conditioning capabilities, respectively, leaving the agriculture sector entirely reliant on foreign supply chains.
Despite the bottlenecks, fully restoring domestic upstream processing capacity offers a massive opportunity to stabilise Zimbabwe’s agricultural economy and curb huge foreign currency outflows.
Data analysis demonstrates that processing just 30 000 tonnes of Dorowa phosphate concentrate yields roughly 60 000 tonnes of SSP, which in turn produces between 75 000 tonnes and 80 000 tonnes of finished NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) basal fertiliser when blended.
Furthermore, a targeted US$3 million working capital injection into Sable Chemicals would restart domestic AN production at 140 000 tonnes annually, immediately displacing expensive foreign nitrogen imports.
At ZimPhos, allocating US$1,3 million to finally commission its idle granulator would instantly unlock 120 000 tonnes of granulated fertiliser output each year.
The economic impact on farmers would be immediate and transformative.
While global price shocks and import logistics have driven top-dressing inputs like urea up to around US$900 per tonne — translating to roughly US$45 per 50kg bag — fully integrated local production could drastically slash farm-gate prices down to between US$15 and US$20 per 50kg bag.
At a recent industrial conference, Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDCZ) general manager Mr Edward Tome said the group was currently deploying targeted recapitalisation funds to retool these primary State-linked processing plants under the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) framework.
Under this ongoing recapitalisation drive, the corporation, which holds the country’s key fertiliser assets through its subsidiary Chemplex Corporation, is restoring operating capacities across Dorowa, ZimPhos and G&W to substitute expensive imports and secure the domestic agricultural supply chain.
“We are in the process of modernising and retooling all our basal fertiliser-producing companies . . . And before the end of 2027, Zimbabwe will not import any basal fertiliser,” Mr Tome assured.
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Underscoring commitment to the sector, the Government has set up a dedicated Cabinet committee tasked with localising fertiliser production, a framework Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka says is already delivering progress.
Operational pressures
Compounding these operational pressures, sector cash flows remain choked by debt and unpaid State obligations.
ZFC faces Government arrears of US$1,2 million, while State-backed intervention funds lag.
Of the US$153,1 million committed by the MIF, only US$27,6 million has been disbursed.
Logistics and finance costs
Financially, commercial bank lending rates of 15 percent to 18 percent exceed average blending profit margins of 12 percent to 15 percent, making local loans unviable.
Cash-cycle delays on import financing stretch up to four months per shipment.
Consequently, private blenders operate far below capacity: Windmill produces 2 800 tonnes against its 32 000-tonne capacity, while NuFert processes 6 500 tonnes against an installed capacity of 40 000 tonnes.
“If the value chain operates efficiently, significantly lower prices are achievable through continuous production, adequate working capital and targeted rehabilitation of critical facilities,” analyst Mr Enoc Musara said.
